Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram is aiming to shake off his playoff struggles in Game 4.
The Toronto Raptors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series on Sunday, with the series standing 2-1 in Cleveland’s favor.
Toronto stole momentum with a dominant Game 3 victory and now has a chance to level the series. But doing so almost certainly requires a version of Brandon Ingram that hasn’t shown up yet this postseason.
Ingram has been invisible when the Raptors need him most. In Game 1, he finished with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He had his worst game of the series so far in Game 2: seven points on 3-of-15 from the field, failing to score a single point in the first half.
Game 3 was more of the same; Ingram managed 12 points in 29 minutes as Scottie Barnes carried the offense with 33 points and 11 assists. Three games in, Ingram is averaging 12 points on 33% shooting and his playoff TS % sits at 42.3, against a regular-season mark of 57.3.
Ingram’s scoring and paint dominance have both gone missing at the worst possible time, and the Raptors are hoping he can bounce back in Game 4.
Brandon Ingram Shares His Preparation Plan for Sunday’s Game
Ahead of Sunday’s matchup, Ingram, who has grown accustomed to taking game-day afternoon naps, revealed he’ll be making a slight change to his routine to keep up with the early tip-off.
“Just try to go to bed extra early today,” Ingram told TSN Sports’ Josh Lewenberg. “My girl’s around, so she’ll get on my nerves enough to where I just wanna go to sleep.”
Ingram averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, shooting 47.7% from the field in his first season as a Raptor. He was the shot creator the organization envisioned when they acquired him from the New Orleans Pelicans, and his production was central to Toronto’s 46-win season and playoff return. At home specifically, he averaged 23.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists across 38 games.
That version of Ingram, the one who recently dropped a season-high 38 points against the Miami Heat at Scotiabank Arena, needs to show up Sunday. If he delivers, this series gets genuinely interesting. If he doesn’t, the Raptors’ path to forcing a Game 5 runs almost entirely through Barnes and Barrett again, and Cleveland will be prepared for exactly that.
Game 4 tips off at at 1:00 pm ET, with live coverage on ESPN.