Raptors Win Despite Record-Low Shooting in Game 4

Sometimes the greatest wins come on your worst shooting nights, and the Toronto Raptors just proved it in spectacular fashion.

In a Game 4 that rewrote the playoff record books, Toronto beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-89 on Sunday despite shooting a historically bad 4-for-30 from three-point range. That 13.3% mark became the lowest three-point shooting percentage in NBA playoff history for a winning team attempting at least 25 shots from beyond the arc.

Coach Darko Rajaković told his team at halftime they'd shoot better in the second half. He admits now he was lying, but his players didn't need hot shooting to find a way to win.

"We just never flinched; we continued guarding and guarding," Rajaković said. The Raptors were even worse on wide-open threes, making just 2 of 21 attempts, yet they never stopped believing in each other.

Brandon Ingram, who made three of Toronto's four total threes, kept his teammates' spirits high. "We all communicated with each other, just keep shooting," he said. "It's only going to happen on defense."

Scottie Barnes emerged as the team's emotional anchor and defensive stopper. After falling behind 2-0 in the series, Barnes told teammates in the locker room, "We good, fellas. We know what we need to do." Garrett Temple said you could feel Barnes truly believed it.

Barnes backed up his words with 23 points and lockdown defense on Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell, holding him to just 1-for-8 shooting when defending him directly. He and Ingram both scored 23 points, outdueling Cleveland's Mitchell and James Harden.

Why This Inspires

This game represents everything beautiful about sports. When nothing's going right, when every shot clangs off the rim, when history suggests you should lose, you have a choice: fold or fight harder.

The Raptors chose fight. They turned to the one thing they could control—their effort on defense—and it carried them to victory. Barnes is playing at just "60% of what he'll be in two or three years," according to his coach, yet his leadership and commitment to winning is already elevating everyone around him.

The series is now tied 2-2, with Game 5 heading back to Cleveland on Wednesday. Both teams showed that playoff basketball isn't always pretty, but it's always about heart.

Toronto missed layups, missed open shots, and missed nearly everything from three-point range, yet they never missed an opportunity to believe in each other and play winning basketball when it mattered most.