After Saturday’s closer-than-it-actually-was 126-113 Cleveland Cavaliers demolition of the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram had some choice words.

“At the end of the day, me shooting nine shots is not gonna win basketball games,” Ingram said, referring to just the nine field-goal attempts he took in all of Game 1, including just one in the entire second half.

Well, in good news for Ingram, he got more shots up in Game 2 Monday, taking 15 of them. But in bad news for his Raptors team, Toronto dropped its second straight game, 112-103, to go down 0-2 with the series now heading north for at least a couple games.

For the Cavaliers, it was once again the Donovan Mitchell and James Harden show, as Cleveland’s dynamic backcourt duo combined for 58 points and nine assists after they went for 54 and 14 on Saturday.

Toronto in Game 2 was led by Scottie Barnes, who went for 26 points and five assists on 11-for-19 shooting, which was paired with a strong showing from the bench. However, just like in the series opener, the Raptors didn’t get much from their regular-season leading scorer.

Across 36 minutes In Game 2, Ingram went 3-for-15 for a measly seven points and didn’t even get to the free-throw line. In the first half alone Ingram went 0-for-6 for zero points, and only managed to pad his stats at the end with a meaningless three-pointer with the game well in hand with a little over 1:12 to play.

You know when the Raptors really could’ve used that three from Ingram? When he subbed into the game midway through the fourth and the Raptors still very much in it down 10. Instead, he immediately committed one of his five turnovers. Then, with just under six minutes to play he took a tough turn-around mid-range jumper, followed by a deep three and bricked both, all the while with the game still a possibility for the Raptors down just nine.

“I liked the looks that I had and I’ll continue to be aggressive,” Ingram told reporters after the game. “I’ll do a better job of keeping the defence off balance, try to get my teammates involved and still shoot the shots that I need to shoot and just game-to-game make adjustments and I won’t miss all my shots.”

He also added: “I definitely don’t have any quit in me. I’m gonna keep going. Gonna try to figure it out.”

When the Raptors traded for Ingram in February 2025, and then promptly extended him to a three-year, $120-million contract, they did so with the intention that he would show up for the team in those exact scenarios: a tight game where the Raptors need to get a bucket in any form or fashion.

Given his reputation as a tough-shot-maker — especially in the mid-range — Ingram, theoretically, fits that bill. However, considering his lack of impact through both games of the series, so far, there’s a good argument to be had that head coach Darko Rajaković would’ve been better off benching Ingram in that fourth quarter or earlier.

It would have been in a similar manner to the way a former Raptors coach benched a former Raptors mid-range specialist when Dwane Casey did so to DeMar DeRozan in Game 3 of Toronto’s 2018 second-round matchup against, ironically, the Cavaliers.

That solution was never going to be on the table for Rajaković, however, who, after the game encouraged Ingram to keep firing away.

“Brandon is a very important player for us,” the Raptors coach said. “The ball did not go in tonight. We need him to continue to be aggressive and shooting. I have absolute support for him. He’s gonna make his shots.”

Rajaković later expanded more on what he saw from Ingram in Game 2: “I thought he was getting to his spots on the floor. Cleveland is playing with a lot of physicality. They’re very prideful of their physicality and their whole team is very, very physical with Brandon. So, for me, it’s very interesting that he had zero free throws in this game. That’s very interesting seeing zero takes, zero makes. It’s interesting.”

Despite the backing of his coach, Raptors fans aren’t too pleased with what they saw from Ingram Monday night:

Looking outside Ingram’s performance, in general, the Raptors played a better game Monday than they did in Game 1, showing more intention, energy and force offensively. That was especially the case from their bench, which managed to outscore Cleveland’s 45-19 thanks to a 17-point, seven-rebound effort from Collin Murray-Boyles, who started the second half in place of Jakob Poeltl.

The rookie looks like he could slot in as the team’s starting centre moving forward after Poeltl continued to struggle against the length of the Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley — both offensively and defensively.

Mobley, in particular, was strong Monday, going for 25 points and eight rebounds on 11-for-13 shooting.

In addition to Murray-Boyles, another bright spot for the Raptors was their ability to get out in transition more Monday. It’s been a sore point, as they continue to miss injured starting point guard Immanuel Quickley, along with his shooting, playmaking and ball-handling.

After leading the league in fast-break points per game during the regular season at 18.9 per contest, Toronto only managed three in Game 1. In Monday’s Game 2, the team scored 16.

Those extra opportunities the team capitalized on without a set-defence to stymie them helped the Raptors, who were in the game for most of it, trailing just 54-48 at the half.

A quick 7-0 Cavaliers run that forced the Raptors to take a quick timeout with just a little over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, that then ballooned into a 24-11 outburst, threatened to put the Raptors away, but they remained resilient, as Cleveland carried just an 84-77 lead into the third.

But while there was plenty more fight to be had from Toronto on Monday, it ultimately still didn’t have enough as Cleveland was able to close with Mitchell and Harden leading the way. It also doesn’t help that the Raptors shot themselves in the foot, committing 24 turnovers.

“I thought we had the right energy, the right focus. I thought the fight was there, I’m really proud of our guys in the fight there,” said Rajaković. “I think it came down to turnovers. Turnovers really cost us. They scored 22 points out of that, and there were a bunch of points in the paint there as well. …

“I think we made a step forward, learned a lot. I think the film is going to be very interesting for us to continue learning and figuring out this team, and we’re going home now to get a win.”

While the carless possessions didn’t help, the Raptors were right there and weren’t able to get over the line. Looking back, just like in Game 1, it was in large part because the star they traded away some of their future for — including a first-round pick in this year’s loaded draft — didn’t show up, again.

And this time for Ingram, it had nothing to do with not taking enough shots.