Getty

James Harden and Scottie Barnes

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden offered high praise for the Toronto Raptors, saying that “they’re a really good team.”

The No. 4-seed Cavaliers defeated the No. 5-seed Raptors 114-112 on Sunday night to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs, where they will battle the No. 1-seed Detroit Pistons. Throughout the seven-game series, the Raptors gave the Cavaliers everything to handle. Despite entering the series as a +400 underdog, Toronto came within one game of pulling off a major upset. For NBA fans who don’t normally watch the Raptors, this series opened their eyes to how good this Toronto team is right now and how much potential they have for the future.

James Harden Praises the Toronto Raptors

Following the game, the media spoke with the Cavaliers’ star guard Harden, who offered high praise for a Raptors squad that pushed Cleveland to the limit over seven games.

“Give Toronto credit. They’re a really good team, especially defensively. They get after you, they swarm the basketball, they create turnovers, and get on transition. They just do things differently. It’s very effective,” Harden said.

The series ultimately came down to home-court advantage, as the home team won each of the seven games. That’s why it’s so critical to finish in the top four of the conference in the NBA, because having home-court advantage is a massive edge when it comes to the postseason. Out of the eight first-round series, six of the teams with the higher seed made it through to the second round. Had the Raptors been the team with the higher seed in this series, and thus possessed home court, they may have been able to beat the Cavaliers, which would have sent Cleveland packing despite their high-payroll team full of superstars. In the end, though, Cleveland won.

Raptors Have a Bright Future

In many ways, the Raptors overachieved this season, winning 46 games after winning just 30 a year ago. The 16-win improvement was one of the highest in the NBA, and it shows everyone that this Raptors team is here to stay, one that is going to be good for a very long time in this league.

The eye-opening performance of 24-year-old forward Scottie Barnes, who proved to the world he is one of the NBA’s most elite two-way players, was one of the big storylines of the postseason. You also have 25-year-old wing RJ Barrett, who scored the game-winner in Game 6 in epic fashion. Then you have 20-year-old rookie center Collin Murray-Boyles, who was able to counteract the Cavaliers’ twin big men of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen for much of the series. Overall, it was a very impressive performance by the Raptors’ young players in defeat.

This summer, the Raptors will look to make several improvements to their roster to try to make a longer run next year. After pushing a strong Cavaliers team to the brink for seven games, the expectations for these Raptors players will be heightened next year, so head coach Darko Rajakaovic is going to have to make the adjustments necessary to help them get to the next level.