Cleveland Cruises Past Toronto to Open NBA Playoffs

Mitchell scores 32 as Cavaliers beat Raptors in playoff opener

Cleveland opened the playoffs with a 126-113 win over Toronto. Mitchell had 32, Harden posted a double-double, and Strus added 24 off the bench.

Mitchell’s 32 points powered Cleveland past Toronto in their playoff opener...

Donovan Mitchell poured in 32 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 126-113 on Saturday in Game 1 of their NBA playoff series.

  

James Harden posted a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Max Strus added 24 points off the bench for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. Cleveland will look to extend the lead when they host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Monday.

 

RJ Barrett led Toronto with 24 points, but the Raptors never held a lead after the first few minutes and fell behind by as many as 24.

Mitchell has now dropped at least 30 points in nine consecutive playoff series openers, an NBA record.

“You see the focus,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said of Mitchell. “How he just gets more locked-in than ever. The goal for him now is to sustain, whatever that looks like, however many games we go, now it's sustaining and keeping that consistency.”

Donovan Mitchell (32p) scored at all three levels as the Cavs protected homecourt in Game 1 😤

Game 2: Monday, 7 PM ET, Peacock pic.twitter.com/Mk6znV6NNU

— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2026

Three other playoff series tipped off Saturday. In the East, the third-seeded Knicks host the Atlanta Hawks. Out West, Nikola Jokic and the third-seeded Nuggets welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the fourth-seeded Lakers host the Houston Rockets.

The Lakers-Rockets matchup renews a marquee rivalry, with LeBron James facing longtime foe Kevin Durant.

James faces an even heavier workload, though, with the Lakers missing league scoring leader Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves indefinitely due to late-season injuries.