Barrett, Barnes each score 33, revive Raptors' hopes in Game 3 - ESPN

TORONTO — RJ Barrett said he had trouble sleeping the night before Thursday night's Game 3. A Toronto native, he said he was excited thinking about playing his first home playoff game and anticipating the task at hand for the Raptors after dropping the first two games of the series.

Barrett responded, as both he and Scottie Barnes each scored 33 points to lead Toronto to a 126-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. The 33 points were a career playoff high for both players.

«A night like tonight was good to build some confidence and just show that we're here,» Barrett said after the game. «We're in this series. When we play like how we did today, everybody together, everybody's playing hard, locked in on the game plan, we can make some noise.»

Cleveland still leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday afternoon in Toronto, but the Raptors put together their best performance of the series in Game 3.

They shot 61% (14-of-23) from 3 and got key contributions from the bench — Collin Murray-Boyles set a team rookie record with 22 points as a reserve and Jamison Battle hit four 3's after not appearing in the first two games of the series. But the Raptors were carried by the performances of Barrett, who went 6-of-8 from 3, and Barnes, who added 11 assists and five rebounds.

They became the third Raptors duo to each score 30 points in a playoff game, joining Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry during the 2019 playoff run and Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in 2016.

«We started off the day really positive, hungry, really wanting to win,» Barnes said. «We want to do whatever it takes.… We knew we needed everybody for this win. You've seen some big performances from everybody. So, it just goes to