TORONTO – Jamal Shead enjoyed a moment of appreciation from his former head coach at the University of Houston, Kelvin Sampson.
The second-year guard made one of the biggest plays in Toronto’s 93-89 win in Game 4 on Sunday when he forced an eight-second violation against Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell. The Raptors trailed by a point with 40.8 seconds left.
Scottie Barnes stalked Mitchell in the backcourt with the clock running before Shead ran over and made a play on the ball, diving for it before it went out of bounds as the referees called the violation.
“Sam texted me, it was cool,” Shead said of his old coach. “He just said (he was) proud of me, and we just both said culture. That’s something that was ingrained in me for four years there (at the University of Houston), so just getting that text from him and him letting me know that he’s proud of me was awesome.”
“Diving on the floor is not negotiable at the University of Houston,” he added. “We get taken out for that, we lose playing time for that. So that’s pretty normal.”
Shead and the Raptors evened the first-round playoff series at 2-2 with the win after dropping the first two games in Cleveland. Toronto now heads on the road for Game 5 on Wednesday.
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Cleveland was heavily favoured entering the series and showed why in the opening two games, averaging 120.5 points and winning by an average margin of 11.5.
But Toronto turned things around, starting on the defensive end. The Raptors held the Cavaliers to 96.5 points per game, including a 126-104 win in Game 3. Mitchell went from averaging 31 points in the first two games to 17.5 in Games 3 and 4, with co-star James Harden dropping from 25 to 18.5.
“It starts on defence for us,” Shead said. “I think if we can figure out how to take our defence with us on the road, I think we’ll figure everything else out from there.”
Shead hasn’t been the only one who has turned a corner. Barnes has been the best player in the series, averaging a series-best 25.8 points along with 7.3 assists while taking on the assignment of guarding Mitchell and Harden.
R.J. Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., has averaged 24.3 points while also stepping up in a big way defensively.
“Got to, we have no choice,” Barnes said when asked about bringing the same intensity on the road. ” … We’ve been doing that the past two or three games. Just got to keep doing it. Play with heart, intensity, focus, follow the game plan, help each other out.”
Barnes is the only Raptor who was part of the team’s last playoff appearance four years ago, when he was a rookie.
The two-time all-star said he didn’t learn anything new about his team by evening the series.
“I know we play hard, we play aggressive, try to be physical. Just got to play our style of basketball, our brand of basketball,” he said.
However, head coach Darko Rajakovic offered his own view on what the playoffs and adversity can do to players.
“I think whenever you say what player is made of, what team is made of, I think they’re always constantly finding out that there is more,” he said.
“Whatever was the best and the maximum day before that, once you reach that, you’re searching for new highs.”
Rajakovic said the series is showing key starters like Barrett, Barnes and Brandon Ingram are still evolving as players.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press