Brandon Ingram disappears in Raptors' Game 2 loss to Cavaliers

When they traded for Brandon Ingram and gave him a big contract extension a year ago, the Toronto Raptors thought he was the missing piece. Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was just missing.

Ingram shot 3-for-15 and committed five turnovers in the Raptors' 115-105 loss. He didn't do much else, collecting only four rebounds and three assists and had a plus/minus of -15 in his 36 minutes, wasting a big 45-point performance from the Toronto bench.

Brandon Ingram disappeared in a winnable game

The Raptors did a lot right in Monday's game. Rookie Collin Murray-Boyles scored 17 points in 26 minutes and opened up scoring opportunities with timely, powerful screens. RJ Barrett shot 10-for-13 and grabbed nine rebounds on his way to 22 points. Sandro Mamukelashvili had a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Playing a legitimate title contender like the Cavs, the Raptors couldn't afford to have their leading scorer (21.5 PPG) go scoreless in the first half. Ingram finally got on the board in the second half, shooting 3-for-9, but had as many turnovers as assists (two).

It was the second quiet game in a row for Ingram, who scored 17 points and shot 5-for-9 in Toronto's Game 1 loss, logging a plus/minus of -19. He took only one shot after halftime, though he did go 4-for-4 from the line.

After Game 1, Ingram blamed coach Darko Rajaković for his passivity, claiming the coach only wanted him to be a screener. 

"Me shooting nine shots is not going to win basketball games," Ingram concluded.