Cavaliers edge Raptors in the last minute on a night when the rookie can’t get the last word

It is a commonly held theory that the most difficult task for NBA rookies to handle is on the defensive end.

The opponents they face each night are bigger, quicker, smarter, more savvy than any they were used to seeing. They are grown men with experience to draw on and that makes life difficult for first-year NBAers.

It’s why watching Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley handle their assignments when the Raptors dropped a 102-101 decision to the Cavaliers at the Scotiabank Arena on Friday was in some ways unusual.

Barnes and Mobley are two of the best rookies in a deep first-year class this season, and one of the main reasons they stand out from the others is because of the way they’ve taken to defence.

They guard, they guard willingly and they guard multiple positions, providing the kind of consistent, versatile defensive ability rookies rarely show.

Not to take away from Cade Cunningham, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green, Chris Duarte, Josh Giddey or Franz Wagner, all of whom are off to more than respectable starts to their careers, but it is Barnes and Mobley who are generating most of the buzz.

“The tools and talent they’ve been given, they’ve realized it,” Nick Nurse said of the rookies, drafted third and fourth by the Cavaliers and Raptors in July. “They’ve used it as a strength and played with those strengths. A lot of defence starts with the want-to … (the) desire to want to do it. I think they both understand that that’s how they can make impactful and winning plays. So they both do it.”

The two rookies waged an impressive battle against each other Friday. They guarded one another when they were both on the floor and took turns shutting each other down.

“They’re going to be around for a long time, I would imagine, and just continue to get better,” Nurse said. “That will probably be an interesting matchup to watch as the years roll by.”

Barnes finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots; Mobley had 18 points, five rebounds, an assist and two blocks.

They were the highlight defenders of a tough defensive battle that went all night; the young Cavaliers play hard and tough and have twin seven-footers in Mobley and Jared Allen to protect the rim.

“They’re long and they’re bouncy and they contest and block shots, but they’ve also got good feet and they’re not afraid to go out there and guard,” Nurse said.

The Raptors lost for the first time in six games when an OG Anunoby shot fell off the rim and Barnes’ putback came a split second after the final buzzer.

It was one of Cleveland’s young guards, Darius Garland, who gave Cleveland a one-point lead by making two free throws with 4.8 seconds left.

Garland finished with 21 points for Cleveland; Anunoby had 23 for Toronto.

The Raptors continued a trend Friday that’s rarely seen from an NBA team these days. They went hard to the glass on missed shots, as befits the best offensive-rebounding team in the league, but they also got back on defence and didn’t get burned in transition.

Toronto had 19 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points but gave up only six fast break points to the Cavaliers. It runs counter to traditional NBA logic that says a team can do one — hit the glass or get back in transition — but not both.

Not these Raptors.