CLEVELAND – Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and the rest of the Toronto Raptors were disappointed but proud after getting bounced from the NBA playoffs.

Jarrett Allen had a double-double with 22 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past Toronto 114-102 on Sunday in Game 7 of their first-round series. Barnes led the Raptors with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists as Toronto fell to 0-11 in post-season games in Cleveland.

Barnes said that pushing the Cavaliers — whose US$392.4 million payroll, including luxury tax, was the highest in the league this season — to Game 7 was something of a coming-out party for the young Raptors.

“We don’t really get that many national television games and we’re across the border, so people don’t really see it,” said Barnes at a post-game news conference. “We work hard, we fight. We can’t really do nothing for their opinion, but we just know how we are together.

“We’re going to fight, we’re going to work hard, we’re going to scrap.”

The Cavaliers will travel to Detroit on Tuesday for Game 1 of their second-round series against the Pistons. Detroit eliminated the Orlando Magic with a 116-94 victory in Game 7 of their first-round matchup earlier Sunday.

Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., had 23 points, six assists and four rebounds. He also added three steals. Second-year guards Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter, both playing in their first-ever NBA playoff series, had 14 and 13 points respectively.

Shead and Walter stepped in as all-star forward Brandon Ingram (right-heel inflammation) and point guard Immanuel Quickley (right hamstring stain) were both unavailable to play.

“Guys just came in and gave it their all,” said Barrett. “We’ve always had a next man up mentality, and I think that we always believed that we could play at this level.

“This loss hurts, but I think it also shows the rest of the league, rest of the world, what it is we’re building here. When you see the Toronto Raptors, you’re going to have a dog fight.”

It was a remarkably even series with the two teams each scoring 718 points through the first 6 1/2 games but a woeful third quarter was Toronto’s undoing.

The game was tied 49-49 at intermission but the Cavaliers reeled off an 11-1 run to start the third for their first lead of the game. Cleveland outscored Toronto 38-19 in the period, taking a 19-point lead into the fourth.

Allen had a double-double in the third alone with 14 points and 10 boards. That helped Cleveland outrebound Toronto 22-8 in the period, with 14 second-chance points. The Raptors had none.

Although Toronto outscored the Cavaliers 34-27 in the fourth it wasn’t enough to erase Cleveland’s sizable lead.

“I thought we gave everything we’ve got today,” said Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic, who also congratulated the Cavaliers. “We were fighting for every possession. We were fighting for everything on the floor. We made it really hard for them. That was not an easy game for them to win.

“We were close. We had our opportunities, the chances, and there is going to be a lot of stuff to reflect on and to improve on going forward.”

Shead and Walter weren’t the only players in the Raptors’ youth movement that impressed in the series.

Rookie centre Collin Murray-Boyles finished Sunday’s loss with eight points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. He averaged 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in his first-ever playoff series.

“I want to say none of this really surprised me, but I’m just proud that people got to see that and just how hard (Shead, Walter and Murray-Boyles) work,” said Barnes, who is only 24 years old. “The time that they put in, all that hard work, everybody seen it, so proud of these guys.

“They fought to the end. This is a great lesson for all of us.”

Most pre-season predictions by media outlets had Toronto winning fewer than 40 games and vying for a play-in spot. Instead, the Raptors earned a 46-36 regular-season record and the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed.

Many prognosticators also predicted Toronto would be eliminated by the highly touted Cavaliers in six or fewer games. Instead, the Raptors pushed Cleveland’s high-priced roster to the brink.

Rajakovic called Toronto’s season “an absolute success.”

“I’m really, really proud of everything that we were able to accomplish this year,” said Rajakovic. “From developing our young guys, from our culture making the next step, from all the things that we were controlling, all the work that we put in, all the connectivity that we had, and all of that resulted with the number of wins that we had.

“Making it to the first round of the playoffs, playing Game 7 over here on the road, I think this was exactly what this team needed, and I think this is going to set us up for a lot of success in the future.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers, fuelled by a decisive 38-point third quarter, defeated the Toronto Raptors 114-102 tonight in Game 7 to win the first-round, best-of-seven NBA playoff series. The Cavaliers advance to the second round to face the Detroit Pistons.

More to come

© 2026 The Canadian Press

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May 2-4 is the unofficial start of patio season in Canada, and we all know how it usually goes: the BBQ cover gets yanked off, the cushions are hauled out of storage, and we just cross our fingers. But after five (or even eight?!) months of dormancy, your outdoor space is far from ready. To get ahead of the holiday and make it actually relaxation-ready, here are the four wake-up jobs to tackle before the long weekend, along with the smart tools that make each one quick and efficient.

 

Your BBQ has been sitting under a cover all winter, hosting spiders, rotting wood chips and last fall’s greasy blobs. Two tools will save you a lot of grief before you fire it up.

 

First, this DEWALT shop vac on suction mode. Pop the grates off, scrape any heavy residue with a putty knife (or the metal edge of a BBQ cleaning tool, which I’ll get to in a moment), then use the crevice nozzle to vacuum out cooled ash and debris from the cook box. One important rule: shop vacs handle cooled, loose debris only, never wet grease, which clogs the filter and ruins your vac.[/product_listing]

 

Second, the BBQ Daddy from Scrub Daddy. Heat the grill to about 300°F, dip the scrub head into a bowl of cold water, then apply it to the hot grates. The FlexTexture core firms up in cold water and steams when it hits the heat. The steam does the work, and it’s a fun thing to watch too – it’s one of the most impressive before-and-after cleaning jobs you’ll tackle! The biggest selling point: no wire bristles, which the CDC has been flagging as an emergency-room risk for years. Wipe the interior down with a degreaser, rinse well, and you’re ready to grill.[/product_listing]

 

The trick most people don’t know: most modern shop vacs have a built-in blower port. Switch the hose over and use it to blast leaves, pollen, cobwebs, debris and dust out of furniture joints, umbrella ribs, and deck corners. Try sixty seconds per piece. It’s faster than wiping and seriously satisfying.

 

Then, grab this product for the rest of the patio: 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner. It’s 100% Canadian-owned and Canadian-made (perfect for May 2-4!), and it works on both the frames AND the cushions. Spray it on, wait 30 seconds to 10 minutes (you’ll see it start to work within seconds, you’ll know when to rinse), then hose it off. In many cases, you won’t need to scrub at all; in other cases, you’ll have better results if you gently agitate the surface with a soft-bristle scrub brush. Glove up and wear your least favourite clothing when using this product, it can stain. Rinse the surrounding area and foliage well after use.[/product_listing]

 

You may also like:

Solar String Lights – $49.99

Rattan Patio Furniture Set – $252.99
Napoleon Freestyle 365 Propane Gas BBQ Grill – $499

 

This one’s important, and if you care about the well-being of your AC unit, please don’t skip it. As in, don’t run your AC the first time without prepping the outdoor unit; you’ll either kill efficiency or damage the compressor.

Wait until daytime temperatures are reliably 15°C or higher (the compressor isn’t designed to start colder). Cut power at the disconnect box. Remove the winter cover and check it for damage and rodent nests. Hose it off and allow to fully dry in the sun before folding up and storing it away for the season.

 

Clear leaves, weeds and grass clippings from around the unit (you need two feet of clearance for proper airflow). Use the shop vac with a soft-bristle attachment to gently clean the condenser fins, then lightly hose the unit from top to bottom using a gentle showerhead spray setting on your hose. Don’t pressure-wash them! Those aluminum fins bend if you breathe on them.[/product_listing]

 

Inside the house, change the furnace filter (it’s shared with the AC), and you’re set.[/product_listing]

 

A single dog produces up to 274 pounds of solid waste per year,  and after a winter of snow cover, your yard is hiding months of accumulated piles that just thawed. That waste contains Salmonella, E. coli, and more, and spring rain can wash it into local watersheds. Putting that aside, you don’t want your kids or grandkids rolling around in that do you? Didn’t think so!

 

Your tool of choice: a stainless steel rake-and-tray pooper scooper combo. The two-piece design lets you collect multiple piles in one trip instead of walking back to the bin each time. Stainless steel doesn’t absorb odour or harbour bacteria the way plastic does, and you can thoroughly hose it down and let the sun finish the sanitizing.[/product_listing]

 

You may also like:

Long Box Planter – $179.99

Patio Umbrella – $479.00

Patio Furniture Covers – $27.99

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A popular social media trend of racing through the hallways of Church of Scientology locations has come to Vancouver, with one teenager arrested though later released.

Known as “speed running,” participants have entered the church’s Hollywood, Calif., locations and raced through hallways while attempting to avoid security guards and see how far they can get before being escorted out.

In Vancouver, police attended the city’s Church of Scientology location on Saturday at about 3 p.m. after being made aware of a group of about 250 to 300 people gathering.

“We received information that some of them were trying to get in, so we deployed police officers that were at other protests in the area,” said Sgt. Adam Donaldson with the Vancouver police. “At the rear there was some young people that managed to break a gate … but our members were able to prevent them from entering.”

Police used tactics to move the crown away from the church, he said, but at about 5 p.m. the group returned.

A 16-year-old male was arrested for a breach of the peace. He was later released into the custody of his parents and no charges were laid. Donaldson said the teen was arrested for pushing a police officer.

Dominic Tomkowicz, who came to the location to see if he could film what was taking place, said it was a “huge” turn out of people.

“This is just another TikTok and social media trend that will eventually fade out in time,” Tomkowicz said, adding he had no plans to go in the building, filming outside only. “Nobody gets harmed, I don’t see any harm in that. As long as … they don’t come back again and they follow the law, that’s perfectly fine.”

However, Donaldson told Global News there are criminal aspects, and potential charges, depending the actions people are taking to join the trend.

“If you are attempting to gain entry to a building, that is break and enter. If you are damaging property, that is mischief,” he said. “I saw the social media videos. I saw a lot of young people in the crowd masked up, and if you are making choices like that, you could potentially catch a criminal charge and it would affect the rest of your life.”

The term ‘speed running’ is part of video game culture and refers to playing through a game as quickly as possible during a “speedrun” often to avoid glitches and to minimize completion time.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, officials with the Church of Scientology have condemned the viral trend, accusing those who take part in it of “hate crimes.”

Spokesperson David Bloomberg said in a statement to Global News on Sunday the incident in Vancouver was a “coordinated act.”

“This was not a peaceful visit or lawful protest,” Bloomberg said. “It was a coordinated act involving attempts to breach a religious facility and disrupt its operations.

“Turning them (church facilities) into targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest or civic activity. It is trespass, harassment and disruption of religious spaces.”

—with files from Global News’ Darya Zargar

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Hamilton police say they have charged a man with 19 counts after he allegedly shot himself during a botched home invasion.

Police say they responded to reports of a shooting near the city’s centre on Saturday night and found a man with serious gunshot injuries.

At the scene, police say they found a trail of blood that led to a discarded firearm, which investigators believe was the same one used in the shooting.

Police say they determined the injured man had actually shot himself during an attempted home invasion.

The 38-year-old accused from Hamilton faces charges of breaking and entering, criminal harassment and numerous firearm offences.

Police say the man was treated at a local medical centre and is currently in custody.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Mounties in Saskatchewan say several people, including children, were assessed after a man unleashed bear spray inside a church Sunday morning.

RCMP say the disturbance at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in North Battleford, located in west-central Saskatchewan, began before 11 a.m.

Police say officers found churchgoers holding the suspect in the hallway before his arrest.

The church was later evacuated and police say about 25 people of all ages received treatment.

Bear spray can cause an intense burning sensation in the eyes and can make it difficult to breathe.

Police say an investigation has found that the suspect was not motivated by hate.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Toronto police say they have charged a 67-year-old man with second-degree murder after a fatal daylight shooting in the north end of the city.

Police identified the shooting victim as Daniel Stopnicki, a 47-year-old from Toronto.

They say Stopnicki was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene after life-saving measures were attempted.

Police say the shooting happened just after noon on Thursday in the area of Marlee Avenue and Glengrove Avenue West.

Shortly after the shooting, police said on social media that officers had arrested a suspect at the scene.

Police say Stopnicki’s death is Toronto’s seventh homicide of the year.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

CLEVELAND – The Toronto Raptors will be without forward Brandon Ingram for Game 7 of their NBA Eastern Conference quarterfinal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The all-star forward was officially ruled out about 90 minutes before tipoff at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.

Ingram had been seen in a walking boot at the team’s shootaround as he attempts to deal with inflammation in his right heel.

He aggravated a previous heel injury and left midway through the second quarter of Toronto’s 125-120 road loss in Game 5 on Wednesday.

The swelling did not improve enough for him to play in the Raptors’ 112-110 overtime win at home in Game 6 on Friday, and he was eventually ruled out of Game 7 after entering Sunday listed as questionable.

Ingram averaged a team-high 21.5 points in the regular season, but had not been as effective a scorer in the playoffs with an average of 12 points.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A string of serious crashes on Lower Mainland roads leaves two people dead and several more hurt. Also, drama outside the Scientology building as the online trend known as ‘speed running’ comes to Vancouver. And, sunny weather for the BMO Marathon prompts an advisory from health officials.

Watch ‘Global News at 6 BC’ for the latest news in British Columbia.

Click here for more Global BC videos

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

At 6 a.m. Saturday morning, families gathered at the Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport for Autism Aviation Day. Air Canada chooses six to eight airports each year to host the event, which teaches children on the spectrum the ins and outs of traveling through the airport. This year marks the first time Air Canada has partnered with Autism Services of Saskatoon to host the program.

“This is a very valuable connection because it kind of gives all of these families the chance to see how their kids operate through an airport and in doing so, the airports have that chance to make those adaptations,” says Alex Scott, director of family programming for Autism Services of Saskatoon.

Going to the airport can be stressful on its own, and it can be overwhelming for those on the spectrum.

“Everyone goes through their own journey when you have a kid on the spectrum, you can’t really lump autism together,” Scott says. “Everyone has their separate sensitivities to their environment, there are different issues there are different skill sets.”

During the morning, participants got to complete check-in procedures and move through security to help build their confidence in the airport environment. They then boarded the plane to take a short ride above Saskatoon to see what it actually feels like to be up in the air.

Watch the video above for kids’ reactions after completing their first flight. 

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.