Raptors: Winners and Losers from close win against Magic

While some might have viewed the first meeting between the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic as a battle between two top-five NBA Draft picks in Scottie Barnes and Jalen Suggs, the likes of Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. had to make sure that Toronto was able to close out their homestand with a victory.

The Raptors were in the middle of a hard-fought slugfest for most of the evening, but VanVleet finally came alive in the fourth quarter to give Toronto a 12-point lead. While they almost choked and lost the game in embarrassing fashion, some solid defense at the end helped Toronto pull out a 110-109 victory.

The Raptors didn’t have the smoothest offensive performance in this game, as their shooting was largely rendered useless for the first few quarters, but they made enough key baskets when it counted, and that was enough to propel them all the way to 3-3 on the young season.

Some Toronto Raptors players put together excellent performances that go to show how well they’ve been playing this season. Still, there are some Raptors that need to look in the mirror and recalibrate after a tough night.

Winners and Losers after the Toronto Raptors defeated the Magic.

Winner: Scottie Barnes

Barnes might not have any animus towards Suggs, but all of Raptors Twitter was watching his game against the Gonzaga product with bated breath. If you want to declare a winner from Round 1 of this matchup, Barnes ends up getting the spoils, as his red-hot first-quarter kept Orlando from pulling away.

Scottie Barnes helped the Toronto Raptors get hot.

Barnes finished the game with 21 points, 19 of which came in the first half, and nine rebounds, further adding to what has been an incredibly impressive start to his career with the Raptors. While Suggs had perhaps his best game in the NBA, Barnes had the better individual game while leading his team to a win.

Loser: Precious Achiuwa

VanVleet would’ve almost certainly had one of the loser spots in this game after 3 quarters given how inept he was, but he came alive in the final stanza. Achiuwa has been a roller-coaster in his first few games, and the Raptors experienced some of the low points in this matchup.

Achiuwa recorded just eight points and six rebounds in the loss, both of which are below his season averages. Achiuwa looked completely overwhelmed by two traditional, taller big men in Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. He came alive to start the third quarter, but Khem Birch thoroughly outplayed him in this one.

Winner: Gary Trent Jr.

While Trent earned himself a payday in excess of $51 million for his scoring ability, he has made jaw-dropping strides on the defensive end. In addition to picking up two more steals, Trent was able to make a play on Cole Anthony that prevented the Magic point guard from getting a shot off in crunch time.

Gary Trent Jr. has become a quality defender for the Toronto Raptors.

In addition to his defensive prowess, Trent tallied 19 points on 7-13 shooting and 2-5 from 3-point range. Efficiency has been a concern so far this season, but Trent put forth his best offensive and defensive game of the season when Toronto really needed it.

Losers: Malachi Flynn and Goran Dragic

How could these two players be losers when they didn’t even play a single minute? Well, based on how Nurse messed with the rotations, it looks like their influence on this team is shrinking as Dalano Banton continues to shine.

Banton played a career-high 20 minutes, recording 10 points and four rebounds while being thrown into the game late in order to help close things out. Banton’s 3-pointer is coming along, and his potential on both sides has Flynn and Dragic sitting around on the sidelines as de facto cheerleaders and assistant coaches.