After a fantastic five-game West Coast swing, Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors saw their winning streak come to an end at the hands of Russell Westbrook and the Los Angeles Lakers. 31 points and 16 rebounds from Barnes wasn’t enough to seal the victory in this one.
Still, Toronto had to feel much better about where they are in the NBA world now. With the Cavaliers also slipping up lately, Toronto remains just one game behind Cleveland for the coveted No. 6 seed. They could escape a play-in matchup against the hated Nets if they manage to snag a few wins here and there.
Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet are playing their typically elite brand of basketball, as they appear to have shaken off the rust from a sluggish start to the second half. Several secondary stars have been on fire lately as Toronto tries everything in their power to escape the play-in.
Even though the Raptors picked up a tough loss right before some difficult road competitions, they should feel very satisfied with these 3 trends. If these developments continue in the coming weeks, Toronto might be able to set themselves up for a deep playoff run.
3 trends the Toronto Raptors should feel good about.
3. Gary Trent Jr. is overcoming his slump
Trent’s poor shooting right out of the gate in the second half looked even worse than a garden-variety slump because of the lack of quality shooters to pick up the slack. Trent looked more like his old self on Toronto’s West Coast swing before putting in another solid day of work against the Lakers.
In his last five games, Trent has topped 23 points five times. The cherry on top of this recent run of form was a 42-point explosion that helped Toronto put away a dominant Phoenix team that might be the favorite to win it all. When he’s on, it just changes the scope of the offense.
Gary Trent Jr. shots the lights out for the Toronto Raptors.
Trent did score just 15 points combined against the Nuggets and Clippers, but he was struggling with a non-COVID illness in that stretch. Putting up a few 20-point games on this shooting-deficient team more than makes up for one to two substandard nights in games they won regardless.
Trent can be prone to fits of inconsistency, but you’ll put up with that if it means he can occasionally go off for 30 points while playing solid defense. No matter how rough he’s shooting, Toronto will keep going back to him as their primary or secondary source of 3-balls.
2. Precious Achiuwa becoming a sniper
In the early parts of the season, Achiuwa was a complete liability on the offensive end that kept getting minutes based on his athletic potential and defensive versatility. The version of Achiuwa we’re seeing now is what Masai Ujiri always envisioned for his prized trade acquisition.
Since the break, Achiuwa is taking 3.5 3-pointers per game and making an astonishing 43.5% of those attempts. Not only would that number be right near the top of the entire NBA, but it’s helped him average 13.0 points per game since he started being more willing to shoot.
Precious Achiuwa has helped boost the Toronto Raptors’ shooting.
Achiuwa is playing a calmer, more relaxed game than he was before. The mind-numbing turnovers are going down and the quality shots are going up. He hasn’t lost a shred of his patented defensive skill as a result, which has to make Nick Nurse happy.
Achiuwa was too athletically skilled to be a simple rim runner. Now that he’s found a secondary offensive function as a shooter, he’s reeled off double-figures in each of the last six games. No Raptors player has improved more from Game No. 1 to Game No. 70 than the former Memphis Tiger.
1. Scottie Barnes filling in nicely for OG Anunoby
With Anunoby on the mend thanks to his finger injury, Barnes has gradually taken over more of the offensive workload. The results have been more than encouraging, as they’ve helped him jump over Evan Mobley and right up to the top of many Rookie of the Year ballots.
Since February 25, Barnes is averaging 19.8 points per game on 57% shooting to go along with 8.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. Barnes equaled his previous career-high twice before breaking it against the Lakers. His 17 rebounds are also a new career-best. He’s hit double figures in every game except one.
The Toronto Raptors are leaning on Scottie Barnes.
It seems like the only people who can stop Barnes on offense is the Raptors’ coaching staff, as he has found himself frozen out of plentiful shooting nights when all five projected starters are healthy. Hopefully, these last few weeks changed that thought process in a declarative fashion.
Barnes is starting to look more confident in this last handful of games, blitzing into the paint and stroking it from long range. With his defense continuing to improve with each passing week, Barnes is winning more ROY attention. Anunoby might need to take a back seat when he returns.