Raptors news: Scottie Barnes rips Raps effort, awful new court released

Whatever positives Scottie Barnes, Darko Rajakovic, and the Toronto Raptors picked up in their season-opening win has been sucked out of the building, as Toronto is now 1-3 after failing to record 100 points in any regulation game. The loss to the Portland Trail Blazers was rock bottom.

Despite the fact Portland was playing without Anfernee Simons on the second half of a road back-to-back, they pulled out a 99-91 victory over Masai Ujiri’s lackluster team. The embarrassing 3-point shooting, inability to get any bench production, and laughable half-court offense all contributed to their struggles.

Barnes put the blame squarely on the team’s effort and inability to get rebounds. Jakob Poeltl did his thing, but Deandre Ayton managed to pull down 23 rebounds. Barnes, who recorded yet another double-double, thinks this is an area where Toronto needs to improve ASAP.

Barnes said that Toronto needs to “take some pride in boxing out”  after such a lackluster performance. While rebounding is difficult without Precious Achiuwa and 7-1 second-year center Christian Koloko, Barnes thinks that Toronto simply didn’t want it enough. Will they be able to patch this issue up in the near future?

More Raptors news

• The Raptors had their worst shooting night in years against Portland, as they made just 13% of their 3-pointers following a 4-29 outing. This is Toronto’s worst shooting percentage from deep in a game since the 2017 season and the fewest 3-pointers made in a game since 2018.
• The NBA unveiled 30 new courts that each team will use during the in-season tournament, all of which are meant to coincide with City Edition jerseys. The Raptors’ black and gray number is one of the better ones, and it’s still a mystery how anyone thought it looked good.

NBA news

• The Brooklyn Nets may have a rising star on their hands, as third-year guard Cam Thomas became the second-youngest player in NBA history to score at least 30 points in each of his team’s first three games. The only one who did it at a younger age? Shaq.
• Reigning NBA champion Nikola Jokic recorded his 107th career triple-double, tying him with LeBron James and Jason Kidd for fourth all-time. His Denver Nuggets started off 4-0 also, picking up a 110-102 win against the Utah Jazz.

Will Barnes and the Raptors fix their rebounding?

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