5 Who popped and 2 who flopped in nail-biting victory over the Celtics

Scottie Barnes Popped

Scottie Barnes is the player you expect to pop when he plays, this team's lone All-Star and the centerpiece of both their offense and defense. Yet he was fairly mediocre in their loss to the Celtics the other night and had not looked truly himself in his first game action this preseason since missing the final 20 games of the season last year.

Tuesday night he was ready to play from the jump, hitting a quartet of 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game. The Raptors were running actions where both Davion Mitchell and Gradey Dick had the ball, with Scottie spacing out to the shoulder. That normally wouldn't be an ideal place for the shooting-challenged Barnes, but he confidently took them again-and-again off the catch. Feeling good, he even pulled up in transition and drilled one from the top of the key.

When Barnes was initiating the offense, his dribble penetration opened up opportunities for the players aroudn him, be that spot-up shooters or Gradey Dick making savvy cuts along the baseline. Barnes finished the game with 10 assists as he hit shooters or cutters in stride.

In all, Barnes put up 26 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in a complete effort. The Raptors had some trouble defending the 3-point line but were largely solid in the paint, and Barnes played a huge part in that defensive effort as well. It was the exact sort of game you wanted to see from him in the ramp-up to the start of the season.