The Raptors may have beaten a New Orleans Pelicans team that was without Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy III, but a win is a win, and the Raptors desperately needed one after their lacklustre outing against the Clippers. They leapfrogged the Hawks in the standings again and can go into their game against the Magic with confidence and good energy.
Moreover, it was good to see Scottie Barnes thrive in the starting point guard spot as Immanuel Quickley had to miss another game with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Barnes finished the game with 23 points on 10-14 shooting, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. He led all players in the game in points, assists, and blocks. His fingerprints were all over this win.
It was a strong performance all around, but head coach Darko Rajaković still found one area of improvement for Barnes.
“Outstanding game today,” Rajaković said in the postgame media availability. “Three blocked shots, twelve assists, six rebounds. He did a really, really good job. Well, four turnovers. He can do better there.”
Barnes’s four turnovers were also a game high, and he leads the Raptors in turnovers per game. But in his defense, he doesn’t usually fill a starting point guard role and is not a traditional floor general. A few turnovers are bound to happen, if he’s initiating most of the offense.
Rajaković’s comments also underline how high the expectations for the 24-year-old are, even when he is thrown into a new role, and how much the team relies on him on both ends of the floor.
Scottie Barnes put together an impressive 3-game streak
Barnes recorded 10 assists against the Utah Jazz. He followed that up with 12 assists against the LA Clippers and another 12 assists against the Pelicans. That’s a whopping total of 34 assists over three games.
It is also the first time since 2020 that a Raptors player strung together three games with 10+ assists. Kyle Lowry, who helped lead the Raptors to their 2019 championship, was the last Raptors player to do it. He strung together six games with 10+ assists in February 2020. The Raptors only lost one of those games.
With nine games left in the season, Barnes still has a chance to match Lowry’s latest streak as a Raptor, especially if Quickley misses more games and he has to continue to act as the Raptors’ starting point guard and primary facilitator.