Toronto has every right to bask in the applause after their commanding overtime win over the Golden State Warriors on December 28.
Toronto headed into the matchup without their injury-riddled center Jakob Poeltl. Despite running a non-traditional starting lineup with Scottie Barnes at the center spot, Barnes took charge of the Raptors and led a star-making performance, capping off a very gutsy team effort.
Alongside the stellar Barnes triple-double of 23 points, 25 rebounds, and 10 assists, along with three steals and one block, the Raptors also benefited from a 26-point, six rebounds, and four assists performance from Brandon Ingram. On top of that, Immanuel Quickley contributed 27 points, seven assists, and four rebounds, Ja'Kobe Walter scored a season-high 18 points, and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 13 points. Not to mention, this game marked the long-awaited return of RJ Barrett, who spent a grueling 15 games on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic would say in his post-game presser about the resilient effort of his team (YouTube link here):
Raptors celebrate an uplifting victory over the Golden State Warriors
"Thank God and glory to God, first of all. Amazing team win. Amazing grit from the whole group, and Scottie [Barnes] was leading that — leading with the rebounding effort, leading with playmaking, leading with defense, he was really, really high level today. It was impressive [sic] performance ... Overall, I think that the whole team came with a lot of energy, we were really motivated to bounce back after Washington game [sic] and we had outstanding [sic] opponent against us, some Hall of Famers and All-Stars on tha team, amazing coach — it was a great challenge and I'm really happy that we came out with the win tonight."Darko Rajakovic, Dec. 28, 2025
Coach couldn't have said it better. You couldn't ask for a better response from this Raptors squad after a run of challenging setbacks they've faced recently. The recent Wizards defeat, in particular, showed them struggling to maintain the momentum they had built back in November, making it seem like they were drifting back into a direction lacking energy and drive.
Now, Toronto finally ended a disappointing five-game losing streak at home by outscoring the Dubs 19 to 5 in overtime. They demonstrated their offensive strength with a team field goal percentage of 50.9 percent, dominated the boards with 55 total team rebounds (thank you, Scottie Barnes), and executing great passing with 40 assists compared to the Warriors' 25.
Toronto faces another challenge at home on December 29 in a back-to-back against Orlando, marking the second game of their five-game home stand. The pressure is on the Raptors to keep riding this wave of good energy and to turn it into a sustained run of wins and consistent performance moving forward. They’ve done it before, so who’s to say they can’t do it again —especially with the "Maple Mamba" back in the mix and a new presence arriving in Mo Bamba.