The Toronto Raptors laid the smackdown on the Orlando Magic 129-99 in game one of their two-game homestand against Mickey Mouse's favorite basketball team. This was also the first game since the news that Kawhi Leonard would be out, so for my takeaways tonight, I bring you a player who redeemed himself, another who rescued the Raptors, and a tandem that was a disaster.
The Redemption: Scottie Barnes was everything
Thank you. That is exactly what I and many Raptors fans were looking for from Scottie Barnes after a stinker where he shot 0-of-12 Sunday against the Timberwolves. Barnes finished with 28 points, six rebounds, four assists, and five stocks (steals plus blocks) while shooting 11-of-17 from the field.
On a night where the Raptors' frontcourt didn’t show up, Barnes was everything defensively. He protected the rim and crashed the glass hard, even spending minutes where he acted as Toronto’s center. He was flying around the perimeter, rotating defensively, and jumping into passing lanes. Barnes also had several good on-ball possessions where he shut down different Magic players and forced important stops through the first half.
After coming off a game where Barnes' defensive engagement may have looked the worst I’ve ever seen in his Raptors career, this was exactly the way he needed to bounce back.
Offensively, this was the version of Scottie Barnes that will help the Raptors stay afloat without Kawhi Leonard playing.
He started off kind of slow, settling for jumpers and looking like it might be another long night, but a switch flipped in the second quarter: he ran the point, created for his teammates, and got super assertive. Then, in the third quarter, he flipped another switch, going 7-of-7 from the field for 16 points, plus two boards and two dimes, basically shutting the door on any hopes of a Magic comeback.
Franchise players respond from bad games with great games, and Scottie Barnes did that Wednesday night.
The Rescue: RJ Barrett continues to be the tone setter
In back-to-back games, the Raptors' offense came out extremely flat. They turned it over a ton, gave up easy baskets, and settled for bad shots. RJ Barrett again was the guy to take on the responsibility of getting the offense going. He dropped 21 points, six rebounds, and three assists on 8-of-11 shooting in the first half and was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Although he shot 1-of-7 the rest of the way, adding just three points, three rebounds, and three assists in the second half, he did his job to open the game. The Raptors needed offense and shooting to start this game, and Barrett answered the bell.
Without RJ Barrett’s play in the first half, this game would’ve gone a completely different way. From the opening tip, the Magic looked like the better, more prepared team, and I honestly thought this game was going to get ugly for the Raptors. Barrett’s play made sure that didn’t happen, and he continues to show why he is so important to this team, especially when Leonard isn’t playing.
His pure ability to just go and get a bucket at any time may not always be efficient or aesthetically pleasing, but it’s super valuable and continues to be a key factor in this group winning games.
The Disaster: The bigs stunk
Now, the biggest concern coming out of the Raptors' fifth game is that their biggest roster-construction issue didn’t look any better. Toronto’s frontcourt will continue to be questioned by fans if Collin Murray-Boyles and Jakob Poeltl continue to play the way they did tonight, against Minnesota and Washington.
From the opening tip, Poeltl didn’t have it tonight. Whether it was getting lost in defensive coverage, having little impact on the glass, picking up bad fouls, or just standing around offensively, he was brutal. Poelt finished with two points and two rebounds while having five fouls in only 10 minutes of action. The fouling was the biggest issue for me because, in four minutes, he picked up two fouls and tied the hands of Darko Rajakovic, forcing him to go to Collin Murray-Boyles super early.
CMB wasn’t much better. Even though he had a much greater defensive impact than Jak, he was all over the place too and picked up two fouls early as well. He was a train wreck, flying all over the place defensively, trying to cover too much ground, not just playing his game and staying disciplined. He got into early foul trouble too and forced Rajakovic to go to third-string big man Trayce Jackson Davis at around the halfway mark of the first quarter. CMB is supposed to be a stopper and someone who can anchor the defense when Barnes isn’t on the floor, and he was far from that tonight.
You could argue he looked more like a rookie tonight than he did all of last season when he was actually a rookie.
No one is saying that the Jak CMB tandem has to be elite or world-stopping, but 24 total minutes from the two in a 48-minute game and 10 total fouls? That can’t happen, especially against a Magic frontcourt that, to be blunt, is mid. Both bigs' poor performances were preventable and can’t keep happening if this group is going to survive this stretch without Leonard and still be viewed as a contender.
They’ll have a chance to redeem themselves on Halloween eve against the Magic, and maybe they’ll dress up as a frontcourt that doesn’t commit silly fouls and actually crashes the glass.
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