Morning Coffee - Dec. 4, 2024
Barnes and Barrett too good to tank | Poeltl still beasting | Do we not hate Masai anymore? Asking for a friend...
Scottie Barnes sets career high as he and RJ Barrett star in win over Pacers - Raptors Republic
In what has been the case for quite a few games since Barnes’ return, he and Barrett were completely driving the Raptors process. The Pacers were playing a lot of drop defense — which we should know helps fuel Barnes’ play — and Barnes’ driving game came alive as he bludgeoned into the paint repeatedly. With Barrett? Well, he’s been one of the best pick n’ roll players in the NBA this season (91st percentile for all players who have used more than 10 poss) and the driving game is always present, but with Barnes’ return he’s been able to eat more often as a cutter and spot-up shooter. All in all, they scored nearly half of the Raptors 65 first half points (31) and took the Raptors into halftime with a 17-point lead.
After the break, the Raptors just kept hammering open the lead. We got Davion Mitchell driving closeouts and hitting contested floaters. We got a flurry of Barnes triples, and more of Barrett’s driving prowess. Everyone pitched in and the Raptors overwhelmed the Pacers completely. On the other end the Pacers tried a bit more initiation with Siakam, but it wasn’t very effective – the Raptors did a fantastic job of running the Pacers off the line while also presenting bodies in the lane to force misses. It’s not as if the Pacers are a bad halfcourt offense this year, they’re top-5 in the NBA, and the Raptors defense consistently blew up their actions. Mitchell & Barnes deserve credit in particular for their defense on Haliburton & Siakam.
Eventually though, the Raptors seemed to take on a bit of a “playing with their food” mindset and the Pacers hit an avalanche of threes coming back. The Raptors pretty quickly found themselves with a single digit lead at the close of the third quarter.
Luckily, they had Barnes to fall back on again and again. There were some truly, truly special drives to the bucket from Barnes to force the issue and deliver in the fourth quarter. The best one was probably with Siakam draped over him for a full 18 feet before double clutching and finishing over both his former teammate and the help defense. Strength. Big time strength.
Raptors vs. Pacers, Dec. 3 Takeaways: Barnes' dominant display brings 2nd straight win - Raptors in 7
Barnes’ career night
This was one of the best overall games I’ve seen Barnes play in his career. What puts this performance in that category is the fact that he was top tier from the opening tip all the way through to the final whistle.
Barnes’ new career-high 35 points came with a healthy mix of 3-pointers, trips to the free-throw line, and drives to the basket. He had nine assists to go with it, showing just how much he can carry a team’s offence at his very best.
From the very first possession, Barnes was blending attacking intent for his own offence perfectly with finding his teammates. Indiana, as discussed the last time these two teams matched up, looked so uncommitted on the defensive end that Toronto was able to get whatever it wanted offensively for the majority of the first three quarters.
When the going got tough in the fourth, Barnes attacked the basket repeatedly and closed out the win in style.
Quick Reaction: Pacers 111, Raptors 122 - Raptors Republic
R. Barrett - A
37 MIN, 29 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 0STL, 9-16 FG, 2-6 3FG, 9-12 FT, 0BLK, 5TO, 6 +/-
Started the game off with a corner three. Barrett had a great night finishing at the rim. He also had a great night at the free throw line, an area in which he has struggled since joining the Raptors from New York. RJ’s highlight of the game has to be his putback layup on a missed Poeltl layup attempt. Too many turnovers from Barrett but that was the only concerning area tonight.
S. Barnes - A
36 MIN, 35 PTS, 6 REB, 9 AST, 1 STL, 13-20 FG, 3-7 3FG, 6-8 FT, 1 BLK, 7 TO, 18 +/-
The Florida State product started tonight with a pull-up three 3 minutes into the game and a tough contested mid-range jumper. Great playmaking per usual. He made some tough shots in the post tonight that were heavily contested. The Pacers were so poor defensively tonight that they let Barnes take the ball all the way down the court off an inbound and make a layup with almost no resistance. Sloppy at times with a bad travel turnover as well as some bad passes. He came out reenergized in the second half as he started the third quarter with five quick points. It wasn’t just a hot start too, as he continued to make two more threes later in the quarter. Scottie made a huge and one late in the third quarter when the Pacers were making a big run and flexed on former teammate Siakam too after the play. Congratulations to Scottie B on surpassing his career-high for points tonight. An easy A+ performance if not for his unforced turnovers.
Barnes' excellence makes tanking a challenge for Raptors - Sportsnet
The problem is that when he’s on the floor, the Raptors are pretty good. All their positive process yields some actual results. The reason that’s a problem is because the organization would like to take this one season to troll through the bottom of the standings and the top of the draft lottery. The Raptors want to find another young all-star-level talent that they could pair with Barnes, who already has shown he’s able to elevate the mostly unproven group around him, even in a season where wins have been scarce until lately.
But since Barnes returned from an 11-game absence with a fractured orbital bone, the Raptors are showing themselves to be at worst respectable, at best competitive, and by either definition, too good to be bad enough to tank.
He was up to it again Tuesday night as he was the difference in the Raptors' 122-111 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers. It was Toronto’s second straight win and third in the past four games.
The Raptors have won five of their last eight starts and are now 6-4 at home. They are still just 7-15 on the season, but they are trending up. The Pacers fell to 9-13.
The Raptors delivered a solid team effort. RJ Barrett continued looking like an all-star, at least when he takes the floor at Scotiabank Arena, as he contributed 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 9-of-16 shooting, including two-of-five from deep and nine-of-12 at the line. Ochai Agbaji was five-of-seven from the floor for 13 points, Jakob Poeltl had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Toronto forced 20 turnovers, which made up for the 20 the Raptors made on their own. They knocked down 13 threes on 33 attempts and held former Raptor Pascal Siakam to 13 points on four-of-13 shooting before Siakam fouled out in the final minute.
But the game boiled down to two main components: when Barnes was on the floor, the Raptors were fine, dominant even; Toronto was +18 in his 36 minutes. He finished with a career-high 35 points, six rebounds and nine assists and shot 13-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-7 from deep. When he wasn’t on the floor, there were some challenges.
Toronto outpaces Indiana, 122-111, behind Barnes’ career-high 35 points - Raptors HQ
The Pacers finally got their offense going midway through the third quarter. The problem was that Toronto had built a 24-point lead and answered every Pacer bucket with a bucket of their own. Barrett continued attacking the basket with reckless (yet controlled) abandon, while Barnes hit a pair of momentum-killing triples.
Indiana’s comeback received a boost when Barnes sat in the middle of the third. The Pacers scored 7 straight and had several opportunities to close the gap further. Barrett steadied the troops by drawing a foul and earning free throws, as Barnes checked back in. In the three minutes that Barnes sat, Toronto only scored 2 points.
The Pacers would get the lead down to 93-84 by the end of 3 as Haliburton and former Knicks teammate of Barrett, Obi Toppin, each drained two threes while combining for 20 third-quarter points.
Before the game, Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle pointed out that Toronto and Memphis, their previous opponent, are two teams that play with the quickest pace. Whether or not the Grizzlies prepared the Pacers for this game, Indiana wanted no part of another double-digit loss. When Indiana started pushing the pace midway through the third quarter, it ignited the Pacers offense and helped to (almost) erase a 24-point deficit.
The fourth quarter played out similarly to the third. Barrett scored timely buckets to keep Indiana at bay, but only until Barnes sat, which was when the Pacers would close the gap. With the deficit down to 105-97, Barnes sat with 7:41 to play. Turner hit a three and Toppin scored an and-one bucket. Haliburton had a three-point attempt that would have given Indiana its first lead of the night, but it rimmed out. Agbaji replied by hitting a corner three and re-establishing a two-possession cushion. Barnes would check back in and Toronto would close out their pesky opponents.
One final note on familiarity breeding contempt: the Raptors have anything but contempt for the Pacers. When they last faced each other, Toronto scored a season-best 58.5% from the field and 48.3% from three. Tonight, the Raptors shot 54.3% from the field — the third straight game they’ve shot 50% or better. This is the second three-game streak of 50% or better shooting. In both streaks, the Raptors lost the first game and won the next two.
Scottie Barnes helps the Raptors build a lead they can’t give away, though they tried - Toronto Star
A 24-point third quarter lead almost disappeared before the Raptors escaped with a 122-111 win over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.
After nearly frittering away the huge lead, the Raptors calmed down enough in the final three minutes to put the game away. It was a learning experience, as so many games have been this season, a lesson on burying teams when the chance arises.
“I thought that in the fourth quarter, when they went on a run, we had a timeout and just said, like, all we got to do is one possession at a time,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “We got really focused on us, how we (were) executing on the offensive and defensive end.
“I thought that our execution down the stretch in the last four to five minutes was really, really good. So I think we were getting better in that aspect.”
Before those final minutes, there were Toronto turnovers and a tentative offence as the Pacers pulled closer, and the Raptors gave up a bunch of open three-pointers and second-chance buckets. The cascade of mistakes could have taken the shine off what had been an excellent outing.
The good, though, was very good.
The Raptors shot better than 50 per cent from the field and ended up 13-for-33 from three-point range. They forced 20 Pacers turnovers and scored 23 points off them, and even thought Toronto committed 20 turnovers they weren’t the momentum-killers they have been at times.
But the lack of a collective killer instinct was galling. And obvious. Toronto took an 84-60 lead on a Scottie Barnes three-pointer with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. The Pacers were dead and seemingly uninterested and a seasoned team would have buried them then.
Instead, the Raptors let the Pacers up and what should have been a rout turned unnecessarily tight.
Takeaways for Toronto as Scottie Barnes Has Career Night in Victory over Pacers - Sports Illustrated
The problem with tanking, if you will, is Barnes is simply too good.
His return for the Raptors has totally reshaped how this team looks and has Toronto playing at a different level. The Raptors play faster, more stout defensively, and are more organized offensively when Barnes is on the court. He’s constantly getting Toronto early opportunities thanks to his rare combination of speed and size.
“More size opens up vision, the ability to shoot over people, ability to finish in crowds,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of the 6-foot-8 Barnes who has been handling point guard duties for Toronto with Immanuel Quickley sidelined. “He’s been shooting the three well for the last couple years. And so you gotta deal with the three, and then the drives, and then everything else.”
Barnes’ three-point shooting had been in a bit of a funk so far this year, but the 23-year-old hit an early pull-up jumper in the first quarter to set the tone for the night. He converted three three-pointers, finishing the night with a career-high 35 points to go with nine assists and five rebounds.
"For me, much more important than that is the tone that he's setting for the team, the poise that he's playing with, how he's picking up his teammates, the way he's talking, the way he's learning to manipulate the game," Rajaković said of Barnes. "He's becoming much, much better in the half-court setting to attack, to touch the paint, to score. I thought that he was outstanding tonight."
In the second quarter, Barnes drove at Siakam, bumped Siakam with his shoulder, and then rose up to nail a 13-footer over the former All-NBA forward. He later burst up the court going end to end in the span of six seconds to convert a layup.
Indiana mounted a comeback late in the third after a pair of threes from Tyrese Haliburton, but Barnes went right back at it, beating Siakam off the dribble and finishing through contact to put Toronto back up 15. After the play, Barnes smiled at Siakam while flexing his bicep in Siakam’s face.
It was a near flawless performance from Barnes who powered his way inside late in the fourth for a driving floater over Siakam to stick the Raptors to an eight-point lead with three minutes to go. Barnes' relentless effort forced Siakam into tough positions all night, eventually leading to Siakam taking a technical foul and fouling out in the final minute Tuesday.
"We're talking a lot about him playing lower, being more explosive when he decides to go, and just having one or two or three things in his mind when he's attacking," Rajaković said. "He's such an amazing instinctual player that he's gonna find opportunities. And I thought that he did a really good job today attacking with that force and then just reading what the defense is giving you."
As long as Barnes is on the court, Toronto should be at the very least adequate. It’s hard to envision that 2-9 stretch happening again if Barnes is healthy and if the Raptors are content to vie for a play-in spot this year, maybe that’s not a bad thing.
For the Raptors, home is where the heart is and where wins are produced - Toronto Sun
Twice Indy has come to town and twice it has left town with losses, including Tuesday night’s 122-111 setback.
While only one win has been produced on the road, the Raptors have compiled a winning record at home.
Following their win over the Pacers, the Raptors improved to 6-4 on their home floor.
In their past four overall games, the Raptors have won three, including two in a row for the second time this season.
No one should be rushing for playoff tickets, but as long as Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett are leading the way the Raptors will remain competitive.
When others are stepping up, nights such as Tuesday are possible.
Sunday against visiting Miami, the Raptors almost blew a double-digit lead before holding off the Heat.
The Pacers were well on their way of getting run off the floor until some long-awaited momentum was created in the third quarter when the Raptors stopped executing on both ends believing the outcome was already in the bag.
Indy, which trailed by as many as 24 points on the night, came within single digits in trailing 93-84 heading into the fourth quarter after closing out the third period on a 22-7 run.
It was a one-possession game in the final period.
The game turned tight when the Raptors did what they do best, which is to say they turned the ball over far too many times.
Some late in the shot clock heaves didn’t help, either.
A win is a win and the Raptors have shown a penchant for winning at home.
NBA Power Rankings: Rockets keep ascending, and a new face in all 30 places - The Athletic
This week: 24
Last week: 26
Injuries have been a real issue for Toronto this season, so the only Raptors who have played more than former Kings lottery pick Mitchell are center Jakob Poeltl, forward Ochai Agbaji and forward RJ Barrett. Mitchell is averaging a career-best 5.3 assists per game, but he is a traditional point guard in the worst sense; that is, he is a small guard who can’t score (career-low 39.9 percent field goals) or shoot (career-low 27.9 percent 3s). Defensively, Mitchell has continued to be a difference-maker, if not necessarily a playmaker.
NBA Power Rankings: Bucks bounce back, Rockets rise in the West - ESPN
This week: 25
Last week: 28
While Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley have missed large chunks of this season with injuries, RJ Barrett has stepped up, averaging more than 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 45.7% from the field and 35.7% from 3. If Barrett can up his efficiency as Barnes works himself back into the lineup and when Quickley eventually returns, he'll fit nicely on the wing moving forward. -- Bontemps
