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CLEVELAND, Ohio — This is how they made it, as the Toronto Raptors’ mental confidence showed how the group they’ve assembled can compete with the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
A dose of Brandon Ingram’s tough shot-making when needed, along with some elite three-point shooting from Emmanuel Coakley, Jakub Poeltl’s ‘steady Eddie’ stuff, a variety of help from the bench unit and – this is the big one – Scotty Barnes playing like a superstar.
It is a formula that may have some legs. Barnes in particular has a superstar part.
The fifth-year wing has had an impressive start to the season, but he wasn’t just the best player on the floor in the Raptors’ 126-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night — Toronto’s most impressive win yet this season — he may have been the best player in any phase of the game.
He finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five blocked shots and one steal. It’s hard to complete the box score for this one, but many of his buckets came on plays that only he could make, like when he rolled from the three-point line to block Evan Mobley’s jump shot and scored on the other end to start the second half, or when he fought for a defensive rebound and a defensive rebound against a big transition in traffic. A left-handed, no-look, cross-body pass to Poeltl later in the same frame — one of Barnes’ four layups for the Raptors’ center. Three of his blocks came against the Cavs’ seven-foot duo of Jarrett Allen and Mobley. Apparently every turn was in heavy traffic. He scored nine of his points in the second quarter as the Raptors overcame a slow start to lead by 13 going into halftime, and then trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter after Cleveland cut a 17-point third quarter lead to five.
“I know what I’m capable of, so every night I have to bring it,” Barnes said. “Being aggressive, attacking down, being aggressive on both ends, and I’m just helping my teammates a lot. If somebody’s down, just trying to help them. So just do those things on both ends. Once I’m aggressive, then I’m attacking down and just making the defense on me and being able to win. You know, just for our team to be very open.”
And not just in any game. Suddenly, the Raptors’ rocky four-game losing streak that saw them two weeks ago in Cleveland with a 1-4 record and needing a 20-point outburst (on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from 3) looks like a little-used Jamison Battle to beat a Cavs team with three starters and several rotating players. This time, the Raptors left Cleveland with a 7-5 record, 6-of-7, a chance to go 7-of-8 when they finish their road trip on Saturday against the injury-riddled Indiana Pacers, who are 1-11 after losing on the night in Phoenix. The Cavs fell to 8-5.
But it wasn’t just Barnes playing to his full potential that made his performance stand out. Quickley played perhaps his best game of the season, finishing with 25 points and six assists on 10-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-7 from deep. He scored three key baskets in the fourth quarter — a pair of threes and a pullup in the lane — to tie the game.
At first glance, Ingram had a quiet night — 5-15 for 11 points is an off night by his standards — but all of his buckets came under heavy pressure in the halfcourt, and they came at moments when the Raptors were stuttering offensively. As such, his willingness to throw the ball away when the Cavaliers were overplaying him or doubling him ended up opportunities for others.
“He gets a lot of attention,” said Barnes of Ingram, who had four assists. “You know, they were sticking closer to him today, denying him, trying to be super aggressive, playing on top of him, so you just have to find ways to help him, but he’s also taking a defender out of the game, so the lanes are more open, there’s less help.”
Poeltl was the beneficiary of the focus on Ingram and Barnes as he finished with a season-high 20 points, and his rebounding (three offensive and four defensive) and three steals made him a factor on both ends.
But for all their contributions, outside of Barnes, the bench was arguably the most important factor in turning the tide of the game.
Toronto trailed by 10 with just under three minutes to play in the first quarter, largely because they insisted that Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell touch the ball every time. At least there was evidence that they had read the scouting report, given that Mitchell came into the game averaging 30.4 points per game and connecting on 40.4 percent of his 10 three-point attempts per game. But different Raptors defenders sent Mitchell to the free-throw line eight times when the game was nine minutes old. Once they broke that habit (not completely, as Mitchell went 15-of-17 on his way to 31 points), Toronto was able to get itself back into contention.
They did it thanks to a 20-3 run spanning a five-minute span bridging the first and second quarters, fueled by a bench unit that has had a bigger and bigger impact as the season has accelerated. Sophomore point guard Jamal Scheid hit a pair of threes while assisting on a pair of other baskets, while backup center Sandro Mamoklashvili added a pair of triples and a fast-break layup en route to chipping in 13 points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. Shade finished with eight points and seven assists in his 23 minutes.
“When he steps on the floor for us, he’s a game changer,” Barnes said. We’ve had a lot of games this year where the offense looks sluggish, comes into the game defensively, offensively, changes that whole game. It’s like a little boost, like that ‘we’re ready to go’ feeling when he steps on the floor. He changes the game with his offense, defense, being able to get down, those extra reads … he’s every single day important for our team. What, second year in the league and I think he is one of our main leaders.
But Barnes is the leader who matters most. When he is playing at this level, he is the type of star player who can take teams to unknown heights. It’s only 12 games into an 82-game season, but Barnes and the Raptors are starting to chart a direction for themselves that could take them to some interesting places.
Respect the purchase: Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson had some high praise for the job his counterpart has done to date with the Raptors.
“Their offense has improved, top-10 in the league (the Raptors, in fact, were 10th in the NBA before Thursday’s game with an offensive rating of 116.9 per 100 possessions), they’re definitely pushing the ball more, playing their defense more … But defensively, what can you get in their half of the ball. Man?
“It’s 48 minutes of hell, like those teams at Arkansas (the up-tempo teams coached by Nolan Richardson to great success in the 1990s). It’s very similar, I like it … (but) Darko is doing a hell of a job building an identity and buying into their big players. Like, you want to play any style you want. Like B.I. (Ingram) and R.J. To buy into (Bart) it’s a real credit to their coaching staff and their players.
It was a good draft: Since their rookie year, Evan Mobley and Scotty Barnes have been combined, finishing third and fourth, respectively, and finishing 1-2 in Rookie of the Year voting, with Barnes coming out on top.
Over the years, you’d have to give Mobley a slight edge over Barnes, given that he already has a Defensive Player of the Year award and All-NBA recognition from last season, and another all-defensive nod on top of that, Barnes’ All-Star season in 2023-24.
But even before his strong showing last night, Barnes was holding his own, coming into Cleveland averaging 19.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three.
He got the better of Mobley on Thursday as the Cavs big finished with just seven points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal on 2-of-7 shooting. But on the season, Mobley averaged 20.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks on 47.9 percent shooting (34.5 percent from three) before Thursday’s game. Barnes and Mobley are the only two players in the league with at least 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game so far this season.
Did Barnes’ performance have something extra against his draft day peers? “I’m just trying to go out there, win a game, you know?” Barnes said. “Evan Mobley is really good. Even though people always (try to compare us). He’s super talented … he’s a hell of a player.”
next to: The Raptors shouldn’t look ahead, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. Toronto is in good position to go on a bit of a roll over the next few weeks as they face Indiana (1-11), Charlotte (4-7), Washington (1-11) and Brooklyn (1-10) twice in five of their next six games. The only team facing a winning record in the next few days is the 76ers (7-4) next Wednesday in Philly.
