Scottie Barnes and Toronto Raptors claim first win of season against Philadelphia 76ers
With Kyle Lowry and Nick Nurse back in Scotiabank Arena, the Toronto Raptors claimed their first win of the 2024-2025 season with a 115-107 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The sloppy play was the main headline of last night’s game, as the Raptors snapped a seven-game losing streak against the 76ers dating back to Oct.26, 2022. In this whistle-abundant contest, 42 turnovers, 66 fouls, and a Toronto Raptors game record of 99 combined free throws were attempted.
Also, per Keerthika Uthayakumar, the Dinos had three players foul out of a contest for the first time in a decade.
Toronto was much faster and played with more physicality in this one than in their largest opening-season loss ever (30 points) to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. They got out in transition early, scoring six fast break points midway through the first quarter, much better than the four fast break points they had through the first three quarters against the Cavs.
Fourteen first-quarter paint points and a 14-2 run led by Jonathan Mogbo in the second quarter would give the Raptors the 62-56 halftime lead, and they wouldn’t squander it for the rest of the game.
Welcome to the Party, Scottie Barnes
After the opening game, in which Scottie Barnes went 3-of-14 from the field for nine points, six rebounds, five assists, and was a team-worst -33, the face of the franchise was much better in game two.
The West Palm Beach, Fla. native was an improved 8-for-11 from the field while also going 11-for-13 from the charity stripe. He would finish with 27 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block.
The 23-year-old was much more aggressive and physical Friday night, with Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk, and Ja’Kobe Walter sidelined due to injury. He got to the rim with ease, and when he wasn’t dunking it through the hoop, he was using his constant rim pressure to draw the defence in before he dished.
It took a game, but welcome to the party, Scottie Barnes.
A Monster Mogbo game
The second half of the Palm Beach Bro’s, Jonathan Mogbo, was just as impressive.
The 31st overall pick stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three blocks, two steals, and was a game-best +21.
The second quarter, in particular, is when the almost 23-year-old took over. He stacked great defensive possessions on top of one another. One moment, he’s stealing the ball off an inbound pass, the next, he is defending Tyrese Maxey in space and blocking a three-point attempt.
He was everywhere defensively.
Another thing that popped for Mogbo was the rebounding and motor. Of his nine rebounds, five of them were on the offensive glass as he lived around the rim all night. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the former San Francisco Don averaged over three offensive boards and ten rebounds overall last season in the West Coast Conference.
He was a major reason why Toronto’s bench outscored Philly’s 40-19.
Perfect Poeltl
Much like Barnes, Jakob Poeltl followed a sub-par game one with a stellar game two on both ends. A couple of blocks early set the tone for the 29-year-old, who finished with four total blocks, 19 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. The Vienna, Austria native was also great from the free throw line, hitting nine out of his 11 shots.
Andre Drummond got into foul trouble early, and Poeltl took full advantage of the relatively small 76ers without him or Joel Embiid. Offensively, he did what he always did: set fantastic screens, rolled hard, and finished plays. Defensively, his positioning and timing were superb, and it was overall a much better game for the big man than his outing against Cleveland which saw him put up only six points, nine rebounds, and two assists.
Other Notable Performances
Tyrese Maxey: 24 points, four assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
Kelly Oubre Jr.: 28 points, two assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
Kyle Lowry: 14 points, three steals, two assists.
Andre Drummond: 11 points, nine rebounds, four steals, two blocks.
Ochai Agbaji: 12 points, eight rebounds, two steals.
Jamison Battle: 12 points, six rebounds, 2-for-3 from distance.
Jamal Shead: 11 points, five assists, two rebounds.
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