Scottie Barnes drives Raptors past Pelicans with masterful control
If you didn’t know, Scottie Barnes is the biggest driver of success on the Toronto Raptors. Despite the gap in shot making between he and Brandon Ingram (especially from downtown), Barnes is still the one driving this car. Against the Pelicans — albeit a version without Trey Murphy or Dejounte Murray — Barnes was a controlling, confident hand on the wheel.
So far this season the Raptors are better on offense when Barnes is on the floor. Both halfcourt and transition. They turn the ball over less. They make and rebound more of their shots. They go to the line more often. They play with a bit more pace when Barnes is running things. Defensively, he’s a DPOY candidate and has a similar “improves everything all the time” sort of impact. He imbues quietly and loudly. Against the Pelicans, where the Raptors went without Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl won the opening tip and the ball went back to Barnes in the de facto point guard spot, more or less. He was orchestrating early.
A handful of possessions didn’t go quickly as they were bogged down hunting wing/guard post up opportunities, but in the open court and in some sets in the half court the ball had a considerable zip to it – mostly in transition.
This is what the Raptors want, though. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat across from Darko Rajakovic this season and heard him mention how important it is for the Raptors to play fast. That their identity lie within the faster play. I’ve also wrung my hands at the Raptors’ lack of efficiency in the faster portions of the game. If only they could be efficient and fast, maybe they’d have a stew going.
Against the Pelicans, the Raptors were very efficient while out and running. In the first half the Raptors half court offense was tremendously middling. Less than mediocre, honestly. 91 points per 100 possessions. In transition? 155 points per 100 possessions. They were assaulting the rim, making nearly everything at 15/20. The box score featured 7 different players sitting between 6 and 11 points at halftime. The mix of stout defense and open court ball sharing meant that Collin Murray-Boyles was outscoring Zion Williamson after 24 minutes of play time, but he did have to leave the game with back spasms. Tidy work from the Raptors.
Even though CMB had no opportunity to try and keep outscoring Williamson due to the back spasms I don’t think he would’ve kept pace with the big man out of New Orleans in the second half. Williamson was launching into the lane as if he were shot out of a cannon. The Pelicans offense was overtly reliant on his driving, his scoring, and maybe some of Saddiq Bey’s shooting around that. It was enough to stay within arms length of the Raptors, who were still scoring fairly well. Cutting, filling, all in the direction of the rim, still. What was functionally a give and go between Barrett & Barnes netted Barrett his 15th point and moved Barnes up to 10 assists for a double-double with a whole lot of real estate between he and the end of the game.
The Dejounte Murray stuff from the last matchup vs. the Pelicans really was a sideshow. I understand it may have been cathartic to respond to him in the moment, and the Raptors wish they had, but the best way to get things back at this point, was by winning against the Pelicans. Barnes’ contributions weren’t just coming in the passing department in helping the Raptors achieve this goal. He was quietly racking up a good deal of points.
By the end of the third quarter Barnes had put up 21, and on 9/12 shooting. The looks were coming in a few different ways. Some open court stuff, yes, but also a few top down pick n’ roll possessions. Even the Barnes/Poeltl pick n’ roll, which has generally been a weak combination, was creating some points. A lack of care to navigate from the top, or even the bottom really, mean that Poeltl was able to drive his man down into the paint along with Barnes’ primary defender, and create a lane for a wide open middy for Barnes. This happened a few times.
In addition to Barnes’ maximal, box-score-stuffing performance, Ja’Kobe Walter put together a wonderful no frills performance as a newly minted starter. A couple possessions where he was experimental off the bounce, yes, but more than anything he made himself available as a cutter and shooter (efficient versions of both) and was a badgering presence on opposing ball handlers. It was great stuff from the Raptors sophomore.
Also of note, for the people who are paying attention to Gradey Dick, he is out of the serious rotation. Why I bring him up is because the player drafted after him, and the other contender for “best shooter” in the 2023 NBA draft, Jordan Hawkins, well he played a fair bit for the Pelicans. It’s kind of incredible that both these guys put up incredible college shooting performances, and both have completely lost the ability to shoot at a high, or even passable level. They’re not even similar shooting types either, so you can’t mark it down as trouble for future scouting purposes. Different players, different shooters – both building expansive brick houses in the NBA. Anyway.
It was a very comfortable close to the game for the Raptors. They poured it on, and without asking much of themselves. Well timed passes. Well timed cuts. Intentional, smart play. They were where they needed to be at the end. With a bit over 2 minutes to play Coach Darko called a timeout with a 20-point lead and emptied the bench. Victory cigars all around. More games like this en route to the end of the season, and hopefully to avoiding the play-in tournament.
Have a blessed day.
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