Raptors come together without Scottie Barnes to score huge win over Bucks

MILWAUKEE – What do they do without him? 

The Toronto Raptors have benefited hugely from the steps Scottie Barnes has taken this season.

His All-NBA level defence has helped the Raptors forge a dominant characteristic that has helped them survive even on nights when they struggle from deep (which happens more than they would like) or can’t harass opponents into enough turnovers to get the transition points that provide base calories they need to function, let alone thrive. 

But he’s also been a playmaking hub, a forceful paint scorer and a transition demon. He’s the rare franchise-calibre player who can lift his team without volume scoring. The Raptors and Barnes are onto something. 

They just aren’t used to playing without him. Sunday’s matinee against the Milwaukee Bucks was just the second game this season Barnes has missed – he has been back in Toronto since Friday morning, tending to a personal matter. He leads the Raptors in minutes and was seventh in the league entering Sunday. The hope is he will be available when the Raptors host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. 

Certainly, Barnes’ impact is easily measurable. Entering play Sunday, he was among the league leaders in rebounds, blocks, steals and assists. The Raptors are 6.3 points better with him on the floor than when he sits, which is even more impressive considering he’s routinely called upon to anchor bench lineups or transitional lineups. 

But even in his absence, Barnes’ presence didn’t go unnoticed. 

“I don’t know if he’s up for the Most Improved Player (Award), but he should be,” said Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers ahead of Sunday’s game. “About a year or two ago — and I’m being really honest; I probably shouldn’t even say this — but I wasn’t sure watching Scottie. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know what he is, what he’s gonna do. How he’s gonna improve?’ 

“And then watching them this year, it’s like, ‘Wow, whatever that question was, it’s all gone.’ And it’s more than just his play with Scottie; it’s his leadership. Being a young player, being kind of thrown in that role, that’s not easy. …He gives him that intensity, and he also can guard one through five, which doesn’t hurt at all. And his offence, he’s found his spots on the floor where he can be effective with his passing. I don’t know if I’ve seen a player improve that quickly. 

“Good to great is a tough stretch. Average to good is hard, too, but that next step is hard. Most people never make it, and it looks like he’s on his way.”

It’s all music to any Raptors fan’s ears. 

But the mystery heading into Sunday afternoon’s contest against the Bucks, winners of six of their last seven even without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who remains sidelined with a calf strain, was how the Raptors would manage without their two-way pillar? 

Exceptionally well, turns out. The Raptors played one of their most complete games of the season in handling the Bucks 122-94. The only drama in the game came early when Toronto spotted Milwaukee a five-point lead after the first quarter, primarily because the Raptors were 0-of-11 from three until Sandro Mamukelashvili (15 points) stepped into an above-the-break three in transition to barely beat the horn. The bucket was worth more than just three points. 

“I told him jokingly during the timeout [that] it was my birthday present,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, who celebrated his 47^th turn around the sun by having his team improve to a season-high 11 games over .500 at 34-23, pulling them within one game of the Cleveland Cavaliers for fourth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. 

The horn-beating three seemed to take the lid off the basket as the Raptors took some semblance of control of the game in the second quarter when they out-raced Milwaukee 38-24 and took a nine-point lead into halftime. They pushed their advantage to 19 at the end of the third quarter and never faltered. 

Leading the way offensively was Immanuel Quickley, who has quietly rounded into top form in the past month. The sharp-shooting point guard scored 18 of his game-high 32 points in the second quarter, and when the Bucks began to chase him off the ball, he was able to find his teammates for nine assists. 

“I feel I’m hot as soon as the game starts,” said Quickley, who is averaging 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 52.6 per cent shooting (including 48.3 per cent from three) over his past 13 games. “That’s the mindset. Come in, be aggressive. If the defence stops me when they put two on me. …The mindset to be aggressive is where it starts.”

His progress has been noted by his head coach, “I don’t think he’s even close to peak as a player,” said Rajakovic. “I think there is another layer to him. I can see him constantly getting better and improving for us,” – but Quickley wasn’t about to paint himself as some kind of proxy for Barnes. 

“We absolutely miss Scottie,” said Quickley, who was 11-of-19 from the floor and 5-of-11 from deep for the game and was a big reason the Raptors made 15-of-34 threes in the final three quarters. “What he does for us, you don’t make up somebody like that with just one person; you need a collective unit, and I think we did that, especially in the defensive way, where he brings his versatility. I think we did a good job collectively as a team.”

Which may have been the most encouraging element of the win. It was fair to expect the Raptors would suffer defensively without their best defensive player, but it wasn’t even remotely the case. The Raptors forced the Bucks into 19 turnovers (which they turned into 27 points), made 11 steals and seemingly had a deflection on every other possession.

Jamal Shead came off the bench for 12 points, six assists and a steal in 23 minutes. Collin Murray-Boyles had two steals and several more deflections in his 20 minutes, while looking more comfortable switching on to guards than any rookie power-forward should at this stage of his career. Jakob Poeltl looked as fluid and active as he has since coming back from his nearly two-month absence with back problems, and on the whole, the Raptors looked like they were playing on a string, holding the Bucks to 41.7 per cent shooting. 

The Raptors had the benefit of three practices in four days coming out of the all-star break, and took advantage of them, earning a win over the Chicago Bulls with Barnes in the lineup on Thursday and looking like they didn’t miss a beat with him at home as they took on the Bucks in Milwaukee. 

Missing 11 straight threes is never a great way to start a basketball game, but the Raptors never wavered and gave their head coach a well-deserved birthday win. 

“We were talking about how we had to stick with the process,” said Rajakovic. “We’ve got to continue playing the right way. All those shots, they were great shots, great looks. That’s a big part of building our character [sticking with it]. … Any time we do have some practice time, there is a lot of carryover in the game [and] I thought our on-ball defence was elite tonight.”

For one night, the Raptors made Barnes a forgotten man – in the best way – and that can only bode well. 

Three-point Grange:

1. Yup, the Raptors lost that trade: Not to pick on our old pal Gary Trent Jr. – and not that there was ever all that much doubt – but the Raptors decision to trade Norm Powell for Trent Jr. back in March of 2021 will remain one of the franchise’s all-time head scratchers. The logic at the time made sense: Trent Jr. had just turned 22, at the time and Powell was nearly 28. The thinking was the Raptors could ride some upside on Trent Jr. Unfortunately, the upside has never materialized. Since landing in Milwaukee, Trent Jr. has had to play for one year at the veteran minimum and on a two-year deal for $3.8 million (he’s got a player option for next season), a far cry from the three-year, $52-million deal he signed with the Raptors. Trent Jr. has fallen out of the rotation for the Bucks – he played just seven minutes of garbage time Tuesday – with their recent additions of Cam Thomas. Meanwhile, Powell, 32, is averaging 22.9 points per game this season for the Miami Heat and earned his first all-star selection. 

2. Is it Doc’s fault?: There aren’t many more amiable people in the NBA than Bucks coach Doc Rivers, who loves to hold forth on anything other than basketball in his pre-game media conferences. But for Canadian sports fans, his timing has been a bit off. Back in November, he was in Toronto with the Blue Jays’ loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series still fresh, on Sunday, he was up early watching the gold medal hockey game won by Team USA over Canada. Rivers didn’t rub it in, but said he was intrigued by 3-on-3 overtime.

“It was really cool to watch,” said Rivers. “I wish we passed the ball like them. But I was sitting there thinking we should start overtime four-on-four for three minutes and then go three-on-three. And for double-overtime, three-on-three goes to two-on-two, and then one-on-one, and in one-on-one, it’s first basket wins.” 

3. Can’t complain about this schedule: Being upset about the schedule is as natural in the NBA as breathing. The games are too packed together, there’s too much travel, not enough rest – it’s a well-worn refrain. But the Raptors are heading into a stretch where it actually works in their favour. Sunday’s game against the Bucks was just their second in five days, giving them three practice days coming out of the all-star break. An afternoon game meant an easy early evening flight back to Toronto on Sunday night and an off-day Monday before a home back-to-back against Oklahoma City and San Antonio on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Raptors then have two more days off before visiting Washington for a game on Sunday and two more off days before hosting the New York Knicks on Tuesday, March 3^rd. In all, that will add up to six games in 14 days (or 22 days if you include the all-star break) with only one hour of time changes and no flight over two hours. 

More from Sportsnet

Raptors’ Ja’Kobe Walter finding identity as defensive stopper

Raptors begin meaningful stretch with ugly win over Bulls