When the Raptors traded Pascal Siakam to the Pacers last season, it was a bet on Scottie Barnes. A bet on him taking off with more room to spread his wings, what he could do with a more naturally-fitting supporting cast, and that he’d become the kind of franchise-fronting star that makes everything okay.
After getting hung up near the start line with a busted face, we’re seeing what a full steam ahead Barnes is capable of, and he has the Raptors looking like sharps. Since getting back from injury, he’s posting 24-9-8 a night on 57% true shooting.
Tuesday’s Cup-closing win over Indiana marked his high point of the young season, and arguably the peak of the Barnes-at-the-wheel era so far. As he compiled a career-high 35 points, six boards, nine dimes and two stocks on 13/20 shooting and 3/7 from deep, he walked around with that “it’s all gonna be OK” aura that superstars carry, even as Indy erased a 24-point 3rd quarter lead and made things hairier than they had any right to be in the 4th. Barnes was not losing that game.
“Scottie tonight he did score 35 points but for me much more important than that is the tone that he’s setting for the team,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic after the win, "... 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.”
When he’s grooving, Barnes really is a puppet master, bending the defense to his will with a firm hand on the strings, shaking guys open with as little as a head fake or a hesi-dribble. Combine that careful traffic direction with bruising trips to the rim, and it’s a damn hard package to slow down.
“He’s becoming much, much better in the half court setting, to attack, to touch the paint, to score,” Rajakovic said when asked about the success he had plunging into the guts of the Pacers defense — the source of his two biggest buckets of the night; a powerful, contorting finish through some killer Siakam defense, and a running bank-shot floater over his old teammate’s head.
“I thought that he was outstanding tonight — I wish that one of his turnovers ended up as an assist, that would look much better on the box score,” he quipped to close.
Needless turnovers were definitely a thing, as Barnes himself copped to after the game. As is part of the deal with a guy still testing his bounds, there are still learning moments for Barnes, even in the games where he’s whipping ass. After subbing in late in the third quarter to settle things down, he got a tad tunnel-visiony — somewhat defensible, considering prior to that stretch the Pacers had shown zero capacity to slow down his drives, but counter to what makes Scottie tick. A Scottie Barnes that isn’t at least thinking about the pass as he’s calling his own number isn’t really Scottie Barnes.
“He’s such an amazing, instinctual player that he’s gonna find opportunities” said Rajakovic. “I thought he did a really good job today attacking with that force and reading what the defense is giving you.”
What the defense has often been giving with Barnes back and drawing all sorts of panicked defenders his way, is room for RJ Barrett to do what he’s done best since arriving in Toronto: punch gaps and connect on everything at the rim. Since Barnes’ return, Barrett’s putting up nearly 25-7-6 on 63% true shooting, and looks way more at home than when his game and the Raptors’ hopes were leaning a little too heavily on his slow-burning pick-and-roll creation in limited space.
I like playing with Scottie,” RJ Barrett said with a cheeky smile in his post-game. “We compliment each other, we don’t step on each other’s toes.”
Ultimately, toe-stepping and a sub-optimal support team led the Raptors to ship out Siakam last year, and put all their chips on the Barnes square. Right now, he’s walking the walk of a guy who’s gonna pay that bet out in a big way.
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Today on the podcast I went solo to break down the Raptors’ 122-111 win over the Pacers, with more thoughts on Barnes, Davion Mitchell & The Good, The Bad & The Hmm from the victory. Enjoy!
