TORONTO \u2014 Scottie Barnes got beat.<\/p>\n
With his Toronto Raptors up by 4 points in the final minute Friday, he reached to try to steal the ball away from Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green. He whiffed, and Green, one of the most athletic players in the league, was by him in a flash. Green, picked two spots ahead of Barnes in the 2021 NBA Draft, elevates like few others in the NBA can. He cocked the ball back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was either, I was gonna stop and watch him get a free dunk,\u201d Barnes, the Raptors All-Star forward, said, \u201cor I\u2019d try to make a winning play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Limited to 31 minutes thanks to foul trouble and an illness that caused him to miss the start of the second half, Barnes caught Green from behind for the swat, helping seal a 122-115 win. It was the latest in a series of signature defensive plays this season from Barnes, who has a good case to make All-Defense first team.<\/p>\n
This one was a little more special than the rest because of the context.<\/p>\n
Two days earlier, New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray stood over Toronto\u2019s Jamal Shead, flexing and yelling after a made jumper with the game decided. No Toronto player, except for Immanuel Quickley, rushed to stick up for Shead. The incident posed an open question about the Raptors\u2019 toughness.<\/p>\n
So this win over Phoenix \u2014 this type of win \u2014 was needed. The emphatic block, probably the most electric individual play from a Raptor this year, was needed. It at least spoke to a tough-mindedness, if not to any willingness to physically fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was insane. That was crazy. I don\u2019t know, man. I was literally right there. I saw him jump. I was like, \u2018Bro, that was nuts,\u2019\u201d RJ Barrett said. \u201cBut those are the types of plays you need to win. Those are the types of plays that we haven\u2019t been making lately that we were making at the beginning of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single night, he does something amazing on the defensive end that nobody else sees on the basketball floor,\u201d Brandon Ingram added. \u201cThat definitely put us over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnes\u2019 block completed a 10-point comeback in the fourth quarter, a role reversal after the Raptors had been surrendering those leads routinely for a while. The loss in New Orleans dropped the Raptors out of the top six in the Eastern Conference and into Play-In Tournament position. Prior to Friday, they had not beaten a team better than .500 since winning in Oklahoma City on Jan. 25. It was getting ugly.<\/p>\n
The Murray\/Shead moment was a microcosm of that slide and a potential indictment of not only the team\u2019s talent, but its grit and unity. Even when the Raptors limped through a 30-win season last season, incentivized to lose by the midway point of the campaign, everyone involved with the team insisted it shared an enviable, uncommon bond<\/a>. It carried into this season, with the Raptors collecting nine straight wins in November to surge near the top of the Eastern Conference. The Raptors hung out in the top six on the strength of that run for most of the season, with the good vibes remaining.<\/p>\n What good is all the chemistry in the world, though, if the players do not simply back each other up?<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to move on (from the last play),\u201d Shead said. \u201cIf it comes up again, I think we\u2019ll respond a little differently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought that we did not handle the situation the way we want and how we were supposed to,\u201d coach Darko Rajakovi\u0107 added. \u201cOur players had conversations with each other. They know that\u2019s not the true picture and image of our team. They all agreed that\u2019s never going to happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t against the Suns. The Raptors popped up quickly to defend Barrett after he was knocked down by Phoenix guard Grayson Allen<\/a>. The referees broke up the scrum before anything could happen, with the foul eventually upgraded to a flagrant.<\/p>\n More importantly, they played with toughness. Barnes, Barrett and Ingram all drove into the paint early and often. There was intent. Even as the Raptors downplayed the Shead incident, with Barrett saying most of the Raptors were heading back to the bench before anybody realized something had happened, it looked as if they were fighting the perception it produced.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t seem to matter at first. Green and Devin Booker took turns hitting ridiculous shots, combining for 65 points and keeping the Raptors at a distance for most of Friday\u2019s game. But the Raptors took turns doing the little things to stay close. Quickley physically guarded Booker<\/a>, role players knocked in open 3s and Ingram got to his spots<\/a> for 36 points while still giving the ball up<\/a> when the situation demanded it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was an urgency to compete,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cAnd most of all, stay together.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, Barnes provided the catharsis. After Barrett finished the sequence with a dunk on the other end, Barnes turned back to his bench, clenched his fists and screamed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing. We hit adversity,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cWe had two options, to either quit (or) go out there and fight. This just shows the character of this team.\u201d<\/p>\n There are still open questions about the Raptors\u2019 talent. If the Raptors had their typical shooting night Friday, the commendable effort would have yielded another loss. Their ability to improve on mistakes in real time, either with better late-game offence or cleaner spacing in transition, remains suspect. Even their one-on-one defence has sagged; the return of Jakob Poeltl has made it look like the Raptors are ill-equipped to play with a traditional centre, instead needing the failsafe of switching across the court to have a chance.<\/p>\n The roster\u2019s talent, and the fit of it, will need to be addressed in the offseason and beyond. At least Barnes and his teammates made their point about their spirit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Scottie Barnes got beat. 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