The Raptors are playing their best basketball of the season when star Scottie Barnes is on the floor, Sportsnet.ca’s Michael Grange writes. This season looked like an opportunity for Toronto to potentially bottom out and add a lottery prospect to a young core that includes Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter, but Barnes’ excellence is making that difficult.
Entering Thursday, Toronto had won five of their last eight games with Barnes in the lineup, trending up despite still holding a 7-16 record. Barnes was again deadly against the Pacers on Tuesday, finishing as a plus-18 in his 36 minutes. Part of that success stems from the chemistry Barnes is building with fellow forward RJ Barrett, Grange writes.
“When we’re both being aggressive, we’re both getting downhill, we’re both pushing the pace, finding each other in transition, it pays off really well,” Barnes said. “Our games complement each other really well, we’re finding each other with that space we’re able to create and play off that.”
While there’s plenty of time remaining in the regular season for movement up and down the standings, the Raptors are just two games behind the Pacers for the No. 10 seed and the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Despite a rough start to the season, Toronto’s energy has been high all year thanks in part to a summer getaway that set the tone for the season, Eric Koreen of The Athletic details. “We were vibing. We were just vibing, having a good time,” Fernando said of the team’s trips to Spain and Miami this offseason. “We would definitely wake up first thing in the morning for workouts.” While the Raptors aren’t happy to have a losing record, Koreen writes that they understand that the team is a work in progress and is cognizant of their youth. Veterans have helped establish a culture and young players like Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo expressed gratitude for their early career playing time. “I feel like we’re more together than teams that I’ve been on where we had a really good record,” newcomer Davion Mitchell said.
- Sixers superstar Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) is set to miss his seventh straight game, having been ruled out for Friday’s game against Orlando, according to PHLY Sports’ Kyle Neubeck (Twitter link). Adem Bona was also ruled out while Andre Drummond, who missed the past two games, has been upgraded to questionable. Bona played on Wednesday with Embiid and Drummond out, but he was the only player 6’10” or taller to see action for the club. Philadelphia started Guerschon Yabusele and KJ Martin amid its frontcourt injuries.
- The Knicks led the NBA with a 121.0 offensive rating heading into Thursday’s tilt against the Hornets, Peter Botte of the New York Post observes. Tom Thibodeau‘s team has consistently been effective on offense during his tenure, but New York has never had a league-best offense since the NBA started tracking points per 100 possessions. The Knicks’ five starters are averaging a collective 97.8 points per game and top reserve Miles McBride is adding a career-best 11.3 points per game.