Takeaways from Heartbreaking Raptors to Nuggets Loss

Denver Nuggets 127, Toronto Raptors 125 (OT)

Scottie Barnes is simply a mismatch killer.

The Raptors continue to find ways to mismatch Barnes, and against a Nuggets team as shallow as this one, Denver had no answers. He repeatedly picked off smaller defenders, went to his post-up shimmy for turnaround floaters and scored 16 of his points (21 points in the paint) Monday night.

It was a Barnes kick-out pass off a pick-and-roll with Jakob Poeltl to Gradey Dick that gave Toronto a nine-point lead midway through the fourth. He followed it up moments later with a full-court alley-oop that he threw to Ochai Agbaji with pinpoint accuracy, then capped his stellar run in the fourth quarter with a LeBron James-esque transition block on Christian Braun.

A three-pointer from Barnes to Braun with two minutes left gave Toronto a 10-point lead, but Denver wouldn’t go away. The Nuggets erased it all in the final minutes, taking advantage of a Jamal Murray layup to force overtime.

“He’s a big, tall guy who can handle the ball, who looks for mismatches, who can take the ball downhill, who finds open teammates, who can post, he can play in the mid-range, he can ISO,” said Nikola Jokic of Barnes. “He’s a really good player.”

When Denver sent help to Barnes, the All-Star forward showed off his playmaking ability. He threw a stunning no-look bounce pass to Ochai Agbaji who came in from the corner for an impressive slam in the third quarter, putting the Raptors up 11 after Denver had cut Toronto’s lead to just five minutes earlier. It was the second of two no-look passes Barnes threw after connecting with Mogbo on a no-look feed in transition in the second.

Barnes recorded a career-high five steals on Friday, including a fourth-quarter steal from Aaron Gordon, taking the ball the other way in transition before being fouled by Russell Westbrook in what was deemed egregious. The moment led to a brief skirmish that resulted in a double technical as Barnes and Gordon had to be separated after some pushing and shoving.

“Scottie defended himself the way he should,” RJ Barrett said. “I stood there with my only good shoulder. But hey, we don’t back down from anyone. So it’s good to see that.”

A great night from Barnes was only marred by one injury he suffered in the last minute when Jokic accidentally hit Barnes in the right eye with an elbow while trying to grab a defensive rebound. Barnes remained down during the ensuing possession and had to be taken to the locker room.

RJ Barrett didn’t miss a beat.

The Canadian forward returned from an AC joint injury on Monday night to make his season debut and looked as good as he did at the end of last season in Toronto. He came out of the gate in attack mode, scoring nine of Toronto’s first thirteen points and forcing Denver to burn a timeout just four minutes into the game.

Barrett is still not quite at 100 percent. Every time he checked out he went to the bank and was immediately greeted with a shoulder brace and he continues to work his way back. But on the pitch there were no signs of any problem for the 6ft 7in forward.

When he’s going downhill, he’s hard to stop. He got Toronto’s offense going early, putting the Raptors up 13 points in the third quarter after nailing an offensive rebound and converting a three-pointer.

Behind two, Barrett had a chance to win the game for Toronto in overtime, racing up the court in the final seconds before nailing a mildly contested three-pointer that would have given the Raptors the lead. The shot wouldn’t fall and Denver was able to get the rebound and escape with the win.

“I feel comfortable taking that shot. I’m happy with the shot I took. That’s just who I am,” said Barrett, who finished the night with 20 points in nearly 29 minutes. ‘That’s who I’ve always been. I’ll take the chance again. That’s just, I don’t know. That’s just who RJ Barrett is.”

This 2024 draft class is shaping up to be a pretty good one so far.

It’s a small sample size, sure, but Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo look like NBA contributors and maybe even more than that. That’s before Toronto even gets a look at first-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter, who is headed to the G League to continue his rehab process ahead of his NBA debut.

Shead is just ruthless on both sides of the ball. He fights hard through screens and has no problem standing up against opposing point guards and pressuring the ball full court. He and Mogbo successfully killed 13 seconds off the shot clock just by being active defensively, picking up full-court shots and jumping into passing lanes.

“One thing I like about our rookies on our team is that they are not afraid,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “They are not afraid of the moment. They are not afraid to go on the field and play hard. And when you play hard and have your heart in the right place to play for a team, good things happen.”

That’s how Shead and Mogbo have played so far.

Shead made an offensive mistake in the first half, taking a nasty shoulder from Aaron Gordon and taking his head down repeatedly, putting him in the hoop for eight points on Monday.

“That’s the best weapon he has. He’ll be disruptive defensively, he’ll do a good job guarding all the elite players in this league,” Rajaković said. “There are no easy nights and bad nights, and he’s learning every night what it takes. I was really happy with the effort he put in there.”

Mogbo has clearly moved ahead of Bruno Fernando in the rotation order and has been used as Toronto’s backup centre, even against Jokic in a pinch. His cut has proven valuable in limited minutes thus far, and his versatility is a trait the Raptors will lean on even more in the future.

The Raptors head to Charlotte for a one-game road trip against the Hornets on Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET.