Opening night was not kind to head coach Darko Rajakovic and the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors kicked off their season at Scotiabank Arena and rocked their purple throwback jerseys, coming out of the gate playing well.
However, things fell apart for the team in second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland outscored the Raptors 36-17.
To make matters worse, Immanuel Quickley exited the game after 14 minutes. In addition to Scottie Barnes struggling in his first regular season game since March.
Cleveland simply was firing on all cylinders offensively, shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three.
Evan Mobley led the way with 25 points and nine rebounds. Donovan Mitchell chipped in 21 points on 7-for-14 from the field and 2-for-5 from three-point range.
While it is tough to get blown out in a home opener, Rajakovic acknowledged that this rebuild is going to take time and needs patience.
“It’s Game 1 of the season. We definitely want to compete and win and try to do it every single night. But at the same time we have to be patient with our young team and give those guys an opportunity to learn and bounce back,” Rajakovic told reporters.
It is tough when Barnes puts up 9 points on 3-for-14 shooting from the field and 0-for-2 shooting from three-point distance. Then losing Quickley, while four rotation pieces were sidelined in RJ Barrett, Ja’Kobe Walter, Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk.
Chris Boucher led the team in scoring with 18 points, which continues to prove his case to be a rotation player.
Winning is not the end all, be all for the Raptors, but they need their young core healthy and playing together.
All eyes are on Quickley and hopefully he is back soon.
“Just got an ass-whooping”: Scottie Barnes weighs in on opening night loss
Wednesday night was not an ideal start to the Toronto Raptors season. Scottie Barnes put it bluntly by calling the blowout loss, “an ass-whooping.”
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