The Toronto Raptors rolled out a unique starting lineup on Nov. 21 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With Scottie Barnes returning from his orbital fracture, he got the start along with Gradey Dick, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji and Jakob Poeltl.
Davion Mitchell headed to the bench so the Raptors did not have a traditional point guard to start. The team relied on Barnes to takeover the playmaking duties.
The experiment did not work out particularly well. The Raptors played 10 minutes with the group and was outscored by nine points.
They went with the lineup to start the game and to begin the second half. The group turned it over seven times and had just six assists.
“Slowly as our guys are starting to come back I also like to see Davion [Mitchell] coming off the bench which is his role as a backup point guard and what he can bring to the team,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said when asked about why he went with the lineup. “I also wanted to see Scottie [Barnes] having the ball more in his hands and RJ [Barrett] in that first unit adding some size is not a bad thing as well.”
Rajakovic trusted that Barnes and Barrett could share the responsibilities of a playmaker while not having a traditional guard out there.
“The amount of pick-and-rolls that RJ [Barrett] was handling…the way he was playmaking and scoring just gave me more confidence that I can play with both of them [Barnes and Barrett] so they can kind of like share the responsibilities of a point guard,” Rajakovic said.
Immanuel Quickley is still sidelined with an elbow injury and there is no current status on his return. It seems like the Raptors will continue to roll out this starting lineup until he returns.
Next up for Raptors
The Raptors will begin its four-game roadstand with a game in Cleveland against the Cavaliers.
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