Scottie Barnes has been remarkable for the Toronto Raptors.
Since returning from his orbital fracture injury, the 23-year-old is averaging 23.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.0 steal with a 68.4 true shooting percentage.
He’s coming off a career-high performance of 35 points along with 9 assists and 6 rebounds in a victory over the Indiana Pacers.
“Our chemistry is so great off the floor. We are just so well connected, we just believe in each other so much,” Barnes told reporters after the win.
Barnes has operated as the Raptors point guard and has done a great job of being the offensive hub for the team.
“Scottie [Barnes] tonight he did score 35 points, but for me, much more importantly than that is the tone he’s setting for the team. The poise that he’s playing with, how he’s picking up his teammates, the way he’s talking, the way he’s manipulating the game…I thought he was outstanding,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said.
Barnes did a solid job attacking against the Pacers and getting downhill. He was also working the pick and roll with Jakob Poeltl well. Barnes shot 13-for-20 from the field and got to the free throw line 8 times, hitting 6 of them.
“You got to find those advantages, wherever the advantage is out there on the floor you got to take those advantages and you got to exploit them…the pick and roll was working great with me and Yak [Poeltl]…so just trying to find those advantages with Yak and how I’m able to get downhill and find him on the roll sometimes, you know it’s working really great,” Barnes said.
With Barnes back in the mix Toronto has looked like a different team on both ends of the floor. Defensively, Barnes has picked it up and he has set the tone for his teammates.
“It’s a true blessing when your best player is really embracing that style of defense and that makes everybody else to step up a notch defensively as well,” Rajakovic said.
The Raptors are 5-6 in games with Barnes healthy and they are 5-3 in their last 8. As long as Barnes is on the floor for the Raptors, they will be a tough out for their opponent.
NBA announces two new regular season games for Toronto
The Toronto Raptors now have their full 82-game schedule set.
The NBA announced the two additional regular season games for all the teams who failed to qualify for the NBA Cup knockout stage.
The Raptors will head to Miami to take on the Heat on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET and then they will host the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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