The Brooklyn Nets headed into Scotiabank Arena last night to face off against the Toronto Raptors in both teams first game post All Star break. Coming into the game Toronto hadn’t recorded a win over an opponent in their division and were looking to change that reality. In a 121-93 win there were a bevy of positive things from Toronto and a lot of players had ideal games. The defense was also outstanding and Darko Rajakovic’s game plan was sound. This was a huge win if Toronto desires the play-in game because standings wise Brooklyn is close to them.
Scottie Barnes had a dominant showing last night after his first All Star appearance. Barnes recorded 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block. It was his usual brand of swiss army knife basketball where he did so many things for Toronto. His game really shined as a paint scorer though.Whether he was leaking out in transition for layups, getting the ball in the post and working down low, getting offensive rebounds and putting it back up, Barnes just brutalized Brooklyn’s defense all night long. You could tell he still had some of that bravado on him from the All Star game after he mimicked Mikal Bridges’ three point celebration in the opening moments of the game. Barnes’ scoring was reliable and his rebounding created a lot as well.
Immanuel Quickley shined in a big way last night. Quickley recorded a statline of 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. These 24 points included shooting 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, which is something that Rajakovic has mentioned he wants to see Quickley do more of. Last night Quickley obliged, he was knocking down triples both assisted and unassisted which is what he was brought here to do. Quickley also flashed some nice pick n roll ball handling, when he would get run off the line he did a nice job in controlling his pace and getting nice falling away shots and floaters to fall. This game was what you want to see from Quickley, be a flamethrower from outside, work in the pick n roll and get downhill, and use your speed to put pressure on the defense, and he delivered and was a big help in this win.
Gary Trent Jr. was another big reason that the Toronto Raptors won this game. Trent scored 25 points and poured in 5 threes of his own as well. It wasn’t the three point shooting that popped for Trent though, we all know how hot he can get from there, but it was his creation inside of the arc that was really intriguing. Trent isn’t known for having the best shot diet in the world but last night he played with such poise on the ball that you rarely get to see from him. He had multiple plays where he just slowed down or did a jump stop, waited for the defense to react, and then shot the ball at the most opportune time, just a great game from Trent.
RJ Barrett’s passing has improved since he arrived in Toronto and that trend continued last night as well. Barrett finished the game with 7 assists and a lot of these assists were eye popping. He had a cross court pass on the move in transition for a Quickley three, he had a nice lay down pass to Jakob Poetl after getting his man to jump, multiple times he got into the paint and was able to leverage that into a good shot for his teammates. Barrett’s scoring wasn’t where it usually has been during his time in Toronto, but his passing made up for that in some ways. Gradey Dick showed off his impressive basketball IQ last night, and you can really see that he is a very smart off ball defender, and even when he’s on the ball he’s really competing on that end. He has a good nose for where to move and shift on offense to better free himself for shots as well, and last night showed that. Poetl was a monster defensively, he wasn’t letting Brooklyn get comfortable in the pick n roll, he was sealing off the rim, he was just very dominant on that end.
It was a real group effort win last night, the team was humming on both ends of the floor and they really showed off a lot of their potential in this win. Next up Toronto will face off against the Atlanta Hawks on the second night of a back to back and hope to extend the win streak to two.
