Barnes has some Magic, Edwards has some Air Jordan

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The big story in downtown Toronto on Thursday night was not the imminent exit of Taylor Swift, but rather the return of Scottie Barnes.

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Barnes looked quite good, especially in the first and fourth quarters, after missing 11 games. He was a major factor in the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and seems full of confidence ahead of a four-game road trip that starts against the best team in the league so far, Cleveland.

Barnes said his cardio felt good, he wasn’t tired and his timing looked just fine as well, other than a couple of early passes in quarters that he threw away. And he seemed to be just as strong, if not stronger in the decisive fourth. Barrett, who was fantastic again, loved having him back.

“Scottie Barnes. Man, that was fun,” Barrett said. “Having Scottie in the lineup for us, he’s a special player.”

Veteran Garrett Temple had predicted a day earlier that Barnes would have a pretty seamless reintegration to the lineup and that the Raptors would thrive with him. “Makes us even more potent,” Temple had said. “Offensively, we’ve been playing really well, we’re sharing the ball, Scottie is able to push the pace, is very unselfish, and obviously can score … And with the type of player that’s coming back. He’s high usage, but he’s a passer first – and second – out there. He’s a guy that gets into the paint and that’s going to create more shots for guys like Gradey (Dick), RJ. And on the defensive side I think he’s really going to help us, especially on the rebounding side.”

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Other than only grabbing four rebounds, Barnes lived up to Temple’s expectations. He also predicted Barnes would attract defenders and open things up for others and that’s exactly what happened, especially for Barrett.

“I think it’s going to give them, honestly, more freedom when they do have the ball. So their usage may be it may go down percentage wise, but they may have more space to operate when they have the ball,” Temple had said.

We’ll see how this develops moving forward.

PICK, ROLL, SCORE

Synergy Basketball, one of the best hoops analytics sources around, had an interesting note Thursday. Synergy listed the NBA’s most proficient pick and roll scorers. The Raptors duo of Davion Mitchell and Jakob Poeltl has scored 1.10 points per pick, the sixth-best success rate of any duo. New York’s combo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns led the way at 1.25 points per pick and Thursday’s game also featured the third-ranked duo of Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert. Poeltl and Mitchell were the only duo in the Top 11 without a former all-star.

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It will be interesting to see if Rajakovic works to keep the pair on the court at the same time moving forward. Now that Barnes is back and starting, Mitchell’s offensive role decreases and it also makes it harder, in theory to play Poeltl with Mitchell a lot since Poeltl will often be coming out for a rest when Mitchell is checking into a game.

Rajakovic got them in together for a bunch of minutes in the first half, and while Mitchell actually subbed out for Poeltl, they ended up playing a lot at the same time in the second half as well.

Barnes and Barrett also thrive in pick and roll situations, but it’s interesting to note that Toronto entered Thursday sixth in the NBA as a team in points per possession by the roll man on pick and rolls (usually a big man, like Poeltl), but just 25th in points per possession by the ball handler on pick and rolls.

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SHADES OF MJ

It’s been a long time since Toronto basketball fans had a chance to see Michael Jordan play, but if you listen to Rajakovic, they had the closest thing with the Timberwolves in town.

“I think Anthony Edwards did not turn into Steph Curry, but he’s slowly turning into Michael Jordan,” Rajakovic said before the game when asked about Edwards now attempting and making way more three-pointers than ever before.

“To be honest with you, Michael Jordan was my idol and the best player that I ever watched, I always admired him. I think Anthony Edwards is the closest that I’ve ever seen to Michael Jordan, just the way he moves on the court, just how competitive he is. There are amazing competitors in this league but this kid has something special, I have a ton of respect for him,” Rajakovic said.

Don’t tell. Kobe Bryant admirers about what Rajakovic had to say. They are easy to set off. And Edwards certainly didn’t live up to the billing on this night, shooting an airball and totalling as many fouls and turnovers as points in the first half. However, Edwards responded by hitting 4-of-5 shots in the third, but the Raptors sent two defenders at him for much of the fourth and the Wolves couldn’t hit shots.

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