Scottie Barnes, a leader on both ends of the court for the Raptors
The Raptors’ top scorer at the Cavaliers on Thursday? Scottie Barnes. The best jumper? Scottie Barnes, again. The best passer? Scottie Barnes, always. And the best blocker? Still the same Scottie Barnes.
The Toronto winger stepped up to lead his team on Thursday overwhelming success on the Cleveland floor (113-126). Close to a triple-double (28 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists), he led by example and showed his versatility on both sides of the court.
He may not really appreciate the comparisons and only have compliments to pay Evan Mobley, but it’s hard not to view the Floridian’s matchup through the lens of his matchup with his fellow 2021 draft pick. Since their close Rookie of the Year matchup won by Scotty Barnes, the Cavaliers’ interior has seemed to take precedence, with a very successful 2024-25 season. On Thursday night, the remote duel quickly turned in favor of the ubiquitous Toronto All-Star.
« I see Scotty playing at a high level a lot of nights.” welcomed his coach Darko Rajaković. « It looks easy when you see the things he does offensively, it’s easy to tell that he had a good game (28 points on 12/22 shooting). But he does much more for us. »
Full speed on both sides of the field
Against the Cavaliers, Scotty Barnes performed in all registers, both expected and some of the most surprising. Starting with his usual ease in the fast-paced game (6 points and 3 assists on Thursday) that really hurt the breathless Cavaliers. ” It’s funny, we laugh at him sometimes because he pushes all the time in transition » Jamal Sheed laughed at the press conference. ” Sometimes we have a surplus, sometimes we don’t. But you know, that’s why you want to run with him. You know he’s going to accelerate and get the lead, but we’re not always there to help him and that doesn’t leave a good impression. »
If the Raptor was often the first to reach the opponent’s circle, that did not stop him from playing for the final curtains, with five blocks. In action early in the third quarter, Scotty Barnes capped the scoring by rushing Donovan Mitchell to shut him down before going back to Evan Mobley to block his 3-pointer and then go for a layup on the counterattack, all with just seven seconds left.
“Five blocks, deflected passes, defensive rotations, how he protects the rim…He does an amazing job for us.” salute encore Darko Rajaković.
Scottie block ➡ Scottie layup
Barnes active on both ends to open 2H! pic.twitter.com/bIlkEVkDI3
— NBA (@NBA) November 14, 2025
« I know what I’m capable of, so I just have to do it every night » summed up the MVP of the game. ” Attack in transition, be aggressive on both sides of the floor and help your teammates a lot. When I am aggressive, then I can accelerate on the counter attack, draw the defense on me and find a teammate. This offers many solutions to our team. »
All-Star dynamics
There was no shortage of solutions for Scotty Barnes on Thursday, helped by Brandon Ingram’s successful debut in the Toronto jersey since the start of the season. The winger was clumsy in Cleveland, but made up for it with his power of attraction in the opposing backfield.
« Half of our offense was going through Brandon, and Cleveland did a good job trying to get him out of the system » analyzes Jamal Shead. “But he’s so selfless, he said, ‘Look how they treat me, look for Scotty at these events.’ »
The plan worked with 18 points scored by Scotty Barnes, often more free-flowing and also adept in the paint at mid-range. These “new-look” Raptors are attractive and are now two wins above the 50% success line, the first in over three years for the Canadian franchise. And Scotty Barnes is on All-Star pace (20.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.8 blocks).
| Scottie Barnes | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saison | The team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | That | Pd | Ft | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2021-22 | TOR | 74 | 35:22 | 49.2 | 30.1 | 73.5 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 15.3 |
| 2022-23 | TOR | 77 | 34:47 | 45.6 | 28.1 | 77.2 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 6.6 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 15.3 |
| 2023-24 | TOR | 60 | 34:54 | 47.5 | 34.1 | 78.1 | 2.4 | 5.9 | 8.2 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 19.9 |
| 2024-25 | TOR | 65 | 32:50 | 44.6 | 27.1 | 75.5 | 1.7 | 6.0 | 7.7 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 19.3 |
| 2025-26 | TOR | 12 | 10:30 p.m | 50.5 | 42.9 | 79.5 | 1.9 | 5.7 | 7.6 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 20.2 |
How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.
2025-11-14 11:30:00
