Scottie Barnes Breaks Out of Funk While O.G. Anunoby Leads Raptors to Victory Over Heat
Raptors #Raptors
The Toronto Raptors rode a 32-point showing from O.G. Anunoby to a victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday
Nick Nurse could have buried Scottie Barnes, ridiculed him for his lackluster play of late, and tried to send a message to the reigning Rookie of the Year. Frankly, it wouldn’t have been entirely uncharacteristic for a coach who has a track record of publicly calling out struggling players. Just asked Precious Achiuwa or Chris Boucher.
But sometimes, coaching requires a more gentle touch.
View the original article to see embedded media.
“I think he’s playing really well,” Nurse said Wednesday evening. “Love him, man. I think he’s playing great.”
Maybe it was forshadowing. Against the Miami Heat, Barnes did play great. He played with that joy again, the kind Nurse had been looking for. When Toronto needed a bucket late, it was Barnes who found himself with the ball in his hands, making the savvy pass to the corner to find Chris Boucher for the game-clinching three-pointer in a 112-104 victory.
Barnes opened Wednesday with a barrage of mid-range jumpers, the kind he’s been struggling so mightily with lately. He connected on a pair early in the shot clock, first over Jimmy Butler and then over Kyle Lowry. A miraculous off-balanced three-pointer in the dying seconds of the shot clock got him to nine points in the first quarter before that dreaded passiveness set in as he failed to attempt a single shot in the second quarter.
That finally changed in the second half when Barnes began attacking again, putting his shoulder into Caleb Martin before flipping in a floater to open the third quarter. He did the same in the fourth, driving past Martin for another bucket deep in the paint.
Barnes, who finished Wednesday with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists, is going to go through ruts this season, next season, and for however long he plays in the NBA. It happened last year too, even in his Rookie of the Year campaign. The key is responding to them and dealing with that pressure because, as the adage goes, develop is never linear.
Take O.G. Anunoby’s story, for example. It wasn’t long ago that the 25-year-old could barely dribble without fumbling the ball on the move. Any progress he’d made over the years always seemed stunted by an injury. These days, though, that’s finally beginning to change.
Anunoby was the offensive engine for the Raptors, creating buckets for himself off the dribble and in the mid-range. At one point he beat Miami’s press defense, taking it up the court himself before finding Khem Brich with a dumpoff pass in the paint. He later nailed a trio of fallaway mid-range jumpers, the kind of shot he rarely attempted just a year or two ago.
He and VanVleet almost singlehandedly led the Raptors on a 21-0 run in the third quarter, flipping a 70-59 Heat lead into a 80-70 Raptors lead before Heat coach Erik Spoelstra finally called a timeout. VanVleet turned around a dissapointing 3-for-10 first half, with 13 of his 23 points in the third quarter alone.
Anunoby finished the night with a season-high 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting, with 10 rebounds, and three including a clutch feed to Chris Boucher with two minutes to go to keep the Raptors up five.
Injury Report
Just when things couldn’t get any worse for the Raptors, Dalano Banton suffered a left ankle injury early in the third quarter and did not return.
Up Next: Atlanta Hawks
The Raptors will have two days off before heading to Atlanta to take on Trae Young and the Hawks at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday.