Takeaways From Raptors Heartbreaking Loss to Nuggets

Denver Nuggets 127, Toronto Raptors 125 (OT)

Scottie Barnes is just a mismatch killer.

The Raptors keep finding ways to put Barnes in mismatches and against a Nuggets team as shallow as this one seems to be, Denver had no answers. He repeatedly backed down smaller defenders, getting to his post-up shimmy for turnaround floaters, scoring 16 of his points 21 points Monday night in the paint.

It was a Barnes kick-out pass out of a pick-and-roll with Jakob Poeltl to Gradey Dick that stuck Toronto to a nine-point lead midway through the fourth. He followed it up moments later with a full-court alley-oop he threw with pin-point accuracy to Ochai Agbaji and then capped off his stellar fourth-quarter run with a LeBron James-esque transition block on Christian Braun.

A Barnes three-pointer over Braun with two minutes to go gave Toronto the 10-point lead, but Denver wouldn't go away. The Nuggets managed to erase it all in the final minutes, taking advantage of a layup from Jamal Murray to force overtime.

"He’s a big tall guy who can handle the ball, who is for seeking mismatches, who can put the ball downhill, who is finding open teammates, who can post-up, he can play in the mid-range, he can ISO," Nikola Jokic said of Barnes. "He’s a really good player.”

When Denver sent help at Barnes, the All-Star forward showed off his playmaking prowess. He threw a mind-boggling no-look bounce pass to Ochai Agbaji cutting in from the corner for an impressive slam in the third quarter that put the Raptors up 11 after Denver had trimmed Toronto’s lead to just five minutes earlier. It was the second of two no-look passes Barnes threw after connecting with Mogbo on a no-look feed in transition in the second.

Barnes recorded a career-high five steals Friday including a fourth-quarter steal off Aaron Gordon, taking the ball the other way in transition before being fouled by Russell Westbrook in what was deemed to have been a flagrant. The moment sparked a brief skirmish that resulted in a double technical as Barnes and Gordon had to be separated after some pushing and shoving.

"Scottie defended himself as he should," RJ Barrett said. "I was right there with my one good shoulder. But yeah, we don't back down from anybody. So it's good to see that."

A stellar night from Barnes was only marred by an injury he sustained in the final minute when Jokic inadvertently hit Barnes in the right eye with an elbow trying to grab a defensive rebound. Barnes stayed down during the ensuing possession and had to be taken to the locker room.

RJ Barrett hasn’t missed a beat.

The Canadian forward returned from an AC joint injury to make his season debut Monday night and looked every bit as good as he did late last season in Toronto. He came out of the gate in attack mode, scoring nine of Toronto’s first 13 points and forcing Denver to burn a timeout just four minutes into the game.

Barrett still isn’t quite at 100 percent. Every time he checked out, he went to the bench and was immediately greeted with a shoulder brace and he continues to work his way back. But on the court, there were no signs of any issue for the 6-foot-7 forward.

When he’s driving downhill, he’s tough to stop. He got Toronto’s offense going early and stuck the Raptors to a 13-point lead in the third quarter after corralling an offensive rebound and nailing a turnaround three-pointer.

Down two, Barrett had a chance to win the game for Toronto in overtime, racing up the court in the final seconds before taking a lightly-contested three-pointer that would have given the Raptors the lead. The shot wouldn't fall and Denver snared the rebound to escape with victory.

"I'm comfortable taking that shot. I'm happy with the shot it took. That's just who I am," said Barrett who finished the night with 20 points in nearly 29 minutes. "That's who I've always been. I'll take the shot again. That's just, I don't know. That's just who RJ Barrett is."

This 2024 draft class is so far shaping up to be a pretty good one.

It’s a small sample size, of course, but Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo are looking like NBA contributors and maybe even more than that. That’s before Toronto even gets a look at first-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter who is heading to the G League to continue his rehabbing process ahead of his NBA debut.

Shead is just relentless on both sides of the ball. He’s tough fighting through screens and has no problem getting up in the face of opposing point guards and pressuring the ball in full court. He and Mogbo successfully killed 13 seconds off the shot clock by just being active defensively, picking up in the full court and jumping into passing lanes.

“One thing that I do like about our rookies in our team, they're not afraid,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “They're not afraid of the moment. They're not afraid to step on the court and play hard. And when you play hard and when you have your heart in the right place to play for a team, good things happen.”

That’s how Shead and Mogbo have played so far.

Shead drew an offensive foul in the first half taking a nasty shoulder from Aaron Gordon and repeatedly putting his head down, getting to the hoop for eight points Monday.

"That's his best weapon that he has. He's going to be disruptive defensively, he’s going to do a good job guarding all the elite players in this league," Rajaković said. "There are no easy nights and off nights, and he's learning what it takes to do that every single night. I was very, very pleased with the effort that he was giving out there." 

Mogbo has clearly jumped ahead of Bruno Fernando in the rotation pecking order and was turned to as Toronto’s backup center, even against Jokic in a pinch. His cutting has proven to be valuable in limited minutes so far and his versatility is a trait the Raptors are going to lean into even more down the road.

The Raptors will hit the road and head to Charlotte for a one-game road trip against the Hornets on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.