Takeaways from Raptors Upset Victory Over T-Wolves in Scottie ...

Toronto Raptors 110, Minnesota Timberwolves 105

Scottie Barnes didn’t miss a beat.

It took Barnes all of 25 seconds to get back into a groove Thursday night in his return from an orbital fracture he suffered late last month. On Toronto’s very first offensive possession of the game, Jakob Poeltl grabbed a rebound and quickly found Barnes who pushed the pace up the court and hit a cutting Gradey Dick for an easy transition bucket.

That’s the difference Barnes makes.

Toronto wants to build a team in Barnes’ image and that means a group that'll push the pace and take advantage of transition opportunities. When the Raptors did slow down against Minnesota, Barnes could be seen yelling at his teammates to pick it up.

“I really love his game. I really love everything that he brings to the table,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said pre-game. “The way he shares the ball, the way he's playing unselfishly — I don't want Scottie Barnes to be anything outside of Scottie Barnes. I just need him to be the best version of himself. And when he's that, he's really raising the people around him to another level. He's making everybody around him better.”

Barnes didn’t play a full allotment of minutes in his return, but he looked good with 17 points and six assists in 27 minutes. He nailed a mid-range jumper out of a pick-and-roll with Jonathan Mogbo and converted two first-half three-pointers including a pull-up three over Donte DiVincenzo.

In the fourth, Barnes led the Raptors, hitting a fadeaway jumper over Jaden McDaniels to put the Toronto up four. The Raptors clamped down defensively, sparking a 17-3 run midway through the fourth.

"Scottie is high a IQ player with a lot of skill and he just knows how to handle those situations," Rajaković said. "Great communication with teammates, getting us organized, how to inbound the ball, what to do, what spacing needs to be. ... Having a player on the court is going to be general on the floor and do all of that for us it's very valuable."

Toronto tried something a little different Thursday night.

With Barnes back, the Raptors opted to go without a traditional point guard in their starting lineup. It made for a bigger more versatile starting unit featuring Barnes, Dick, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, and Jakob Poeltl. Without Davion Mitchell in the first group, the Raptors left the ball-handling duties to Barnes and Barrett who carried the load admirably.

The lineup wouldn’t have been possible if not for the development Toronto has seen from Barrett as a lead offensive creator over the past few weeks with Barnes sidelined. While Barrett shifted into a secondary role with Barnes back, the two had little problem keeping the Raptors ticking even without Mitchell on the court.

"The amount of pick-and-rolls and situations that RJ was handling, and the way he handled it, the way he was playmaking and scoring just gave me more confidence that I can play with both of them," Rajaković said of Barrett and Barnes together.

The biggest benefit of the lineup came on the defensive end where the Raptors kept Agbaji on Anthony Edwards with Barnes on Julius Randle in a position that afforded him more opportunities to be an off-ball pest for the Raptors. It helped that Mike Conley, Minnesota’s lead point guard was sidelined, but Barrett did a good job holding fellow Canadian Nickeil Alexander-Walker in check as Toronto’s primary defender on Minnesota’s lead guard.

The Raptors did, however, finish with Mitchell on the floor, using his defensive abilities to lock down Edwards in crunch time. Mitchell finished the night a plus-20 in 27 minutes off the bench.

Barrett is going to slow down eventually — but that day hasn’t come yet.

Even with Barnes back, it was Barrett who led Toronto just as he has over the past three weeks without his All-Star teammate. Barrett got downhill and into the paint even against Rudy Gobert. He continued to work pick-and-rolls with Poeltl for buckets inside, tallying eight points in the first quarter as the Raptors took control of an early lead.

Minnesota rallied to take a seven-point lead in the third, but Barrett was there to respond. He found Mogbo out of a pick-and-roll with a pocket pass for a bucket and then nailed an above-the-break three to recapture the lead for Toronto late in the quarter.

He kept the Raptors going early in the fourth quarter, repeatedly attacking the Timberwolves inside. He finished with a pair of layups and then drew a foul as the two teams traded the lead back and forth. An alley-oop pass from Dick to Barrett stuck the Raptors to a nine-point lead with less than three minutes to go.

Barrett led Toronto with 31 points on 10-for-14 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists.

Toronto's bench showed up in a big way Thursday night with a huge showing from Chris Boucher who dropped 22 points in 26 minutes for the Raptors. He nailed a game-tying three-pointer with just over five minutes to go in the fourth after a stellar kick-out pass from Barnes.

Mogbo stepped up with Poeltl in foul trouble and chipped in six points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes.

The Raptors will open a four-game road trip on Sunday when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. ET.