If Scottie Barnes doesn’t make it to the NBA all-star weekend this year, it won’t be for a lack of worthy individual numbers. Barnes and the Raptors strode into Capital One Arena in Washington on Wednesday on a four-game winning streak and made it five in dominating fashion, beating the woeful Wizards 106-82. That’s the lowest total Toronto has held an opponent to this season.
The last time the Raptors won five games in a row was in April 2022. They have now won seven of their last eight games. No team in the NBA is defending better than the Raptors over the past seven games, with Toronto holding a 105.
4 defensive rating. Coach Darko Rajakovic has often talked about the on-the-ball pressure of players like Davion Mitchell, Bruce Brown and Jamal Shead , but it has been an overall team effort. And having a healthy Barnes as the focal point at both ends of the court has helped.
Barnes has missed 13 games with various injuries, but the 23-year-old Raptors linchpin, fresh off his first Eastern Conference player of the week honour, entered Wednesday averaging 20.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.
6 assists and 34.8 minutes. He imposed his dominance early against the Wizards and energized his team with timely cuts to the basket, precise passes and key defensive plays.
He helped the Raptors build a 29-point lead before sitting out a big chunk of the fourth quarter. He still had a game-high 24 points as well as four rebounds and four assists. All Raptors players logged fewer than 30 minu.
