Scottie Barnes twisted left, then right, spun one way, then the other, before bringing the Scotiabank Arena crowd to its feet with a screaming slam dunk. Then came a full body flex, followed by a high five with a most astonished fan. The message was clear, loud, energetic and electric, as if it hadn't been clear all playoff series long.
This is Barnes' team, Barnes' town, and in a playoff series that has turned Toronto's way after a stunning overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, it is no longer about the Raptors having an answer for Donovan Mitchell or James Harden. It's about the Cavs not really having an answer of any kind for the Raptors' super kid, Barnes.
A Series Transformed
This seven-game series began with two Cleveland wins and two rather sharp performances by the apparent future Hall of Famers, Mitchell and Harden. But with Toronto winning Games 3 and 4 at home, and having should have won Game 5 in Cleveland, the tide had been altered. Barnes and his scoring teammate Rowan Barrett Jr., also known as RJ, outplayed, outscored, and outdefended the Cavs' pair of supposed superstars. Barrett hit an unlikely three-pointer in overtime — one that bounced almost Kawhi Leonard style off the rim — giving the Raptors a 112-110 win.
A game they almost lost to exhaustion. The series is now tied after six games heading to a Game 7 on Sunday, but what doesn't appear tied is the battle, if there is in fact one, between Barnes and Barrett matching up against the large Cleveland scorers, Mitchell and Harden.
First-Half Dominance
By halftime Friday night, it was Barnes and Barrett 29, Harden and Mitchell 15. Assists 12-4 for Barnes and Barrett. Rebounds 8-6 Raptors. By the end, it was much closer: Barnes and Barrett 49, Mitchell and Harden 40. With the entire Raptors team feeding off early energy and almost fading in the fourth quarter and overtime, playing an aggressive and impressive style of defence until they couldn't anymore.
But mostly, other players aside, it was another night to remember for Barnes, best player on the floor, flexing his muscles for the entire NBA to see. Alongside Barrett, the most explosive scorer on the floor, playing the game as differently and creatively as they do.
Overcoming Adversity
The Raptors, somehow still in the game and the series without their $40-million bust, Brandon Ingram, and without the $32-million starting point guard who doesn't start a whole lot, Immanuel Quickley, and somehow still looking mostly like the better team. The whole game, though, and really the first six games of the series, has revealed much about this sometimes beleaguered Raptors team.
They are better than the NBA thought they were, and better than we thought they were. Barnes and Barrett are certainly better than almost anyone thought they were. The coach, Darko Rajakovic, is better at his job than most of us believed him to be. Like Barnes and like Barrett and like some of the Raptors children, Jamal Shead, Ja'Kobe Walter and Collin Murray-Boyles — Rajakovic was thought to be outreached by Cleveland boss Kenny Atkinson in the series. But that didn't happen.
Really, that is what has been so impressive about the Raptors in the first six games of the series, now tied at 3-3. They didn't have Quickley for any of the games and he won't be available for Game 7 on Sunday. But they had Ingram just a little bit, not performing particularly well early in the series, and then getting hurt again in Game 5, aggravating a heel injury. He scored one point in Game 5. Ingram didn't dress for Game 6.
Bench Contributions
The Raptors didn't seem to need him. Rajakovic had to go to his bench, which simultaneously meant his starting lineup was playing on fumes. But it wasn't apparent throughout the game. The supposed lessers came through with so much more: Shead, making huge plays, thinking the game so well, at huge moments, with Jamison Battle hitting big shots at big moments, with the pure rookie first round pick, Murray-Boyles, looking like a first round keeper of significance. And the sophomore Walter, hitting so many shots early in the second half, moving past both Barnes and Barrett and anyone on Cleveland in scoring, hitting three three-pointers in the first three quarters and six free throws to get him to 19 points before 36 minutes were done.
Looking Ahead to Game 7
Now there's a Game 7. A game that didn't seem possible when this series began. A game that didn't seem likely when the Raptors were defeated basically wire to wire in the first two games played in Cleveland. Those two games were all Cleveland. The Raptors have been the better team for the past four games, winning three of them. Now just one to go. One game for everything.
With the Raptors no longer focusing on the Cavs, but listening to their coach and focusing on themselves. "We're not really focusing on what they're going to be doing," said coach Rajakovic. "To be honest with you, I think the most important thing is how we react in those situations. And over the course of the season, we were missing different players at different times, and the quality and strength of this team is finding ways, finding ways for somebody else to step up and to fill in the role and to help the team."
"Obviously, missing two starters in IQ and BI is a lot. But at the same time, we have enough players on this roster and enough depth to continue fighting." And fight they did. All the way to overtime. All the way to Game 7 on Sunday. A chance to advance. Barnes and Barrett, from sharp beginning to emotional end, gave you that.
