Round 1 goes to Scottie Barnes. In the first clash between the player the Raptors drafted and the player they could have drafted, Barnes delivered a strong performance as Toronto edged Jalen Suggs and the Orlando Magic. (michaelgrange)
decided not to take with the fourth pick in the NBA draft -- and who the Magic took fifth -- arrived in Toronto on Friday shooting just 28.6 per cent from the floor, the worst in the NBA among qualified shooters.-- taken by the Raptors ahead of Suggs to the surprise of some -- had three baskets on three attempts, including a three-pointers which he celebrated as if he’d hit the go-ahead hoop in an elimination game.
Toronto needed all that Barnes could offer. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter with the Raptors trailing that veterans Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby joined the fight. They were a combined 4-of-20 through three quarters but were the gas in the Raptors' engine in the fourth. It was VanVleet’s triple with 2:04 left that put the Toronto up 12 and effectively iced the game.
It’s certainly not hard to imagine Suggs becoming a very good NBA player, or something more. It’s early days, but the rookie class of 2021 looks like it could be special. But Barnes' little celebration after his hot start? His airplane wings to the baseline camera after going coast-to-coast for a dunk early in the second quarter? Some more wings after pulling up for an early-clock jumper a moment later?Don’t be fooled. He didn’t want to play well with Suggs in town. He wanted to eviscerate him and shut down any thoughts about who should have been taken where in the draft as vehemently as possible.
Part of that was because Barnes covered him on occasion, and on those occasions, Suggs did not get a shot off, let alone make one.
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