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Scottie Barnes scores a career-high 41 on 34 shots, gets three free throws, and the Raptors lose to the Magic: ‘I’m kind of raging on the inside’
Scottie Barnes went 19-of-34 for a career-high 41 points six days after an 0-for-12 night in Minnesota, but he shot three free throws, Toronto shot 15 to Orlando's 29, and the Magic won the NBA Cup opener 121-114.
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Scottie Barnes scored a career-high 41 points on Friday night in Toronto, took 34 shots and went to the free-throw line three times. The Toronto Raptors lost 121-114 to the Orlando Magic in the Emirates NBA Cup group opener for both teams, and Barnes did not sound like a player celebrating a personal best.
“I could have got to the free-throw line more,” Barnes said after the game. “I think being that aggressive, only shooting three free throws is kind of crazy. I’m trying to have good PR today, but I’m kind of raging on the inside right now, but it is what it is.”
Barnes reaches 40 with the Raptors up one in the fourth quarter, posted by the NBA on X.
The line
Barnes went 19-of-34 from the field, 1-of-2 from three and 2-of-3 at the line in a season-high 39 minutes, with five rebounds, five assists, two steals and four turnovers. The 19 baskets and 34 attempts were both career highs, and the 41 points went well past his previous best of 35. He fouled out on an offensive foul with 2.7 seconds left.
Most of his shots came from places he used to avoid. He was 5-of-6 at the rim and 8-of-10 from the mid-range, the area inside the arc and outside the paint. It was his 16th career game with at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, tying DeMar DeRozan for the fourth-most in Raptors history.
Twenty-four shots by halftime
Barnes took seven shots in the first quarter and 17 in the second, and went into the break 11-of-24 with 23 points. Orlando still led 64-55, because the Magic were cutting off RJ Barrett, Toronto’s leading scorer coming in, who finished with nine points on 3-of-10 shooting.
Barnes kept attacking after halftime and passed his career high in the fourth quarter. The Raptors briefly took the lead on an Immanuel Quickley three, but Barnes’ last field goal came with a little more than nine minutes left, his final two points came at the line with 7:17 to go, and Toronto made only three field goals over the last 8:38.
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said he had stretched Barnes’ first-quarter minutes because he was rolling, “and after I subbed him out, it was hard.”
15 free throws to 29
Toronto shot 15 free throws as a team and made 11. Orlando shot 29 and made 25, and the Raptors were called for 33 fouls to the Magic’s 21. Rajakovic did not hide what he thought of the whistle.
“For me, a player who scores 40-something points and takes 34 shots and goes to the free-throw line three times, that’s kind of BS to be honest with you,” he said.
Rajakovic on the free-throw gap, posted by TSN on X.
The officiating was not the only problem. The Magic made 18 of their 34 threes, to Toronto’s 11-of-27, and shot 52.7% overall. Desmond Bane scored a season-high 28 and made 6 of 12 from deep, Franz Wagner set season highs with 26 points and 11 assists, Wendell Carter Jr. added 20 and Anthony Black had 17 points and 10 assists. Two nights earlier, Orlando had shot 10-of-35 from three in a 129-99 loss in the same building.
From 0-for-12 to 41 in three games
The night came six days after the worst offensive game of Barnes’ career. In a 117-94 loss in Minnesota on Oct. 25, he went 0-for-12 from the field, 0-for-5 from three and did not attempt a free throw in 28 minutes. He answered with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting in Wednesday’s 30-point win over Orlando, then took 34 shots on Friday.
“I’ve been trying to be aggressive, especially since that Minnesota game, for sure,” Barnes said. “My mindset going into a game now is just to keep trying to be aggressive as best I can and help the team out as best I can.”
Teammates noticed. “He just looked like a man on a mission,” said Jakob Poeltl, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds, his best game of the season. “He was really, really aggressive out there. They tried to throw everybody at him, but it didn’t really matter too much.”
Barnes said setting a new career high had been one of his goals before the season. Asked whether he could enjoy it on Friday, he said, “By now, no. I think I got to let some time go off.” He added: “We really wanted this game, for sure. Really wanted it.”
Without Kawhi Leonard
Toronto is 3-2 and 0-1 in East Group A of the Cup. It was the Raptors’ second loss in three games without Kawhi Leonard, who remains out with swelling in his left knee, and with Leonard out, more of the half-court offense has fallen to Barnes. In last season’s seven-game first-round loss to Cleveland, he averaged 24.1 points.
The Raptors now start their first long road trip of the season: the Lakers on Sunday and the Clippers on Monday in Los Angeles, then Denver on Wednesday and their second Cup game, against Milwaukee, on Friday.
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