The Raptors have their backs against the wall, facing elimination, and they can't afford to lose their best player at home.
Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors suffered a crushing 125-120 defeat Wednesday night to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. After leading for 58% of the game, the Raptors were unable to hold off the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter, getting outscored by eight in the final period, 25-17. The two-time All-Star contributed 17 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds to match three blocks and a steal in the contest.
While his overall stat line was stellar per usual, Barnes’ offensive contribution greatly lacked in the second half. The former Florida State Seminole made zero field goals in the second half and supplied only three points and three assists. A reason as to why this may have been is due to an injury he obtained, but played through, in the second quarter.
When driving to the basket, he collided with the knee of Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, providing significant pain to the quad area of Barnes. It was evident that he was limited in his ability to be aggressive on all fronts because of the pain he was enduring. With the Raptors’ other two-time All-Star, Brandon Ingram, sitting for the entire second half because of a reaggravated heel injury, the team could not afford to lose Barnes for the rest of the game as well.
After the game, Barnes detailed how the injury affected him for the rest of the contest, as well as his mindset for Game 6.
“Obviously, it had some effect,” said Barnes. “I couldn’t play with that same pace that I was trying to play with … I had a little limp out there, but was just trying to push through it … Can’t do nothing about it, just gotta get some recovery, rest a little bit, and be ready Friday [for Game 6].”
Toronto is already missing its starting point guard, Immanuel Quickley, so Barnes has had to serve as the primary playmaker for the team in his absence. Once the Raptors’ regular-season leading scorer (Ingram) went down, Barnes and RJ Barrett were expected to handle the scoring load. Considering the seemingly unlimited effort Barnes provides on the defensive side of the ball, asking him to control the team’s playmaking and scoring should be too much for one player to handle. Adding in an injury that he has to play through makes for a meltdown, as represented by the Raptors’ 17 fourth-quarter points.
Going into Game 6, the Raptors simply cannot rely on the former No. 4 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to carry them to victory. With him managing the quad injury, Ingram dealing with a heel injury (which is undetermined whether he’ll be able to play through or not), and Quickley already ruled out with the hamstring strain, the rest of the rotation will have to step up in a big way for the Raptors to stay afloat. Toronto heads back home to Scotiabank Arena on Friday at 7:30 PM EST with a chance to force Game 7.