TORONTO — What a difference a point guard makes.
Or that’s the hope. The Toronto Raptors have been playing most of this season without one, or at least without the one they paid $175 million this past summer to be their point guard for the next five years.
But then Immanuel Quickley sprained his thumb and missed all but one exhibition game before the season even started. Then he bruised his pelvis after being undercut by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland 14 minutes into the season opener and was out for the next eight games. Then he got caught up fighting over a screen in his second game back from that injury on the road in Los Angeles and partially tore the ulnar collateral nerve in his left elbow, an injury more common among MLB pitchers than NBA point guards.
That kept him sidelined for 22 games. Before last night the Raptors had only played 33 times. Not coincidentally with Quickley heading a long and varied injury report they had won only seven.
It’s a new year though. The Raptors franchise-record 54-point loss to the Boston Celtics is so last year, even if it was Tuesday afternoon.
And for one game at least, it was like 2024 never happened, and lets you dream of 2025 and beyond a little bit.
Not only did the Raptors snap their 11-game losing streak — which included seven straight at Scotiabank Arena — with a resounding 130-113 win over the Brooklyn Nets, they did it with co-stars Quickley and Scottie Barnes playing off each other and complementing each other just the way the Raptors doubtless intended when they announced they had signed contracts worth $400 million on the same day last summer.
No one was happier than Quickley to finally be able to get back to work.
“When you have the game taken away from you for a long time you’re a little bit more grateful. You miss it,” Quickley said. “Not that I took the game for granted before, I feel like I work pretty hard, but it’s just good to compete and be out there with your teammates, coaches. It’s just a different feeling than being on the sidelines.”
Now, caveats: the Nets — who are now 12-21 on the season — aren’t the Boston Celtics or Memphis Grizzlies or Atlanta Hawks or New York Knicks or the calibre of any of the other teams that have been ragdolling the Raptors lately. They too have favourable lottery odds next June in mind as they play out this season. But for the most part, they’ve been feisty under Canadian men’s national team head coach Jordi Fernandez in his first season as an NBA head coach.
But the Nets were no match for the new-look Raptors who improved to 8-26 on the season.
Barnes, seemingly freed up from all the other responsibilities on his plate with Quickley out, had arguably his best game of the season as he put up 31 points on 14-of-18 shooting, while grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing five assists, nabbing two steals and blocking a shot, all while erasing the Nets’ Ben Simmons, who was 1-of-6 in 25 minutes and -18 on the night.
Meanwhile, Quickley looked like the second coming of Steve Nash as he shimmied his way to 21 points and 15 assists, the latter figure tied for the second-best of his career.
His teammates welcomed it, playing with an energy that has often been absent as they weathered four consecutive blowout losses over the holiday season, each seemingly more disheartening than the last.
“It was amazing. It was great,” said Barnes of playing with Quickley again. “The intensity that he brought to the floor tonight, on both ends of the floor, it was great. Something that we really missed, and we needed. His playmaking ability, his ability just to get to the paint, his shooting, all that we needed it, his leadership. He was unbelievable, talking throughout the whole entire game today. So, you know, we really missed it.”
The Raptors had mostly been in control of a competitive contest and were leading by nine when Quickley checked back in for his final shift with seven minutes to play and promptly put the game to bed. In the space of two minutes he found Gradey Dick (22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 4-of-8 from three) for a triple, connected with centre Jakob Poeltl (12 points, nine rebounds, two blocks) on a pair of pick-and-rolls and then punched the paint and twisted to find Ochai Agbaji (14 points on eight shots in 37 minutes) crosscourt for another three, putting the Raptors up by 15 and the game out of harm’s way.
He was making plays for others, the most important job in basketball.
“He’s got a lot of skills but he’s a point guard,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “When he’s bringing the ball up the floor, he is calling plays on the run, recognizing situations …
“He’s doing a really good job and he’s my extension on the floor when he plays out there.”
It showed: The Raptors shot 59.1 per cent from the floor and 50 per cent (16-of-32) from three while scoring 33 fastbreak points, all season-best marks. After totalling 103 turnovers in their past five games, the Raptors had just 10 against Brooklyn, tied for their second-lowest total of the season. Quickley had just one.
Simply having another experienced NBA player on the floor can only help a Raptors team that has had a shortage of them all season, but the side benefit of it being a primary ball-handler like Quickley is that it should offer some relief to Barnes, who has played long stretches as the Raptors primary offensive engine with mixed results.
Barnes’ box score numbers are almost identical to those he put up during his all-star campaign from last year — he’s averaging 19.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and a career-best 6.9 assists — but his shooting efficiency is down and his turnovers are up significantly to nearly 3.9 per game.
Long-term, the key to Barnes as an all-NBA level player will depend on his ability to be a primary creator for important chunks of games, but doing it all game, every game without a strong supporting cast takes a toll.
Having Quickley back should lighten Barnes’ load.
“It allows Scottie to play with more force as a secondary guy — not to bring the ball every single time, not trying to get the team organized in a set,” said Rajakovic. “It really helps. I’m over here really excited to see Quickley being in that role more pushing the ball and opening up the court for Scottie as well. Scottie is a very willing passer, but he also needs very good outlets there to help him out.”
Playing off the ball worked in Barnes’ favour a number of times as Quickley assisted on three Barnes lay-ups in the second quarter and then on an emphatic alley-oop early in the fourth. Barnes looked as aggressive finding ways to score in the flow of the offence as he has all season.
“It was definitely nice to play off the ball,” Barnes said. “I can be a little bit more aggressive rather than just thinking about playmaking the whole time. So it was nice to be able to just do that and then be able to just make other reads.”
Meanwhile, having another three-point shooter that defences have to respect when Barnes has the ball should make life easier on those occasions too.
“IQ is the guy that when you are guarding him, he’s capable of shooting… so when he’s bringing the ball you have to honour him,” said Rajakovic. “So pick-up points are going to be higher. Now pick-and-rolls are happening higher … spacing in this league is paramount. The amount of threes that teams are shooting in the league, they’re creating gravity … and it’s opening up much more space to go downhill and to play make That’s a real thing.”
There was a moment late in the first half that demonstrated how it should work. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, it was Barnes, not Quickley, who brought the ball up for what would be the Raptors’ last full possession of the half. But with Quickley spacing the floor along with two other credible three-point threats in Agbaji and Dick, Barnes was able to beat his defender 1-on-1 in space and then find a wide-open Poeltl for the dunk on the baseline as the defence was, for a rare moment this season against the Raptors, spread too thin.
Quickley never touched the ball in the half-court, but his presence helped make the Raptors’ offence work.
It was a welcome sight and a nice put 2024 in the rearview.
