ATLANTA — So, this can work, right?
That’s the question that overhangs everything at the start of the NBA regular season when training-camp optimism and pretend games give way to the real thing, and a team either makes sense or it doesn’t.
The Toronto Raptors drawing the Atlanta Hawks for opening night was almost perfect in that sense. The Raptors’ cause for optimism is the addition of Brandon Ingram and a healthy Immanuel Quickley (remember his string of injuries began 14 minutes into the last year’s opener, the start of a frustrating 33-game season) to their rotation, as well as an additional year of experience for their younger rotation pieces.
Does it all fit? Can Ingram and Barnes thrive together? Is there room for RJ Barrett to make significant contributions?
All questions that need answering but can only be hinted at until the lights come up and everything counts.
“I’m not more so curious,” said Barrett as the clock ticked towards the tip-off of the 82-game regular season. “I’m more so just ready to go, you know? Like we put in the work. So I’m just ready to go now at this point.”
The Hawks’ optimism is based on one of the most additive small-scale renovations in the NBA: the addition of stretch big Kristaps Porzingis, three-and-D wing and Canadian national team stalwart Nickeil Alexander-Walker as well as more experience for Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 pick from a year ago, and a healthy season from gifted wing Jalen Johnson.
“I think they’re a better team this season than last season,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “I also believe we’re a better team this year than last season. For us, it’s going to come down to margins. We’ve got to show more commitment to our identity, really focus on us and what we need to do on both ends of the floor.”
Mission accomplished. The Raptors rolled into Atlanta and walked over the Hawks, leaving town with a 138-118 win in which they were solidly in control for most of the first half before splitting the game open midway through the third quarter with an avalanche of stops, turnovers and fast-break points that left Atlanta trailing by 23 to start the fourth and as much as 29 with 10:43 to play. It was a 26-4 run over the space of six minutes that was emblematic of everything the Raptors have been preaching: pressure defence up the floor, rapid pushes with the ball and egalitarian scoring.
It’s an approach that other teams — the Hawks on this night anyway — find hard to play against.
“When you play defence and pressure all game long, it gets tiring for the opponent,” said Barrett who very much showed he was ready to go as he led all scorers with 25 points, but did it on tidy 9-of-12 shooting (2-of-4 from three) while adding eight rebounds and five assists along with a pair of steals. He got ‘the chain’ — the gaudy necklace the Raptors use to recognize the player of the game or an otherwise important contribution. “We’ve conditioned ourselves to be ready to do that, so we have to bring that every night.”
The Raptors shot 56.8 per cent from the floor despite connecting on just 6-of-25 shots from three, reflective of their dominance in transition, where they outscored the Hawks 34-11 and in generally their ability to attack the basket at will as they scored 86 points and shot 43-for-60 in the paint, while holding the Hawks to just 56 points in the paint.
Hawks guard Trae Young said the home opener blowout was “embarrassing.”
The Raptors might embarrass a few more teams this season.
In Atlanta, all of Toronto’s cylinders were firing (their starters were all in double figures and collectively shot 59.6 from the floor) and plenty of questions were, if not erased, at least put to rest for one night.
Can Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes co-exist? Absolutely. Barnes was a force, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding six rebounds and driving the Raptors’ transition game with nine assists, while Ingram — playing in his first NBA game since Dec. 7th 2024 — showed plenty of the shot creation he was acquired to provide (16 points on 7-of-16 shooting) but also rebounding with determination, moved the ball frictionlessly and chipped in with a pair of steals.
One way Rajakovic seems determined to get the most out of his lineup is to pair Barrett and Barnes with bench lineups and Ingram with starting centre Jakob Poeltl, although Ingram got some minutes with an all-bench group as well.
But perhaps the most encouraging sign of why this lineup could succeed was how well Barrett played in any iteration — a continuation of his performance in the pre-season.
On paper, Barrett would seem to be a squarish peg, another ball-dominant wing with a track record of only so-so three-point shooting.
It’s one reason that neither the Raptors nor Barrett’s representatives dug too deeply into the possibility of offering him an extension to his current contract before the deadline to do so passed on Monday. From the Raptors point of view, they have him under contract for this season and next for a total of $56.3 million and are very much in wait-and-see mode regarding Barrett’s ultimate fit alongside Barnes and Ingram.
While from Barrett’s point of view, his best bet to get a contract extension that will earn him something in the neighbourhood he’s earning now — or better — will be to show the Raptors and the rest of the NBA that his game has outgrown his reputation as a one-dimensional volume scorer.
He’s aware that the extension deadline came and went without any serious engagement: “Realistically, those things don’t really happen until the end of the season anyway,” he said when we spoke earlier on Wednesday. “I’m not really thinking about it. OK, I lied, I’m thinking about it. But more so I’m trying to focus on winning and making an impact here. When you do that, that’s how the rest gets taken care of.”
Barrett did all of that against the Hawks, hitting a pair of threes on clean looks off the ball, a 10-point first quarter and scoring three times on three drives as he added nine points in the Raptors’ blowout third. His steals — both coming from off the ball — ignited breaks. His five assists didn’t require that many dribbles in total as the ball was in and out of his hands in a blink, which is the kind of decision-making Rajakovic is looking for. He even finished an alley-oop from Poeltl, as the big Austrian centre led the break for one of the few times in his 10-year NBA career.
It was that kind of night.
“I’m doing the same stuff,” Barrett said after the game. “Just trying to have my input on the game in all the ways I can. Just trying to have my imprint on the game and make the winning plays that I can. Just trying to win play winning basketball. Tonight, most of us played well.”
Barrett especially.
GRANGE FOR THREE:
1. Collin Murray-Boyles close: The Raptors made it through training camp and the exhibition season mostly in good health. Second-year wing Ja’ Kobe Walter was held out of practice this week and the opener Wednesday due to illness. Rookie Murray-Boyles has been out for a week with a strained muscle in his right forearm. His pre-game workout was without limitations, however, Rajakovic says he is day-to-day and may be ready for the Raptors’ home opener Friday against Milwaukee.
2. Too many fouls: The Raptors intend to play tight, physical defence on the perimeter, and all the way up the floor. The risk is fouling, getting beaten for lay-ups and fouling some more. That was certainly the early trend in the game and one of the few notes of concern. The Raptors put the Hawks on the free-throw line 15 times in the first quarter and 20 by halftime. And while they got better as the game went on — or maybe the referees got tired of blowing their whistle — giving teams 32 points at the free throw line (on 37 attempts) is not a formula for long-term success.
3. Big night for Gradey Dick: The third-year wing gave the Raptors exactly what they were hoping for when they chose him with the 12th pick out of Kansas in 2023. He scored 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting and hit four of the Raptors’ six threes. Moreover, he was able to use the attention his shooting draws to beat defenders off the dribble or cut from beyond the arc. He got to the line eight times, shooting 7-of-8. He’s fine with getting fouled that much: “If I’m on the floor, falling after those fouls, that’s what I gotta do,” he said. “It’s buckets like that that allow you to score.”
