Takeaways: Raptors vs. Nuggets, Oct. 28

A game where all the fun in the world was had but no W to go with it

It was a Monday night thriller in Toronto, the Nuggets stealing one against the Raptors in overtime after the home team led most of the way.

Denver came in a bit desperate having lost its opening two games of the season, but the Raptors’ energy — boosted by the return of R.J. Barrett — was too hot to handle for much of the night. Toronto led by as many as 10 with just over two minutes remaining before the Nuggets stormed back.

Nikola Jokic was Denver’s hero once again with 40 points while Jamal Murray tied the game with an up-and-under reverse layup with 0.3 on the clock.

The Raptors drop to 1-3 with the loss and face the Hornets in Charlotte next. There was plenty of fun to be had watching this one so let’s get to the takeaways:

Welcome back, RJ

Barrett wasted no time getting going in his season debut, scoring nine points in the first three minutes with a driving layup, a corner three, a full court push and layup in semi transition, and a cut for a dunk again in semi transition.

Considering this was his first game returning from a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, I was curious to see how his minutes would play out and it looked as though the plan was to use Barrett in five minute stints. Whenever he was on the bench, he had his shoulder heavily wrapped.

Minutes breakdown:
Q1 12:00-Q1 7:00
Q1 2:00-Q2 9:00 (picks up 3rd foul and doesn’t play rest of half)
Q3 12:00-Q3 7:00 (picks up 4th foul 38 seconds in but keeps playing)
Q3 1:00-Q4 8:00 (picks up 5th foul with 8:07 remaining and checks out)
Q4 4:00-Q4 0:00
OT1 5:00-OT1 0:00

Barrett picked up his fourth foul just 38 seconds into the second half, but Darko Rajakovic made a big call to back Barrett and leave him in the game for another five minute stint. Fortune favours the brave and Barrett responded by nailing a three after grabbing an offensive rebound and then backed down compatriot Jamal Murray in the post, shoulder checked him, and rose up for a nice push shot from just outside the restricted area.

Understandably still getting his legs under him, Barrett went 5-for-16 after making four of his first five shots. He also had the added burden of trying to carry the team in overtime without the presence of Scottie Barnes, who left the game after getting inadvertently elbowed in the face by Nikola Jokic.

With Denver up two for the final possession of overtime, Barrett pushed the ball down the court and pulled up for a three from the left wing but it was no good.

Overall, it was evident how much Barrett helps Rajakovic’s offence operate in the manner it’s supposed to and make life that much easier for Barnes. He can get into the paint at will in the halfcourt and provides the team with another serious transition weapon.

Barrett didn’t get to the line in this one and seemed fairly frustrated about not getting calls on certain plays. He averaged 5.2 free-throw attempts per game as a Raptor last season.

Barnes thrives in the presence of Barrett

You know who was really glad to see Barrett back in the lineup? Scottie Barnes. He assisted Barrett on three of his first four buckets, and just having that one scorer back in the lineup alleviated so much in terms of how Barnes can approach the game.

This was a typical ‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once’ performance from Barnes. He was happy to find the open man in the early going as evidenced by zero shot attempts in the first six minutes, then kicking his own offence into high gear when having to lead the bench unit. He was regularly in attack mode, and I particularly liked the use of his upper body in combination with his footwork to create separation on some post-ups. The final clip of the plays before was downright Jokic-esque:

We saw some real fire from Barnes as well in the third quarter, getting heated because Russell Westbrook committed a reckless foul on him in transition that was later reviewed and called a Flagrant 1. As Barnes jawed at Westbrook, Aaron Gordon entered the mix and even threw a punch that missed. Both Gordon and Barnes were given offsetting techs.

The most unfortunate part of the night came late in the fourth quarter, when Barnes crashed to the floor after getting elbowed by Jokic. He left the game and didn’t return, making a Toronto victory all the more unlikely once the Nuggets forced overtime. This is the play in case you missed it:

Barnes’s status for Wednesday in Charlotte is up in the air and the Raptors won’t be practicing on Tuesday.

Dick, Agbaji continue strong starts

The Kansas duo just keeps motoring along, arguably showing the most serious signs of development of anyone on the roster to this point.

Gradey Dick certainly needed some adjusting to Barrett’s return to the starting lineup, taking his first shot of the game over six minutes into the game and the three he attempted definitely screamed “I need to get a shot up” as opposed to coming within the flow of the offence. After starting 1-for-4, he made four of eight before missing a transition layup in overtime going 1-on-1 against Jamal Murray with an opportunity to cut the Nuggets’ lead to one with under a minute remaining.

Dick’s moves around the basket were particularly compelling in this one, especially this dandy up-and-under on a drive to the basket:

Ochai Agbaji’s adjustment was a bit different, having to return to a bench role to make way for Barrett in the starting lineup. There was no adjustment to his shot distribution, though, continuing to shoot from the areas of the floor that work for him.

Agbaji led the bench in scoring with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while also adding seven rebounds, a steal, a block, and zero turnovers. Of the 12 shots, the only one you might take issue with is an above the break three for his first shot with 14 still on the shot clock. Every other shot — except one solid pull-up from the free-throw line that rimmed out — was either a corner three or rim attempt.

Drives with vigour and balance like this one below simply did not happen last season:

If this is who Agbaji is now, he’s a stable NBA rotation player and that would represent a nice developmental win for the organization. Early days yet.

Poeltl provides big minutes

There’s been plenty of healthy debate over whether Jakob Poeltl can provide the team with big minutes this season. On a team where Kelly Olynyk (still injured with no timetable to return) and Bruno Fernando are the backup bigs, Poeltl will be relied upon heavily if the Raptors want to be competitive.

Austria’s favourite centre has never averaged at least 30 minutes per game in a season, coming closest in 2021-22 when he averaged 29 minutes per game with San Antonio. Going up against the reigning MVP, Poeltl was able to give the team 40 minutes and collected 16 points to go along with 19 rebounds. It was the first time Poeltl played at least 40 minutes in a game since a double-overtime thriller between the Spurs and Wizards on Feb. 25, 2022.

Unlike the game against the Wolves, it was good to see Poeltl make some of those floaters around the basket that he’s accustomed to. His offensive efficiency is way down right now, shooting 50% from the field compared to 65% in 76 games since returning to Toronto. Expect that number to continue to rise as the team’s best offensive players get back in the fold.

Defensively, it’s hard to be too critical of Jokic getting 40. The Serbian is just so big and strong and able to get his shot off any time. As Minnesota showed last season, you need three capable bigs to make life difficult for him.

Mitchell bounces back

After putting up a doughnut against the Wolves, Mitchell bounced back well for 16 points including three 3-pointers. One of them was a massive shot that cut the lead to three in overtime and helped keep the Raptors in it.

Expecting consistency shooting the ball is probably asking too much of Mitchell this season. What will help him is having reduced expectations of him on that end of the floor if and when the team is fully healthy. When Barrett and Immanuel Quickley have been out, it’s just asked too much of Mitchell.

We know what he brings on the defensive end, and he was a big factor in keeping Jamal Murray to just 17 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Both Tyrese Maxey and Murray have shot under 40 percent from the field against the Raptors and that’s the value of having defenders at the point of attack who can contain dribble penetration.

NOTES

• Jamal Shead continues to play well, too. He finished with 10 points and five assists of the bench and — outside of the seven turnover game against Philadelphia — has just four turnovers in the other three games. He also

• We saw a little bit of Jonathan Mogbo as a small-ball centre against Jokic as the rookie continues to intrigue. The matchup didn’t last long as this was usually when Jokic checked out to get a breather.

• Jokic ran straight to Rajakovic after the final buzzer sounded and gave the Toronto head coach a big hug. If there’s a world in which Rajakovic can make Jokic a Raptor, I’d like to be in it.

• It’s very early in the season but there is reason to be concerned about Denver. They were very close to dropping to 0-3 here and the biggest worry is the seeming inability of a five-man unit that isn’t the starting lineup to look functional. Russell Westbrook is hurting this team more than he’s helped thus far. Also, Jamal Murray was great very late but boy did he look weary for much of this contest.

CONTENT

• In this week’s Locked on Raptors appearance, Sean Woodley and I discussed our biggest takeaways from Week 1 with plenty of talk about Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji.