Barnes shows encouraging flashes in Raptors loss in D.C.

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All eyes were on Scottie Barnes on Friday night when the mundane — better known as pre-season basketball — resumed for the Raptors.

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This exercise in futility rarely carries any value. For some, it does provide an opportunity to make an impression.

And for someone such as Barnes, who enters his fourth season as the face of the Raptors franchise, at least something was at stake against the host Washington Wizards, whom they basically ran off the floor last Sunday in Montreal.

Barnes hasn’t seen an NBA court since March 1 when the Raptors were playing host to the Golden State Warriors. He hurt his hand in the loss and missed the season’s remaining 22 games.

Barnes spent part of his summer hooping with his teammates, but finally facing an actual NBA opponent on Friday must be viewed as an initial step as he gets ready for the coming season.

What fans saw in the Raptors’ 113-95 loss was an aggressive — sometimes too much so — Barnes, who was even more careless. In the six minutes he saw the floor in the first half, he had more turnovers (4) than makes (3).

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Barnes made no trips to the foul line and was called for a foul on a push-off following a miss by Ochai Agbaji, who started for an injured RJ Barrett.

Barrett, Kelly Olynyk and Immanuel Quickley weren’t available as well. Barrett, who was hurt in Montreal, isn’t expected to return during the pre-season. Without three of Toronto’s best players available, judging Barnes’ first game was almost impossible to properly assess.

He did have a hand in Toronto’s first six points in an opening quarter marred by team turnovers and unwatchable stretches. He took three two-point shots, but missed both.

A dribble handoff action with Jakob Poeltl resulted in Barnes’ first bucket when he drove the lane. Then came a mid-range jumper followed by a nice pass in transition when he found Poeltl driving to the rim.

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Barnes did re-enter late in the opening quarter and recorded his first rebound following a Washington miss and then forced the Wizards to send an extra defender when he had the ball in his hands late in the period. The right read and play were made, but the Raptors missed the open look from the perimeter.
After the first quarter, the Raptors led 25-18 in 12 minutes of hideously played basketball.

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Once the Wizards began to bring some level of intensity, the game turned slightly more watchable.

With no healthy player even remotely close to Barnes’ skill level, he did try to do too much rather than play in the flow of the game, which is to be expected.

Defensively, there wasn’t much to glean. He began the night matched up against Kyle Kuzma, a perplexing veteran who nonetheless can play.

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Unfortunately, Kuzma was content to remain in the corner pocket. When he did move off the ball, he forced Barnes into a foul. Barnes was slow in moving his feet, prompting the official to rightfully whistle him for a blocking infraction.

The opening seven minutes were nothing to write home about, lowlighted by an air-balled free throw by Kuzma, countless travel violations and 13 combined turnovers. Yikes!

At least Chris Boucher seemed to take the night seriously as he makes a push for a possible rotation spot.
Where he fits, though, if he does fir anywhere, is anyone’s guess. If there were any serious suitors for him in the trade market, Boucher would be elsewhere. But kudos to his compete level.

In eight minutes, Boucher had 12 points and pulled down six boards, which speaks to his professionalism and preparedness.

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The night also allowed Bruno Fernando to see some minutes. Toronto signed the big man in free agency this summer after he played 45 games last season for the Atlanta Hawks.

Gradey Dick made his first three-ball of the pre-season when he drained a shot with 4:36 left in the second quarter that gave Toronto a 43-33 advantage.

Later, Alex Sarr, whom Washington selected second overall in June, drilled his second three-pointer of the game as the Wizards started to pull away.

A Raptors turnover followed by a miss at the rim by Dick allowed the Wizards to take a 48-47 lead into the break. To sum up the first half, consider the Raptors had more turnovers (11) than assists (9).

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The second half began pretty much like the first with Barnes stealing the show, this time by forcing a steal near mid-court and scoring on an uncontested dunk. He would then control a defensive rebound and went the length of the court before his shot attempt was blocked near the rim.

Barnes’ movement was much more fluid in the second half. He kept the ball alive on a back-tip following a missed free throw, but then missed his fifth three-ball on his fifth attempt.

For the night, he played 20 minutes, scoring 16 points on 7-for-15 from the field, no makes from distance, posting eight rebounds, one assist and five turnovers.

He justifiably never saw the floor in the fourth quarter.

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