It was time for a BBQ in SBA tonight as Barnes, Barrett, and Quickley each scored 20+ points against the Phoenix Suns.
After watching a thrilling Notre Dame vs NC State women’s basketball game that went to double overtime, it was time to head over to Scotiabank Arena for the Raptors — hoping it would NOT go into 2 OT. (It didn’t)
The Toronto Raptors continued their post-All Star Break home stand by welcoming the Phoenix Suns in for a Sunday afternoon game. Now, we have established here that I am not the most up to date on the happenings of some of the other teams in the NBA, especially the West Coast teams. I like to be in bed by like 10:30, which is not the most compatible with a West Coast basketball schedule.
So anyway, all of that to say I didn’t realize the Suns were as down bad as they are. They came into this match on the second night of a back to back, 11th in the Western Conference, with a record of 27-29. Not like, lottery terrible, but also not what you’re expecting from a Kevin Durant team.
That showed in the Suns’ stagnant defence, which allowed the much younger Raptors to steadily keep up with Durant, Booker, and Beal. I’m pretty sure the NC State women’s basketball team played more active defence this afternoon than the Suns were playing against the Raptors.
Now, on the Raptors side, it was another game where we got to see Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett play together — and it was fun. Due to injury, we have not gotten an excellent look at all three of them together, but in the past few weeks they’ve finally all been healthy enough to get solid minutes as a unit.
What resulted tonight was a 20+ point game for all three, leading to an 18-point win over the Suns. Yes, an 18-point win from these Raptors over a Durant, Booker, Beal Phoenix Suns team. Again, le confused.
Raptors tonight against the Suns
Barrett: 23 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST, 3/6 3FG
Barnes: 20 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST, 2/3 3FG
Quickley: 23 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 5/7 3FG
Boucher: 23 PTS, 10 REB, 2 AST, 4/5 3FGIt’s the second time four Raptors have scored 20+ points in the same game.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) February 24, 2025
We’ll take it though, (unless your a tank-enthusiast). Barnes had 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. Quickley had 23 points, shot 5-7 from three, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. RJ Barrett also had 23 points, shooting 3-6 from three, as well as 6 rebounds and 7 assists. It was also a wild night from Chris Boucher off the bench, and he scored his own 23 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists.
After the game, head coach Darko Rajakovic emphasized on the importance of playing a game like that against a player like Kevin Durant. Most of these players were kids looking up to Durant in his early days, and the ability to win like this over your hero is surely a confidence boost.
“I think it’s on the media for not recognizing this guy as one of the best defenders in the world. What he does on a night-to-night basis deserves attention.”
– Darko on Scottie’s defense, asked by @samfolkk
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) February 24, 2025
The team held Durant to 15 points, and he shot 5-15 from the field. While both Beal and Booker were able to score 30+, the across the board contributions from the Toronto roster made it impossible for the Suns to catch up.
Again… back to the lack of defence.
To make it worse for the Suns, as they are trending toward a less than ideal finish to this season — they are not only the most expensive roster in the NBA right now, but they ALSO don’t even own their first round pick for the draft this season. Yeah, it’s rough. As our friend John Voita over on Bright Side of the Sun said to me today: “We suck and we have no hope.” Yikes.
After this win, the Toronto Raptors sit at 18-39 on their season. As many have mentioned over the past week, they have one of the least competitive remaining schedules in the league. Maybe not the best fact when you are thinking about the tank of it all, but the players could not care less about that. They want to win. If they have it their way, they will be pushing for a play-in spot come April.
That’s still currently out of the picture for them, as they sit 13th in the East — yet with the current trajectories of the teams above them in the standings — 76ers (consulting specialists about Embiid’s health), and the Nets (questionable trust in them tbh) — there is a little bit of a chance the Raptors could sneak into contention for the 10th seed.
We will probably be saying something different though, as the next game the Raptors have in the schedule is the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
Until then, I have to go stretch for the Raptors media game being held Monday 🙂