After pale start, Raptors’ offence behind Barnes rediscovers vibrancy

What is shot making in the NBA? Is it an expression of skill? Is it an expression of luck? Is it a function of good shot creation, of good play-calling, of poor defence? Is it a combination? 

For the Toronto Raptors in their cursed game against the Miami Heat, such questions weren’t theoretical or philosophical or abstract. They were a jagged reminder of some rock bottom to which the team’s offence seemed to be plummeting. Such questions were a chicken bone on which the team had been collectively choking. For the Raptors to turn this season around, to rediscover the form that had the team at 17-13 and sixth in the East entering the contest, shot making had to be rediscovered.

Eventually, after a listless start to the offensive side of things, the Raptors managed to rediscover what shot making means.

The Raptors actually started the game with some fun bouts of made shots. Sandro Mamukelashvili drilled a triple on the first possession. But beneath the veneer of success was a rotten core to that possession; the Raptors didn’t touch the paint, didn’t even try driving, and looked lost for the first 20 seconds of the shot clock. Mamukelashvili just happened to make a shot. 

So it went for a stretch. The Raptors gathered an offensive rebound, and Brandon Ingram was left unguarded in the corner. So he hit an easy triple. 

The Raptors jumped out to an early double-digit lead. Things seemed good. But the half-court offence was uncreative, unable, and uncooperative. It smelled. The team was trying. It was clear the Raptors on the court were trying. But they just didn’t know from where good shots were going to come. It was clear that the question, ‘what is shot making?’ stymied them. It was a wisp, uncatchable. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: The very act of trying to pin something down makes it impossible to measure with true precision. 

Collin Murray-Boyles caught the ball on a short roll, pinged the ball to the strong corner for an uncontested corner triple. Ochai Agbaji airballed it. Gradey Dick and Immanuel Quickley missed pull-up triples in transition on consecutive possessions. Dick smoked an uncontested layup at the rim.

Very few possessions hit the paint. There was virtually no north-south dribbling of any kind. Is that shot making? The Raptors looked like the bird in “Are you my mother,” wandering around asking a cow, a boat, a snort if it was the bird’s mother. (They were not.) 

There was a breath of air, a frantic, gurgled gasp above the water line. It didn’t last for long, but it foreshadowed what was to come. Jamison Battle hit a corner triple. Then Jamal Shead lobbed a Murray-Boyles dunk in the half court, and found him sealing under the rim in transition for a layup. Mamukelashvili drew two defenders above the break (after a paint touch!) and found a cutting Battle for an uncontested dunk. 

Most of those shots were uncontested, at the rim. Is that shot making? Such shots are, in an outsized measure, the things that comprise the building blocks of good NBA offence. They are not things with which the Raptors are particularly familiar of late.

Mamukelashvili continued hitting triples. He hit three in the first half, which constituted a full half of Toronto’s six over that stretch. His weren’t more open than those of his teammates. He just … made the shots. 

And through it all, the Heat were even poorer at making shots. Their no-pick offence was chunky and awkward. (Toronto’s defence, to be fair was excellent. Ingram and Quickley especially performed quite well, both showing impressive moments of rim protection in the paint.) While Toronto shot 28.6 percent from deep in the first half (bad!), the Heat shot 22.2 percent (worse!). 

But the Raptors finally, truly, successfully awoke in the third quarter. Mamukelashvili hit another contested triple that was poorly created. Ingram created a layup out of thin air in the middle of the floor with a gigantic step-through. Then Quickley found Mamukelashvili with a wicked, underhand bounce pass in the pick and roll, and Mamukelashvili laid the ball down to Barnes for an uncontested dunk. Ingram hit a triple. 

Those were so well created that they didn’t need to be well shot. It was good offence. It was good offence! Hang the banner. The 2025-26 Toronto Raptors played good offence for six minutes after RJ Barrett got hurt. 

And. And! It lasted. Shead hit some triples. Barnes drove deep into the paint for free throws. And with Toronto being able to set its defence, it created some steals, got out in transition, found Barnes some layups. When the Raptors did miss shots, Murray-Boyles grabbed the offensive rebound, then another, then another. (He finished with nine, the most offensive rebounds a Raptor has had this season.) Is that shot making — the literal definition, of course, is a missed shot. So, no, surely not. But maybe?

Toronto managed just 81 points against the Brooklyn Nets in its last contest. It scored 82 in three quarters against the Heat despite showing good shot making for approximately two minutes in the first half.

And. And! And! It lasted into the fourth. (At least for the start of it.) Quickley threw a lob to Barnes out of the pick and roll. (This has now happened more in the last week of games than I remember it ever having happened before.) Barnes caught the ball in the post and whirred the ball to Battle for a triple. Quickley — point guard! — directed Barnes back to the post on the next offensive possession, and was the first pass away, so caught the pass after Miami’s double and calmly drilled a triple. That’s strong leadership on the offensive end. That was definitely shot making. It was a good play call, a good decision based on the flow of the game, a well-created shot, and, of course, a made shot.

Then Barnes hit a jumper and dunked and dunked again on the drive. He went back in the post later and drove, paused, and hit a two-handed hook off the glass plus the foul.

Yes, Toronto won the game with its defence. And yes, it still only managed 112 points, which is a fairly low total in the modern NBA. But for stretches, for long stretches, it rediscovered shot making. It answered some questions that have been slowly wrapping around the team’s neck for the past few weeks. For now, It laid some ghosts to rest.

TABLE Fare + Social is a vibrant food hall in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, offering a unique dining and social experience just steps from transit and the arena—perfect for pregame meals before tip-off. Open weekdays from 11am to 10pm, TABLE serves up morning treats, creative eats, and lively after-work events. With a private terrace overlooking Toronto’s elevated park, guests enjoy stunning views alongside year-round programming that includes food tastings, cooking classes, live music, and pop-up events designed to spark connection and creativity.

Follow along @Tablefood hall or tablefoodhall.com

The post After pale start, Raptors’ offence behind Barnes rediscovers vibrancy first appeared on Raptors Republic.