Raptors film room: RJ Barrett’s best game of the season?

The Toronto Raptors took care of business versus the Atlanta Hawks in their first of a back-to-back game against them. RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram led the way with 29 points each, while Sandro Mamukelashvili put up a team-high +27 performance and nearly had a triple-double.

In this episode, I break down how Barrett and Mamu help facilitate offense for the Raptors:

Here is Louis Zatzman on the win:

One of the most impressive components of Toronto’s offence, especially in the first half, was its ability to toggle different screeners onto the ball. Barnes was fantastic as a screener. He missed a few, and he got stripped under the rim, but his screens generally got him the ball on the move towards the rim, which is automatic paydirt. He pivoted into step-through scoop layups. He attempted a life-ending cock-back dunk, though he missed it. He caught on the short roll and calmly threw a hook shot off the glass. 

But it wasn’t just Barnes. The Raptors used Immanuel Quickley to screen for Barnes in the third quarter, which led to free throws. They used RJ Barrett — a full-calorie contributor — as a screener for Brandon Ingram to get the latter switches against lesser defenders. 

Oh, about Ingram? He had his full toolkit on display. He rejected screens to hit mid-rangers along the baseline. He faded away, full extension, from four feet. He hit a Dirk Nowitzki stepback from the elbow. He finished the first half with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. They weren’t all easy, but neither were they all of the impossible mid-range artistry variety. He pump-faked for a drive. He ran in transition. There were some layups mixed in to make his diet more palatable.

And just to add an extra Scoville in there, the Raptors used Ingram himself as a screener from time to time, too. 

Yet for every Toronto basket, it couldn’t string stops together to actually build a real lead. Nickeil Alexander-Walker found himself completely opened from deep time and again. He finished shooting 6-of-11 from deep. Keaton Wallace saw either uncontested triples or easy side-steps for uncontested triples after a flyby closeout. On the few occasions the Hawks missed a shot, they often managed to grab an offensive rebound — and shot approximately 1000 percent on second-chance looks. 

Of course, Toronto always had an answer. Ja’Kobe Walter drilled a corner triple when Atlanta tried to find some answer with a zone defence in the third quarter. Sandro Mamukelashvili both scored with ease and drove to create looks for his teammates. He rebounded the heck out of the ball on both ends, and though his 3-point stroke wasn’t immaculate, his off-the-dribble game was one of Toronto’s premier weapons. He finished two assists shy of a triple-double.

And so neither team was able to build much of a lead despite each landing haymaker after haymaker. Both teams scored 40 points in the second quarter. They finished up 107-106 after…three quarters. The Raptors have had nine games this season scoring fewer than 107. 

Toronto finally — finally! — ended the dizzying back and forth in the fourth quarter. And it managed the accomplishment despite facing some offensive struggles. The Hawks turned to a zone consistently to open the fourth quarter, and Toronto’s struggles with zones continued, despite their blistering first three quarters. Mamukelashvili and Quickley missed open triples. Yet the all-offence lineup that also included Gradey Dick, Barnes, and Barrett actually locked in on defence. The Raptors forced turnover after turnover, a 24-second violation, and even enjoyed Ingram swatting a late-clock attempt after multiple closeouts dissuaded 3-point attempts. An despite the half-court struggles, a Quickley layup here and a Barnes dunk there actually built the Raptors a double-digit lead. Dick chased long offensive rebounds with aplomb in the quarter, and he even had a breakout dunk after a Toronto stop.

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