Scottie Barnes nominated for Eastern Conference player of the week
Scottie Barnes strong play as of late continues to be recognized. Less than 24 hours after Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero gave Barnes his flowers for his performance against them, the league has now announced that he is nominated for the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award (Mar. 23 – 29).
This past week, Barnes has led the Raptors to a 3-1 record, averaging 18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks. Those stats come on 63.3/66.7/75.0 shooting splits.
Highlighting his week was his 23 points, 5 rebounds, a career-high 15 assists, and 3 steals during a 139-87 win against the Orlando Magic on Sunday evening. Barnes strong play led to a 31-0 Raptors run, which set the record for the highest-scoring unanswered run in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97). The previous record was a 30-0 run by the Dallas Mavericks in a losing effort against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 2, 2023.
The other nominees in the East include Atlanta Hawks’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker, New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren, Cleveland Cavaliers’ James Harden, and Boston Celtics’ Payton Pritchard.
In the Western Conference, the nominees include Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Clippers’ Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray, Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun, and San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama.
During this week, Barnes has taken on a new role as the starting point guard for the Raptors, and he has strung together four straight weeks of ten-plus assists. That stretch comes for the first time by a Raptor since the 2020 season, back when former Raptor Kyle Lowry did it for six straight games.
Barnes, this week, also became the first player in the league to reach at least 100 steals and 100 blocks this season.
With that being said, it ended up being Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum who took home the titles of the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 23 of the 2025-26 season.
This could have been the third time that Barnes won Eastern Player of the Week in his young career. However, the Raptors’ only concern should be winning their games so they do not fall to the play-in tournament with just eight matches remaining on their schedule.
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