Raptors all-star Barnes ready for regular-season return after nearly eight months off

Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes celebrates scoring during NBA basketball action against the Indiana Pacers in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

It's been the better part of eight months since Scottie Barnes was in a regular-season NBA game. A week away from the Toronto Raptors' home opener, he feels he's ready.

The 23-year-old Barnes broke a bone in his hand on March 1, missing the final 22 games of last season after he had surgery to repair it. He now has three pre-season games under his belt with one more exhibition before Toronto hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 23.

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"The way we play and the way we're going to have to play throughout the season, it's going to be a lot of hard work," said Barnes about his preparation level. "We're going to have to move our bodies so we've got to be well rested, get good treatment, make sure we're getting active with our training staff to make sure our bodies are prepared.

"But conditioning wise, you know, I feel pretty good."

Barnes has certainly played well in his three pre-season games.

He had 16 points, eight rebounds, an assist and two steals over 20 minutes in a 113-95 loss to the Washington Wizards on Oct. 11, his first game back after the injury. Two days later he had 10 points, two assists and a rebound in a 115-11 loss in Boston to the Celtics.

Most impressively, Barnes nearly had a triple-double in a 119-118 win over Boston on Tuesday, finishing with 26 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in 30 minutes, his most playing time in months. Those numbers came against most of the Celtics' starting five that won that franchise its 18th NBA championship last season, too.

The Raptors will conclude their pre-season on Friday night in a road game with the Brooklyn Nets. Barnes said the approach was simple before the regular season begins in a week.

"Just staying consistent," said Barnes on Wednesday after practice at OVO Athletic Centre. "Keep doing what we do, play the right way, playing smart, and just keep being us."

Backup point guard Davion Mitchell, who has played starter's minutes with Immanuel Quickley nursing a sprained thumb, had more to say on what Toronto needs to do to be prepared for Cleveland and games that matter.

"I think for us it’s keep learning from each other and keep staying connected on defence, but also finish the possessions," he said. " I think the first game we played Boston (on Oct. 13), we didn't finish a lot of possessions. They got a lot of easy points off just 50/50, balls, second chance points, not boxing out.

"Then we talked about it, we watched film on it, and then we worked on it in practice, and the next game we, I don't think they had that many second chance points, so we've just got to keep talking and keep learning from each other."

Mitchell has been one of the highlights of the Raptors' pre-season, applying constant defensive pressure on opponents' ball handlers. He also flirted with a double-double in Tuesday's win over the Celtics with nine points, 10 assists, three rebounds and a steal.

He said he wasn't sure what his role would be on the team when Quickley and swingman RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., return from injury, but said he has had ongoing conversations with head coach Darko Rajakovic about what's next.

"I know my role is gonna get a little smaller, but I'll still keep playing to the best of my abilities defensively, get my teammates open, what I've been doing the pre-season," he said.

Rajakovic said he expects his players to make the most of the next seven days, both in practice and in Friday's game in Brooklyn.

"We just need to focus on maximizing every day," he said. "It's seven days to the home opener, but for us this whole season, we've got to look at this whole season as one big chunk.

"The main focus needs to be for us to play hard, to learn what it means to play hard, and then to have fine-tuning from there."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.