TORONTO – As the Toronto Raptors veer toward the end of the season with a playoff berth out of sight, the team’s focus has turned toward development.
But a 108-97 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, the Raptors’ third straight win, showed that development does not just apply to rookies and sophomores.
The trio of Jakob Poeltl, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley keyed the Raptors’ latest victory — and provided some level of optimism that the team may be competing in more meaningful games one year from now.
“It’s great to see how hard they play … and how connected they are and how they communicate with each other and how they support each other,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “That’s big for me. For me, everything starts with playing hard, and everything starts with having good team chemistry, and that’s something I’m really proud we have on this team.”
Poeltl, the ninth-year centre out of Austria, led the Raptors with 24 points and added 12 rebounds to complete the double-double.
Barnes, the fourth-year forward and one-time all-star, contributed 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. Fifth-year guard Immanuel Quickley, acquired from the New York Knicks last season in the OG Anunoby deal, tacked on 19 points and nine helpers.
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With all three players under contract for next season, Poeltl said their recent run of play — including the current three-game winning streak, plus two others earlier in March — has been crucial to future success.
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“It’s big for building chemistry,” he said. “Hopefully we can get even more reps these last couple games of the season. I think it shows out there that we’ve been putting in the work throughout the year and now can test that more and more.”
With the seventh-worst record in the NBA, the forward-looking Raptors own a 32 per cent chance at drawing a top-four pick and a 7.5 per cent chance of winning the top selection in the NBA Draft lottery on May 12.
But Toronto is nearly locked into that position, sitting with a record 3.5 games better than the 24th-place Philadelphia 76ers but four games worse than the 22nd-ranked San Antonio Spurs with just nine games left on the schedule.
The Raptors face the 76ers on Sunday as they attempt to run their win streak to four. It would mark a bottom-feeder sweep, with victories now having come against the Hornets in addition to the Brooklyn Nets (23-50) and Washington Wizards (16-57).
And so at this point, with the lottery balls seemingly settled, perhaps the best thing Toronto can do is aim to build a winning foundation for next season.
One step toward that? The Raptors’ defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) ranked tops in the NBA over the 10 games prior to Friday’s action.
Rajakovic credited the team’s defence once again in the win over Charlotte, specifically mentioning Barnes, who held Hornets forward Miles Bridges to just 4-for-20 shooting.
“We had great stretches there,” Rajakovic said. “Overall good defensive performance from the team.”
Poeltl said Rajakovic’s defensive system is unique in the NBA, and thus requires more time to perfect.
“The idea is that you do it for long enough to where we get really comfortable in it,” he said. “Then we can put teams in uncomfortable situations and I think that’s starting to show.
“We’re able to put a lot of pressure on guys and force them to make mistakes and that’s awesome for us. It gets us going, it gets us running on offence.”
The Raptors recorded nine steals against the Hornets while committing just six turnovers themselves.
In the fourth quarter, Jamal Shead forced the Hornets into an eight-second backcourt violation, drawing celebration from the Toronto bench.
Ideally for the Raptors, those types of plays occur more frequently, and more meaningfully, next season.
“We’re nowhere close to being done, but I think we’re on a good wave of really showing that we can put in these stretches,” Poeltl said.
“Now it’s a matter of taking that to the next step, doing it against better opponents, doing it over a whole season, and hopefully the results will follow.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press