Denver Nuggets 127, Toronto Raptors 125

Scottie Barnes is a misfit killer.

The Raptors continue to find ways to get Barnes into mismatches, and against a Nuggets team that looked so shallow, Denver had no answer. He repeatedly outpaced smaller defenders, used a post-up wobble for rebounded balls and scored 16 of his 16 points, including 21 in the paint on Monday night.

It was Barnes’ pass on a pick-and-roll pass to Jakob Poeltl and Gradey Dick that put Toronto ahead by nine points midway through the fourth quarter. He followed that up a few minutes later with a full-court alley-oop to Ochai Agbaji, then capped off his spectacular run in the fourth quarter with a LeBron James-like pass block to Christian Braun.

Barnes’ three-pointer over Braun with two minutes remaining gave Toronto a 10-point lead, but Denver could not leave the field. The Nuggets were able to erase it all in the final minutes, taking advantage of Jamal Murray’s layup to force overtime.

The All-Star forward showed off his playmaking ability when Denver sent help to Barnes. He threw a mind-blowing, no-show bounce pass to Ochai Agbaji, who cut in from the corner, and hit an impressive shot in the third quarter as the Raptors moved to 11 points after Denver cut Toronto’s lead to just five minutes. This was the second of two no-looks Barnes scored on the no-look feed in the second over after linking up with Mogbo.

Barnes recorded a career-high five steals on Friday, including a fourth-quarter steal from Aaron Gordon and moved the ball away in transition, followed by a flagrant foul by Russell Westbrook. The moment led to a brief confrontation between Barnes and Gordon that resulted in a double technical. After some pushing and shoving I had to leave.

Barnes’ amazing night was marred by just one incident. last minute injury When Jokic accidentally hit Barnes in the right eye with his elbow while trying to grab a defensive rebound. Barnes went down on the ensuing possession and had to be carried to the locker room.

RJ Barrett didn’t miss a beat.

The Canadian forward returned from his AC joint injury to make his season debut on Monday night and looked as good as he did last season in Toronto. He came out of the goal in attack mode, scoring nine of Toronto’s first 13 points and forcing Denver to call a timeout just four minutes into the game.

Barrett still isn’t at 100 percent. Each time he made a start, he went to the bench and was immediately greeted with a shoulder pad and continued to work his way back. However, there were no signs of trouble for the 1.80-meter forward on the field.

It’s hard to stop when going downhill. He got Toronto’s offense going early, grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a three-pointer to put the Raptors up by 13 points in the third quarter.

Down two, Barrett had a chance to win the game for Toronto in overtime, coming up the floor in the final seconds and hitting a lightly contested three-pointer to give the Raptors the lead. The shot didn’t fall and Denver grabbed the rebound and ran away with the win.

Upon his return to Toronto, Barrett finished the night with 20 points in approximately 29 minutes.

This 2024 draft class is shaping up to be a pretty good one so far.

It’s a small sample size, sure, but Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo look like NBA contributors, and maybe even more than that. That was before Toronto took a look at first-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter, who is headed to the G League to continue his rehab process ahead of his NBA debut.

Shead is relentless on both sides of the ball. He battles hard between screens and has no problem getting up against opposing point guards and pressuring the ball full court. He and Mogbo managed to stay 13 seconds off the shot clock by simply being active defensively, swarming all over the court and jumping into passing lanes.

“One of the things I like about our rookies on our team is that they are not afraid,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “They are not afraid of this moment. They’re not afraid to go out there and play hard. “When you play hard and keep your heart in the right place to play on a team, good things happen.”

That’s how Shead and Mogbo have played so far.

Shead picked up an offensive foul on Aaron Gordon’s bad shoulder in the first half and repeatedly put his head down before getting to the rim for eight points on Monday.

Mogbo has clearly moved ahead of Bruno Fernando in the rotation pecking order and has been viewed as Toronto’s backup center even against Nikola Jokic when he’s in a tight spot. His shooting has proven valuable in limited minutes so far, and his versatility is something the Raptors will benefit from even more going forward.

The Raptors will hit the road and travel to Charlotte for a one-game road game against the Hornets on Wednesday at 7 p.m.