Scottie Barnes, Jamison Battle erupt, but Raptors end season with loss

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The 30th anniversary season of Toronto Raptors basketball is over.

It concluded Sunday in San Antonio in a meaningless game that saw Toronto continue its many weeks-long trend of resting certain players. Scottie Barnes was the only regular starter to suit up, with Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl and Brandon Ingram no-gos, along with Ja’Kobe Walter and Gradey Dick.

San Antonio has long been without stars Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, but had plenty of other absences Sunday too.

Despite nothing being on the line, Toronto played hard, especially in the first half, and the Spurs didn’t give up after falling behind by as many as 22 points, fighting to get back into the game instead of thinking about imminent off-season plans. In the end, the Spurs won 125-118, despite 35 points from Barnes, tying his career high, and 25 from rookie Jamison Battle. Battle nailed seven three-pointers on a whopping 15 attempts. Toronto also got 14 assists and 10 rebounds from fellow rookie Jonathan Mogbo, who fell a point short of another triple-double. Likely rookie of the year Stephon Castle had 20 for the Spurs, while Keldon Johnson had 23 off the bench.

Toronto led by five after a quarter and by 20 at halftime. But the Spurs chipped away and went on a 17-4 run to send the game to the fourth quarter tied at 83.

The teams battled it out from there, but the Spurs did just enough to prevail despite 37 minutes from Barnes, his most since Feb. 21.

This is the second time a Raptors team has finished 30-52, with it also happening in 1996-97, and the team lost at least 25 road games for the fourth time in five seasons.

Overall, Barrett led the team in scoring at 21 points a game after leading Toronto after being acquired last season, at 21.8 a night, Barnes led in assists and steals per game, Poeltl in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. Battle shot over 40% on three-pointers, to lead the team, with Battle, an undrafted free agent, also topping all rookies in three-point and free throw shooting. Shead, an apparent steal at the 45th pick, finished third amongst rookies in assists per game and tied for fourth with Mogbo, the only rookie this season to notch a triple-double, in steals per game.

Though it wasn’t the haul of 2016, when Toronto drafted Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam and also landed Fred VanVleet as an undrafted free agent, it appears Toronto’s front office did extremely well in 2024, with Walter impressing at times as well.

The team will gather at its training facility Monday morning for meetings and medicals before going their separate ways until many reconvene in Las Vegas ahead of NBA Summer League in July. Select players will talk to the media before departing Monday, with head coach Darko Rajakovic and an executive following in the coming days.

@WolstatSun