Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett had long since recovered from a persistent knee injury that caused him to miss large parts of this season, first in late November and early December, and again for a period in January.
But after scoring a season-high 31 points in the Raptors’ 122-92 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, Barrett acknowledged that his body was finally feeling back to normal. For the Raptors, who will open a brief two-game road trip against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, having a fully healthy Barrett in their rotation will do wonders for their playoff positioning.
Barrett’s offensive breakout was encouraging, but his defensive impact could be even more significant for Toronto. He admitted that his limited mobility due to a balky knee was a challenge, but playing pain-free now is yielding positive results.
“I’ve been able to move better and just try to be as consistent as I can,” Barrett said. “When I’m locked in playing defense, I’m guarding and active, it just helps you get into the game.”
Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic highlighted the defensive impact a healthy Barrett can have on the Raptors. Barrett brings a welcome blend of scoring and playmaking to the fold offensively. Still, his size and athleticism can anchor the Raptors’ defense on the wing, a critical role for a team with several rangy players capable of curtailing opponent forays to the rim.
“Definitely, his offense is helping the team, but what he’s doing really well lately is he’s playing good defense,” Rajakovic said. “And that’s always the thing that starts with him and starts with us, and he has to do a good job there.
“I really believe that when he plays with a lot of intention and effort on the defensive end, I really think it helps his offense as well. I think that he has even more force and energy and focus.”
The Rockets’ defensive force and focus were absent in their 145-120 road loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Houston allowed San Antonio to shoot a robust 58.0% from the floor, a season-best for the Spurs, including 21 of 40 from beyond the arc. As part of their season-high point total allowed, the Rockets surrendered a season-worst 56 points in the paint.
While Houston committed a relatively low 12 turnovers, the Rockets conceded 25 points off those miscues. Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun was guilty of five turnovers and has averaged a whopping six turnovers across four games this month.
Sengun has a current streak of 12 straight games with multiple turnovers, with nine of those games having at least three turnovers.
“You’ve got to take care of it, especially for our main two handlers,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Sengun and forward Kevin Durant. “A lot of these teams nowadays understand Alpi (Sengun) and the threat of him in the pocket, and they’re going to come across. You’ve got to see that skip pass, see the third defender.
“(Turnovers) is something that obviously has hampered us at times this year.”
Houston won the previous meeting, 139-121, in Toronto back on Oct. 29. Durant netted 31 points, sending the Raptors to a 1-4 start to the season.
