Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors are back in action Friday night for an NBA Cup group stage tilt against the Atlanta Hawks.
Watch the Raptors take on the Hawks LIVE Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on TSN1/4/5, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.
Toronto is coming off of a 128-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks last time out behind 23-point performances from Barnes and RJ Barrett that brought the team back to the .500 mark at 4-4 on the year.
Barnes added six assists, four steals, and two blocks in the victory as the Raptors avenged a loss in their home opener against Milwaukee.
“I think we’re just mainly focused on our defence and how we’re going to execute,” Barnes said after the win. “We’ve been talking a lot about it and we went out here and executed well.
“Defence led to offence, and it led to really good things.”
Barnes on Raptors’ complete game performance vs. Bucks: ‘Defence led to offence’ Raptors forward/guard Scottie Barnes joins Kayla Grey to discuss what went in to the team’s complete game performance, the success they had offensively against the Bucks, and how different the team’s mindset is since their loss to Milwaukee early in the season.
The Raptors were buoyed by the return of Jakob Poeltl to the lineup following a three-game absence. The veteran centre recorded eight points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
Toronto now takes to the court for their second NBA Cup game of the season, and can jump to the top of Group A with a win over Atlanta.
In their first game of the 2025-26 NBA Cup campaign, the Raptors defeated a banged-up Cleveland Cavaliers team for the 112-101 victory.
The Cavaliers hung tough down Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Darius Garland, but Jamison Battle put the game away with a pair of threes in the late stages of the fourth quarter.
Raps coach Darko Rajakovic will look for a similar result from his team this time out against a Hawks team that is without All-Star guard Trae Young.
Young sustained a sprained MCL in his right knee against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 30, and is expected to miss the next four weeks.
The seven-year veteran scored 22 points with five assists against the Raptors to open the season, and will cede the starting point guard role to Canadian Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Friday’s game.
Alexander-Walker has averaged 19.0 points and 3.3 assists since stepping into the starting lineup in place of Young,
Forward Jalen Johnson has enjoyed a breakout campaign in his fifth year out of Duke, and is leading Atlanta in points (20.6) and rebounds (8.6) per game.
Johnson filled the stat sheet in the Hawks’ season-opening loss to the Raptors, nearly posting a triple-double with 22 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
With a win, the Raptors would improve to 2-0 in NBA Cup play, and would put themselves in prime position to advance to the knockout rounds for the first time since the in-season tournament was introduced in 2023.
