ATLANTA — Three of the four players getting up shots before a 10 a.m. shootaround on Wednesday should delight Raptors fans — no shade to Garrett Temple, the other guy.
That Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett were getting their work in early at State Farm Arena is encouraging. They are the three wings used to having more than an equal share of the ball in a game. They are the guys who, if the Raptors were to outpace their expectations this year, will have to sacrifice some of their own goals while complementing one another in new and perhaps unexpected ways. Collectively, they face the most skepticism. To get what they want, they’ll need to not only coexist but also enhance one another.
Speaking of getting what you want…
“Realistically, those things don’t really happen until the end of the season anyway,” Barrett said Wednesday morning, before the Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks 138-118 in their season opener, about not receiving a veteran contract extension by Monday’s deadline. He still has two years remaining on his current deal, so there was little urgency for the Raptors to commit now. “Not really thinking about it.
“OK, I lied: I’m thinking about it. But more so, I’m trying to focus on winning and making an impact here. When you do that, that’s how the rest gets taken care of.”
Ingram and Barnes both received contract extensions from the Raptors within the last 16 months, so they aren’t as financially dependent on the situation working as Barrett. But in terms of basketball, they need one another. Or rather, they need to need one another, or else their places in the league will change drastically.
Barnes still hasn’t proven he’s a tentpole star. Ingram has to shake a pair of labels — that he is injury-prone and doesn’t impact winning, despite his gaudy numbers. Meanwhile, six years into his career, Barrett still hasn’t found his ideal role. If the Raptors’ starting lineup cannot jell, his next role could be sixth man.
Wednesday was their first test together, forming the middle of the starting lineup between solid centre Jakob Poeltl and 3-point-hoisting guard Immanuel Quickley. Their roles are easily definable. The question is how the wings will look. Ingram did not play last year for the Raptors after his February trade from New Orleans, as he dealt with an ankle injury. On a night in which the bench truly ignited the Raptors, there were positives to grasp. The three wings combined for 63 points, with Barrett leading the trio with 25 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. He shot 9 for 12 from the floor, the most efficient of the three.
“What I was most impressed with was how poised we were on the offensive end,” Ingram told The Athletic after the game. “When the game slowed down and we had to go into our execution, everybody was poised and we just got the best shot.”
The starting lineup was minus-one in a fairly small sample, given that the game was out of hand in the second half.
A lot of the Raptors’ intention in the half-court was devoted to getting Ingram the basketball — not a surprise given his skills. Off-ball screens freed Ingram to score the first basket of the season, as he got downhill off the set and hit a midrange jumper over Atlanta’s Kristaps Porziņģis. Some of his 1-on-1 habits appeared unnecessarily early in possessions, amidst some funky spacing, but he did not dominate the ball.
And just like that… BI’s first regular season bucket as a Raptor 🏀 pic.twitter.com/kYxmZ4IoyX
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) October 23, 2025
With the starters, Barrett and Barnes will likely need to score more in the flow of the game rather than by creating for themselves, although Barrett did have a nice spurt in the third quarter, putting Hawks defensive ace Dyson Daniels in foul trouble. Barnes hunted post-up opportunities in transition, while Barrett was the beneficiary of some running early with a made 3.
They’ll get more opportunities to control play when hybrid lineups are out there. Head coach Darko Rajaković said he will try to keep two starters on the floor as much as possible, and he mostly stuck to that against the Hawks. Barrett and Barnes paired in the first half, with Ingram and Quickley spending more time together, but the coach changed the patterns in the second quarter. Both Barrett and Ingram spent some time carrying all-bench units, but those should be infrequent units so long as the Raptors are largely healthy.
And it was those hybrid lineups that made the biggest difference in the win, really epitomizing the pester-and-pace ethos Rajaković advocates.
“It’s a 48-minute game. When the starters go out there, we know how we play,” said Barrett, who had a nice kickout pass to Gradey Dick in the second quarter, one of his five assists. “Keeping two of us out there at all times, obviously, when other guys come in, your role changes a little more. You’re probably going to be on the ball, making more decisions.”
Most importantly for the starters, they try to run, even if their spacing wasn’t perfect. Brandon Ingram wasn’t really going anywhere, but he kept the momentum going long enough to get Poeltl a bucket on the move as a trailer. The starters sometimes ran even after Hawks buckets. They were that eager. Maybe the bench does it more naturally, but the running didn’t stop when the starters were together.
“When things slow down, we’ll figure things out,” Ingram said. “Right now, it’s something we won’t have to worry about as long as we’re doing it on the defensive end and getting out in transition.”
Notes
• Ingram said he had no butterflies associated with his first game or first bucket with the Raptors. He had not played in the regular season since last December, when he sprained his ankle.
“People remind me that it’s been 300-and-something days since I played,” Ingram said. “I forget that myself. I was just getting back to what I do.”
• The Raptors hit just six 3-pointers, but had 48 2s to Atlanta’s 28. The Raptors’ 34-11 advantage in fast-break points was the biggest reason for that. The Raptors ran relentlessly, even as Atlanta turned the ball over just 16 times, a far cry from what the Raptors were forcing in the preseason.
“We’ve been playing like that pretty much all summer. We call it first touch,” Quickley, who had eight of the Raptors’ 36 assists, said of the pace. “If we can get the ball out, across half court at 22 seconds, it gives us a great chance of scoring. We have a lot of unselfish guys.”
SCOTTIE TAKING FLIGHT 🚀 pic.twitter.com/x8KLN6BE7p
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) October 23, 2025
• All of the reserves who played contributed, but Jamal Shead was especially sharp and disruptive. He had 10 points and five assists in 19 minutes, and added an offensive rebound in the Raptors’ dominant third quarter.
“His IQ on the floor, his passing it ahead, getting everyone involved, seeing stuff on the floor, it kind of just helped us out,” Ingram said of Shead’s play during the third-quarter read in which Ingram shared the floor with four reserves. “We just followed.”
• Collin Murray-Boyles could not play in what would have been his debut because of a forearm injury. Rajaković said he hoped the rookie would be cleared for full contact on Thursday, but that is not a sure thing.
