All eyes were on Scottie Barnes on Friday night when the mundane better known as preseason basketball resumed for the Toronto Raptors.
This exercise in absolute futility rarely carries any value.
For some, it does provide an opportunity to make an impression.
For someone such as Barnes, who enters his fourth season as the unmistakable face of the Raptors franchise, at least something was at stake against the host Washington Wizards, who were basically ran off the floor last Sunday in Montreal.
Barnes hasn’t seen an NBA court since March 1 when the Raptors were playing host to the Golden State Warriors.
Barnes would hurt his hand in the loss and would miss the season’s remaining 22 games.
He spent part of his summer hooping with his teammates.
Facing an actual opponent must be viewed as the initial step for Barnes as he gets ready for the coming season.
What fans saw was an aggressive Barnes, who, at times, was too aggressive and even more careless.
Sloppy is one adjective to describe the six minutes Barnes would see the floor.
Barnes had a hand in Toronto’s first six points in an opening quarter marred by turnovers and unwatchable stretches.
Welcome to the preseason.
In six minutes, Barnes turned the ball over four times. In fact, he had more turnovers than makes (3).
No trips to the foul line would be made, but Barnes was called for a foul on a push off following a miss by Ochai Agbaji, who started for an injured RJ Barrett.
Barrett, Kelly Olynyk and Immanuel Quickley weren’t available as well.
Barrett, who was hurt in Montreal, isn’t expected to return before the regular season starts.
Without three of Toronto’s best players available, Barnes’ first game was almost impossible to properly assess.
He took three two-point shots, but missed both.
A dribble handoff action with Jakob Poeltl resulted in Barnes’ first bucket when he drove the lane.
Then came a mid-range jumper followed by a nice pass in transition when Barnes found Poeltl driving to the rim.
Barnes did re-enter late in the opening quarter.
He would record his first rebound following a Washington miss and then forced the Wizards to send an extra defender when Barnes had the ball in his hands late in the period.
The right read and play would be made, but the Raptors failed to capitalize when they missed an open look from the perimeter.
After the first quarter, the Raptors led 25-18 in 12 minutes of hideously played basketball.
Once the Wizards began to bring some level of intensity, the game turned slightly more watchable, a charitable depiction of the on-court product.
With no healthy player even remotely close to Barnes’ skill level, he did try to do too much rather than play in the flow of the game, which is to be expected.
Defensively, there wasn’t much to glean.
He began the night matched up against Kyle Kuzma, a perplexing player who nonetheless can play.
Unfortunately, Kuzma was content to remain in the corner pocket.
When he did move off the ball, he forced Barnes into a foul when Barnes was slow in moving his feet, prompting the official to rightfully whistle Barnes for a blocking infraction.
The opening seven minutes were nothing to write home about, seven minutes of atrocity featuring an air-balled free throw by Kuzma, countless travel violations and 13 combined turnovers.
Yikes!
The game did go on, regrettably.
At least Chris Boucher seemed to take the night seriously as he makes a push for a possible rotation spot.
Where he fits, if Boucher even fits at all, is anyone’s guess.
If there were any serious suitors, Boucher would be elsewhere.
Kudos to Boucher’s compete level.
In eight minutes, Boucher had 12 points and pulled down six boards, which speaks to his professionalism and preparedness.
The night also allowed Bruno Fernando to see some minutes. Toronto signed the big man in free agency this summer.
Fernando played 45 games last season for the Atlanta Hawks.
Gradey Dick made his first three-ball of the preseason when he drained a second-quarter shot with 4:36 left in the period that gave Toronto a 43-33 advantage.
Later, Alex Sarr, whom Washington selected second overall in June, drilled his second three-pointer of the game as the Wizards trailed 45-40.
Barnes would finally make his first trip to the line, but he missed both of his free throws.
A Raptors turnover followed by a miss at the rim by Dick allowed the Wizards to take a 48-47 lead into the break.
To sum up the first half, consider the Raptors had more turnovers (11) than assists (9), while Barnes had more turnovers (4) than makes (3).
The second half began pretty much like the first with Barnes stealing the show, this time by forcing a steal near mid-court and scoring on an uncontested dunk.
He would then control a defensive rebound and went the length of the court before his shot attempt was blocked near the rim.
Barnes’ movement was much more fluid in the second half.
He kept the ball alive on a back-tip following a missed free throw.
Barnes would then miss his fifth three-ball on his fifth attempt from beyond the arc.
For the night, he played 20 minutes, scoring 16 points on 7-for-15 from the field, no makes from distance, posting eight rebounds, one assist and five turnovers.
He justifiably never saw the floor in the fourth quarter.
For those who care about such meaningless matters, the Raptors lost the game, 113-95, primarily because the visitors could not drain three-pointers, while allowing the Wizards to dominate from distance.
On hall of fame weekend, this game belonged in the hall of shame.