The Toronto Raptors are leaning into a different kind of offence this season, and the clearest sign so far is the three-point volume.
In Tuesday’s 148-98 pre-season romp over the New York Knicks, Toronto launched nearly half of its shots from deep. The Raptors finished 51 for 89 from the field and 17 for 44 from three, a pace they want to keep pushing as they move toward the regular season.
All-star forward Scottie Barnes said the shot diet came from how the ball was moving and where the looks were coming from.
“We were running to the corner, sprinting to the corner, we got some corner threes and some were off the catch,” said Scottie Barnes after practice on Wednesday. “I think every shot that we took was a really good look.
“I think when we draw the defence in and get good kickouts, that’s the best shot we can take.”
Toronto’s three-point emphasis showed up across the roster. Recently acquired star forward Kawhi Leonard went 4 for 8 from beyond the arc, sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles hit both of his attempts, and G League player Tyreke Key knocked down 3 of 4. Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley, a career 37.5 per cent shooter from three, had a quieter night and missed all five of his tries against New York.
The goal this season is straightforward: get up at least 35 threes a game. Barnes said Leonard’s presence makes that easier because of the attention he draws from defenders.
“Just getting downhill, even in some of the ISO situations, just being able to get downhill, running transition, seeing him wide open, just giving him the ball,” Barnes said of Leonard, who averaged 6.8 three-point attempts for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, making 38.7 per cent of them.
“Every time he shoots the ball, it just looks like it’s going in every single time, and it feels that way. He’s going to draw so much attention.”
Murray-Boyles is a good snapshot of the Raptors’ broader push. He averaged just 0.9 three-point attempts per game in his rookie season and spent the summer working on becoming more willing to let it fly in 2026-27.
“Just building that confidence to shoot it more, I think that was my biggest focus,” said Murray-Boyles. “Not really like trying to fix my jumper or anything like that.
Just getting confident with getting shots up. Obviously, me reading the defence is the biggest part.
If they’re sagging off me, then I have to shoot it.
“We want to shoot more threes. We want to get to that 35-ish per game number. So I’m just helping the team out with that as much as possible.”
Head coach Darko Rajakovic said the math is simple in today’s NBA: the more dangerous a team looks from outside, the more room it creates everywhere else.
“If you’re making those three-point shots, it just relieves a lot of pressure. It makes the defence more honest, less help, opens up the paint more,” said Rajakovic.
“I think those things are very, very connected. The better shooting you have, in theory, should open up more space and get more paint touches.
“Once we touch the paint, we’ve got to convert those, and we’ve got to be making the right decisions to find that open man if the defence collapses.”
Even with the huge win over a Knicks team that didn’t play any of its starters, Barnes wasn’t about to let the result get too far ahead of itself. The teams meet again in New York on Thursday, and he expects a different challenge.
“Obviously, they didn’t really have their guys out there on the floor,” said Barnes, referring to the fact that the Knicks didn’t play any of their starters. “It felt solid to win the game, but we’ve got a game tomorrow.
“It should be better.”
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