The Toronto Raptors took their first hit of the season Monday night, falling 117-94 to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minneapolis.
After opening the year with two straight wins, Toronto ran into a wall and never really found its rhythm. The shot making wasn’t there, the offense stalled, and a tough night only got tougher with Kawhi Leonard sidelined because of knee swelling.
Still, there were a couple of bright spots to pull from the loss.
Ja'Kobe Walter delivered the best offensive performance of the night for Toronto in his first start of the season. Stepping into Leonard’s spot, Walter finished with a team-high 22 points while shooting 7 of 12 from the floor and 5 of 8 from three. On a night when the Raptors connected on just 38% of their shots overall, Walter was the rare player who consistently gave them something.
Graves also made the most of the extra minutes. Coming off the bench, he played 20 minutes and posted 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Four of those boards came on the offensive glass, continuing what has already shown up as one of his strengths. Just three games into the season, Graves is making a case that he can be more than a stopgap option.
The tough side of the ledger was much harder to ignore, and it starts with Scottie Barnes. This was the worst game of his career. Barnes went 0 for 12 from the field and finished scoreless, the first time since April 4, 2023, that he has been held without a point.
With Leonard unavailable, Barnes was asked to shoulder more of the offense, but Minnesota had the right plan to take him out of the game completely.
Leonard’s absence loomed large throughout the night, and the Raptors are hoping the swelling in his knee eases soon enough for him to rejoin the group when they get back to Toronto.
Toronto’s next chance to respond comes Wednesday against Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena, with the game available on TSN, the TSN Plus app, or NBA League Pass.
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