Nick Nurse still under the spell of Scottie Barnes

With five wins in six games, the Raptors have just signed the best « road trip » (with six games or more) in their history and Scottie Barnes is clearly no stranger to this success.

The Toronto rookie scored 15 points in Los Angeles against the Clippers, including seven in the final quarter. His dunk and his basket where he goes up the whole field against the pressure of Nicolas Batum marked the spirits.

 » I loved « rejoices Nick Nurse for Sports Net. “He does big things in hot moments. He picks up the ball when people think he’s too big for that and the pressure is going to make him falter. He makes them pay. He puts his body forward and goes very fast. »

In these five wins in a row, Scottie Barnes has compiled 19.2 points with 51% shooting success, 45% at 3-pts, 7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1 against average. Moreover, he lost only 1.4 ball per game.

« He is not afraid of anything or anyone »

It’s very clean and very fair for a rookie, especially after having passed the bar of 60 matches played, when fatigue could logically be felt. In March, the former Florida State played 39 minutes per game!

“When you have a keen nose in basketball, you have a good anticipation of what is going to happen, you are one step ahead”analyzes the Raptors coach. “Players ending up where the ball is, that’s anticipation to me. I know he is 20 years old and we talk about his work in the gym, in training, but he also plays a lot. He acquired this sense of the game.

Only player to appear in the Top 5 of the best scorers, rebounders, passers, interceptors and blockers among the rookies, and as Toronto, 7th in the East, closes in on a place in the playoffs, is Scottie Barnes racing towards the rookie of the year trophy? “He is clearly one of the five favorites”believes Tyronn Lue.

Whether or not he is crowned at the end of the season will not change the Raptors’ opinion of their nugget. « He’s not afraid of anything or anyone. He has tremendous confidence. »remarks Pascal Siakam for the NBA site. “He is versatile, can play and defend in several positions”continues Nick Nurse. “He dribbles, passes and scores. It’s special in this league and they are not like that. It has no limits. »