TOR 136, BKN 101: Scottie Barnes Paces Fantasy With 73 ESPN FP
Tommy Flanagan
Journeyman Electrician ยท Boston Celtics fan
Raptors Blow Out Nets: Scottie Barnes Triple-Double Carries Toronto to Easy Win
The Scottie Barnes show rolled into Brooklyn and Toronto walked out with a 35-point victory. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, this was a beatdown. The Nets came in looking like a team still figuring out who they are, and the Raptors just took what they wanted. For fantasy purposes, this is the kind of game where you see exactly who the real contributors are and who's just filling minutes.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottie Barnes | 73.0 | 61.4 | 18/12/12 | 18.1/7.5/5.9 | -0.1 |
| Brandon Ingram | 47.0 | 40.8 | 25/9/2 | 21.5/5.6/3.7 | +3.5 |
| Chaney Johnson | 32.0 | 36.6 | 16/13/2 | 8.2/4.6/2.1 | +7.8 |
| Tyson Etienne | 31.0 | 32.2 | 20/1/4 | 7.9/1.1/1.7 | +12.1 |
| RJ Barrett | 33.0 | 31.6 | 26/3/2 | 19.3/5.3/3.3 | +6.7 |
| Ben Saraf | 27.0 | 26.6 | 15/3/4 | 7.5/2.1/3.3 | +7.5 |
| Jakob Poeltl | 27.0 | 26.0 | 11/5/2 | 10.7/7.0/2.0 | +0.3 |
| E.J. Liddell | 28.0 | 25.3 | 17/4/1 | 5.7/2.7/0.9 | +11.3 |
| Jalen Wilson | 17.0 | 24.1 | 9/8/3 | 6.4/2.1/0.9 | +2.6 |
| Malachi Smith | 20.0 | 21.0 | 8/5/6 | 8.3/3.4/3.3 | -0.3 |
The Obvious Winner: Barnes Does Everything
Scottie Barnes put up 18/12/12 in 31 minutes and honestly, those numbers don't even tell the full story of how dominant he was. Triple-double in a blowout is the dream for fantasy, and he got it while staying efficient at 8-11 shooting. Yeah, the +/- shows -0.1 versus his season average in points, but look at that assist jump. He went from 5.9 to 12 assists. That's not noise, that's the Raptors letting him run the offense without needing to score more because the game was already decided. If you own Barnes, you're happy. If you don't, he's probably not available and that's your loss.
RJ Lights It Up, But Here's the Thing
RJ Barrett went 26 points on 9-15 shooting and people are gonna get hyped. That's +6.7 versus his season average and yeah, it's a good game. But look at the minutes, he played 28 and the Raptors were cruising by the second half. This is a guy who averages 19.3, so 26 is nice but not earth-shattering when you account for the blowout situation. The efficiency was real though, 9-15 is legit. Still, don't panic if you have him and don't break the bank trying to get him because this feels like a "good player in a good situation" night more than a breakout.
The Brandon Ingram Floor Game
Brandon Ingram was solid with 25 points and 9 rebounds, finishing with 40.8 Yahoo FP. He shot 7-10, went 8-8 from the line, and didn't really mess up. That's professional basketball. The +3.5 in points versus his season average says he was a little better than usual but not special. For a guy with his profile, this is just another night. Nothing to chase, nothing to worry about.
The Nets' Weird Contributor Thing
Here's where it gets interesting. The Nets had three guys put up decent fantasy numbers despite getting absolutely demolished. Chaney Johnson had 16/13 for 36.6 Yahoo FP, which is way above his 8.2/4.6 season average. Tyson Etienne dropped 20 points and finished with 32.2 FP, a +12.1 jump. E.J. Liddell went off for 17 points with three threes.
The issue is context. Brooklyn was down big so guys got playing time and got to chuck. Johnson played 36 minutes because nobody else was stepping up. Etienne went 6-16, which is not efficient even if it landed three threes. Liddell had a good game, true, but he averages 5.7 points. Don't add these guys thinking you found something. This is garbage time inflation. Next game when it's close? Different story. Right now, they're all back to being what they are, which is role players.
Ben Saraf and the Positional Value
Ben Saraf threw down 15/3/4 with solid shooting and it got him 26.6 Yahoo FP. He's a point guard putting up numbers in a blowout, which is fine, but he's averaging 7.5 points for a reason. Not a waiver priority.
The Real Play: Nothing Here
I'm gonna be honest, this game doesn't give you much. The Raptors won decisively with their established guys doing their thing. The Nets got run out of the gym and nobody emerged as a "buy now" candidate. Scottie Barnes was the only star-level performer and he's probably already owned. Nobody flopped hard enough to bench confidence in. There's no injury news. There's no breakthrough.
This is a reminder that not every game has a waiver wire gem or a trade target. Sometimes it's just one team beating another and you either owned the winners or you didn't. If you had the Raptors core, you had a good night. If you had Nets guys expecting 25+ minutes in close games, you got exposed.
Next time these teams play, the storyline might be different. Tonight was just basketball.