Despite Barnes flex, Bucks outmuscle Raptors in home opener

Full credit for the flex, but the follow-through? 

Late in the second quarter, Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes gave NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo a taste of his own medicine. Barnes drove the length of the floor, planted two feet in the paint and a shoulder into Antetokounmpo’s chest and sent him sprawling before laying the ball in the basket. 

He then stepped to the Bucks franchise player and delivered one of Antetokounmpo’s patented double-biceps flexes. It was cheeky, bold and played into Barnes’ reputation as one of the NBA’s better trolls. 

And it may have been the Raptors’ only lasting highlight in what ended up being a dispiriting 122-116 loss in Toronto’s home opener, as they fell to 1-1 on the year before heading to Texas for matchups against Dallas Sunday and San Antonio Monday. 

“I was just being aggressive, playing with force, going downhill. I made a good play, and I was obviously a little hyped,” said Barnes. “But overall, I just got to keep being aggressive in the second half, it kind of went away a little bit. I got to keep playing with that force through the whole game.”

It’s not often, if ever, that rivals will step up to Antetokounmpo and flex — at seven-feet tall and a chiselled 250 pounds, he’s a very big bear to risk poking — but he’s used to having players test him. And he’s used to coming out on top. 

“I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen older players come at me, I’ve seen younger players come at me and now more younger players coming at me, and it’s something that I love because that’s something I did when I was younger,” Antetokounmpo said when asked about matching up with Barnes. “I played guys that have been in the league for a lot of years and have established themselves as all-time greats. Whenever I had a matchup against them, I went full-throttle, and I respect when young players go full throttle at me because it’s a sign of respect for what I’ve created over 13 years in the league … 

“[But] I’ve been in the league 13 years, I’ve been all-NBA seven years in a row, so I think I’ve been coming out on top.”

No argument here. But Barnes’ passion is in the right place.  He just needs to deliver on it as a matter of routine.

For the Raptors to reach the lofty goals they have for themselves, they’re going to need Barnes to play into his inner-beast side more regularly and more often. 

He was in attack mode most of the night in Toronto’s season-opening win in Atlanta on Wednesday night. Of his 22 points, 14 came in the paint. He got four more at the free-throw line. He didn’t attempt a three. 

It was everything the Raptors or any of their fans could want from their fifth-year star. He was grabbing rebounds and pushing the pace for himself or others, driving and dishing, using all 94 feet to make plays. 

But that was one game. To be great in the NBA, it needs to be almost every night. 

Case in point: Antetokounmpo. The two-time MVP had 30 points in the paint in Milwaukee’s opener, an easy win over the hapless Washington Wizards. Nothing new there. 

Antetokounmpo led the NBA in paint scoring the last two seasons and has been in the top three every year for a decade. 

He was at it again against the Raptors as he finished with 31 points and 20 rebounds on 11/14 shooting. He hit a pair of threes — not his specialty — in the third quarter, but for the most part powered into the paint with speed, often sending defenders flying, before gathering for a dunk or a lay-up through contact. 

Barnes had his moments. The flex over Antetokounmpo came during Barnes’ best stretch of the game as he picked up Antetokounmpo at half, guarded him chest to chest, and then took it right at him in the other direction. 

“I think I did a pretty good job, that ball pressure, not letting him get that free space to go downhill and attack,” Barnes said. “Made him take more wider routes to the rim … I think I did a great job, just making it tough for him.”

The problem is that Antetokounmpo is used to things being tough on him. Between his athleticism and his skill and his will, he’s consistently able to power through. 

“He has an advantage to do it,” said Bucks head coach Doc Rivers about Antetokounmpo’s ability to crash the paint and attack the rim. “I would say if you probably asked every player, if you told him, ‘Hey, you can get to the basket any time you want,’ most times they’re going to do it.

“And he has the size to be able to withstand some of the punishment he gets by going [to the rim] so he’s going to do it.” 

Overall, Barnes, the Raptors’ most athletic and forceful player, was no match for Antetokounmpo. No one is. 

Barnes finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, but was just 6-of-15 from the floor. And while he hit a pair of threes in four attempts, missing from much of the rest of the game was Barnes galloping through the Bucks’ paint like Antetokounmpo was through the Raptors’. 

Fair enough. Hoping that Barnes is going to match one of the best players of his era might be wishful thinking 

And while having Barnes be a determined downhill force — ‘Antetokounmpo lite’, let’s say — will likely be a key determination of their ultimate success this season, it can’t be the only one. 

The Raptors got a nice showing from Brandon Ingram in his first game at Scotiabank Arena — he was introduced by in-arena hype man Mark ‘Strizzy’ Strong as follows: “From North Carolina to We the North, the Notorious BI 3.” He led the Raptors with 29 points while adding six rebounds and three assists, but Ingram got only one late shot attempt until he took a pair of tough threes in the final minute of the game. 

That was a big reason the Raptors went cold in the final five minutes of a game that was tied 107-107 with 4:42 left to play. They didn’t make a field goal for four minutes and — compounding the problem — missed three crucial free throws on their way to shooting just 21-of-32 from the line for the night.

The Raptors shot 40 per cent from the three-point line (11-of-27) and 49.4 per cent from the floor. Roughly equal to the Bucks, who shot 52.2 per cent overall and 35 per cent from deep (14-of-40). And the Bucks missed their share of free throws too — they were 14-of-25 — but they had 14 offensive rebounds, and they had Antetokounmpo. 

“We have to make free throws,” said Immanuel Quickley, who finished with 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but shot 6-of-10 from the line for the night and missed three freebies in the fourth. “I take full accountability. I feel like we got some good shots, but we just got make free throws.” 

And either find a way to match up with the rare force the Bucks superstar brings every night or figure out another path. 

“He’s tough,” said Quickley of Antetokounmpo.  “He puts a lot of pressure on your defence. He’s seven feet tall, can dribble, he’s strong. But that’s what being in this league is. It’s tough, it’s hard, but you gotta get it done.”

Not only Giannis: As well as Antetokounmpo played, the difference in the game down the stretch might have been Bucks guard Cole Anthony, who signed in the off-season after he started his career in Orlando. Anthony finished with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, with nine points and three assists coming in the fourth quarter. The Raptors got caught out several times in pick-and-roll coverage against the athletic Bucks guard. 

RJ Barrett hot start: The Raptors wing is shooting 18-of-24 through two games, thriving playing in a lineup alongside Ingram and with Quickley back on the floor after playing just 33 games last season. He was particularly good in the fourth quarter, finishing with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting 

Doc Rivers on the NBA gambling scandal: The Bucks head coach has been in the NBA as a player, broadcaster, coach or executive for more than 40 years. He’s seen everything, but his thoughts on the gambling scandal that has unfolded this week were insightful, I thought: “Everyone can play cards, play poker. You can do anything you want in that way, just as long as you’re not involved in the sport that you’re in …  the league has always made that extremely clear. When you start doing that, you’re putting yourself in a tough situation. That we’ve always known. The difference is people couldn’t get to you [easily] and now they can. They can just DM you or whatever … and so now it’s leaving 20-year-olds in a lot of cases, and 21-year-olds where they have to make a judgment … So, it’s just different, man, it’s harder. You couldn’t bet on the game my entire career, and now you can. I can sit in the stands, in the crowd, right? And you know, [bet with] DraftKings. It’s just different, and this may be the growing pains of it. [But] I don’t think when this all started, any of us didn’t think something was going to happen. I mean, come on. Now we have to figure out how to keep it out of our game.”