Raptors Clinch Darko Rajaković 1st NBA Victory in Ugly Win vs. Timberwolves

The Toronto Raptors rode their transition attack to clinch Darko Rajaković his first NBA victory Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves

The Toronto Raptors aren’t measuring this season in wins and losses.

Yes, those are important. New head coach Darko Rajaković acknowledged as much ahead of Wednesday’s season opener, but the road ahead this year isn’t going to be smooth. Sure, most of the players are the same, but almost everything is different. The offense has been reconstructed. The defense is more conservative. It’s going to take time.

“It's really about the standard of how we play and, for us, improving week by week,” said Rajaković as he tried to define what success will look like for this season. “It's about our cohesiveness and how closely we're gonna work, how we're going to support each other, how we're going to grow through the season. 

“My dream is that we play our best basketball at the end of the year.”

Jakob Poeltl had a similar definition. Yes, the goal is to make the playoffs and make some noise, maybe win a series, or at least a couple of games. But as important is proving that this group has a future together. 

“I think for a new group to come together and really show that we can play the right way,” Poeltl said of success. “We can kind of grow within this new system.”

It’s going to take time for this group to gel this year, especially the half-court offense, but for now, this group will bank wins any way it can. A not-so-pretty 97-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves clinched Rajaković his first career NBA head coaching win and allowed Toronto to start an uncertain season with a big step in the right direction. 

The win led to celebration in the locker room as cheering could be heard through the closed doors. Moments later, Rajaković emerged with remnants of the ice water shower the team had just doused him in.

For the Raptors, it was the team’s big offseason addition Dennis Schröder that allowed Toronto to break out of its half-court funk late against Minnesota. He twice found Pascal Siakam behind the arc who nailed a pair of clutch threes for Toronto. Eventually, a steal from O.G. Anunoby allowed Scottie Barnes to kill some clock and flush the game-clinching dunk.

"He's an experienced point guard. He does a good job of organizing and running the team in the half-court," Rajaković said of Schröder. "There's so much new with our team and having somebody who's been through different teams in that role of a point guard, brings calmness to the team and he was a couple of times he was able to talk to guys, put them in the right spots, and help our offense."

One focus of this offseason was getting O.G. Anunoby to take more above-the-break threes this year. Early returns suggest he’s ready to take on that challenge. He nailed three above-the-break threes in the first half, the first one coming courtesy of a savvy find from Gary Trent Jr. who made the kick-out pass after working the pick-and-roll with Jakob Poeltl in the first quarter.

"That's definitely something I’ve been working on to get more threes, not just catch-and-shoot ones," Anunoby said of his pull-up three-point shooting. "Just try to get some off-the-dribble, off screens, they’re going under, shoot those ones."

While Anunoby came out firing with 13 of his 20 points in the first half, Barnes and Siakam didn’t quite look as ready to go. It wasn’t until the third quarter that Barnes and Siakam found any sort of groove. Toronto’s defense began getting stops and the transition attack allowed the Raptors to climb ahead by 10 midway through the third. Barnes finished tough through contact from Rudy Gobert to put Toronto up 70-60.

The problem for the Raptors was Anthony Edwards who was borderline unstoppable for much of the first three quarters. Even Anunoby, Toronto’s All-Defense wing, couldn’t handle the fourth-year star who bought the Timberwolves right back late in the third. He nailed a pull-up three right over Barnes then recorded the hockey assist, sucking in Toronto’s defense to create a corner three for Minnesota to recapture the lead.

"I was a little too loose with him. He's a great player and I was giving him too much space," Anunoby said of Edwards who finished the night with 26 points and 14 rebounds. "That’s what great players do when they're comfortable, they make shots. So just try to make it difficult for him."

Schröder led Toronto with a team-high 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting with four made three-pointers, providing some much-needed firepower from three-point range for Toronto.

In terms of the rotation, Trent was the first off the bench followed by Precious Achiuwa. Jalen McDaniels and Malachi Flynn followed with Gradey Dick the last off the bench in the first half. That means, for now, Chris Boucher and Otto Porter Jr. will be on the outside looking in when it comes to Toronto’s top 10.

"Chris is [the] ultimate professional. I have high expectations for Chris. I met with him. I talked with him, and I told him what I expect to happen in the next days, the next weeks. And how he needs to stay ready," Rajaković said of Boucher. "Chris is [a] very important player for us. There's no doubt about that."

Toronto closed the game out with Achiuwa at the center. Rajaković tried to get Poeltl back in the game but there was never a clock stoppage and ultimately Poeltl didn't check back in.

Up Next: Chicago Bulls

Toronto will hit the road to open a back-to-back starting Friday night with the first stop in Chicago against the Bulls at 8 p.m. ET.