Takeaways for Toronto as Raptors Upset Suns in Showdown of Stars

The Toronto Raptors caught fire from three-point range on Sunday to upset Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday

Feb 23, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) looks to take a shot as Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) defends in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images / Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Toronto Raptors 127, Phoenix Suns 109

Stars Showdown

Scottie Barnes has always loved these kinds of matchups.

Remember his first real breakout game when he went toe-to-toe with LeBron James as a rookie? He followed it up the next year with a 32-point showing in Los Angeles again against the Lakers. It should be no surprise then when Barnes turned in another stellar two-way showing this time against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought Barnes was the soon-to-be Hall of Famer given how he looked. He locked down Durant who had an off night offensively and hit mid-range jumpers in Durant fashion at the other end, dropping 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting in a game-high plus-31 showing for Toronto's one-time All-Star.

"I don't think that he's getting enough credit for how diverse he is defensively, and what he's doing defensively for us as a team," Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. "Maybe that has something to do with our record. But if you have eyes and if you're watching the game, you see that this guy is elite."

Barnes helped Toronto smother Durant, denying the Suns superstar the ball, and holding him to just 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting.

"He's very physical, very smart on the point of attack," said Chris Boucher of Barnes. "I think that the one thing that he's put way more energy on it too. So you can't deny the work that he's put in, and you can't deny how smart he's getting on defense and always helping us."

Then when crunch time rolled around, the floodgates opened.

A two-point Raptors lead ballooned to 18 thanks to seven consecutive three-pointers from Toronto as Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett caught fire from behind the arc. Barrett cashed in with the dagger, nailing a fallaway three through contact for the four-point play.

Barrett and Quickley finished the night with 23 points each, including 19 combined in the fourth quarter.

"I was really proud of him that he was trying really not to score or not to pass the ball, but actually to make the right play," Rajaković said of Quickley who had eight assists. "He did an outstanding job of just getting us organized and moving the ball and finding his teammates."

Boucher Could Have Helped

Someone should have traded for Chris Boucher.

Toronto certainly fielded trade calls for the 32-year-old forward ahead of the deadline, and there’s little doubt that teams showed interest. The Denver Nuggets were reportedly among them, and the Phoenix Suns, at the very least, should have been.

The challenge, presumably, was Boucher’s $10.8 million contract and the salary-matching requirements that made a deal tricky. That likely stalled any potential trade talks with Denver or any other suitors.

Still, Boucher could have helped someone with playoff aspirations. He showed as much Sunday, coming off the bench to post 23 points in 20 minutes, single-handedly outscoring Phoenix’s second unit.

"He's the ultimate professional," Rajaković said. "He's been doing a really good job of being in the right spots, rebounding the ball. He's doing a really good job of shooting the ball. And he really brings a lot of energy off the bench for us."

What’s next for Boucher remains uncertain.

It’s hard to envision him back in Toronto next season, given the team’s financial crunch. Brandon Ingram’s extension will likely squeeze him out of the picture. It would take a pretty significant salary dump to create the space to keep Boucher around. Then again, every time Boucher seems on the way out, he finds a way to stick around.

Lottery Look

The race to the bottom is about to get a little more interesting.

Washington, New Orleans, Utah, and Charlotte continue their push for the top pick in this year’s draft, and Toronto remains determined to join them. Now, another contender has seemingly entered the mix: the Philadelphia 76ers, who are reportedly weighing their options for the rest of the season with Joel Embiid’s status uncertain, per ESPN.

The reality is Philadelphia should shut it down. The 76ers have lost seven straight, own the league’s sixth-worst record, and desperately need to retain their top-six protected first-round pick. If Embiid is sidelined and the team gives Tyrese Maxey and Paul George a few nights off down the stretch, they could tumble quickly in the standings.

That could be a problem for the Raptors whose victory Sunday moved them 2.5 games up on Philadelphia in the reverse standings. Toronto has the league’s easiest remaining schedule and a scrappy young roster capable of stealing a few wins. If they do, they risk swapping places with Philadelphia, costing themselves five percentage points in their odds of landing a top-four pick.

Up Next: Boston Celtics

The Raptors will wrap up their homestand on Tuesday when Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics come to town for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff at Scotiabank Arena.