Darko Rajakovic cut straight to the chase in his pre-game news conference: yes, Scottie Barnes is back.
Barnes was inserted into the Toronto Raptors starting lineup ahead of Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Scotiabank Arena. He had been out since Oct. 28 with a fractured right orbital bone.
“I don’t want Scottie Barnes to be anything outside of Scottie Barnes,” said Rajakovic in his pre-game news conference. “I just need him to be best version of himself and when he’s that, he’s really raising the people around him to another level.
“He’s making everybody around him better.”
Barnes was injured in the fourth quarter of Toronto’s 127-125 overtime loss to the Nuggets on Oct. 28 when he caught an errant elbow from Denver centre Nikola Jokic. Barnes was expected to be out at least three weeks with the injury but came back slightly ahead of schedule.
The 23-year-old all-star forward was averaging 19.2 points, …