The Toronto Raptors bounced back with a big win over the Miami Heat right before Christmas. Scottie Barnes was sensational and led the team in scoring. Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jamison Battle provided a punch off the bench, but rookie Collin Murray-Boyles might have had the best game of his young career.

In this recap, I talk about all the above and break it down in-depth:

Here is Louis Zatzman recapping tonight’s game:

But the Raptors finally, truly, successfully awoke in the third quarter. Mamukelashvili hit another contested triple that was poorly created. Ingram created a layup out of thin air in the middle of the floor with a gigantic step-through. Then Quickley found Mamukelashvili with a wicked, underhand bounce pass in the pick and roll, and Mamukelashvili laid the ball down to Barnes for an uncontested dunk. Ingram hit a triple. 

Those were so well created that they didn’t need to be well shot. It was good offence. It was good offence! Hang the banner. The 2025-26 Toronto Raptors played good offence for six minutes after RJ Barrett got hurt. 

And. And! It lasted. Shead hit some triples. Barnes drove deep into the paint for free throws. And with Toronto being able to set its defence, it created some steals, got out in transition, found Barnes some layups. When the Raptors did miss shots, Murray-Boyles grabbed the offensive rebound, then another, then another. (He finished with nine, the most offensive rebounds a Raptor has had this season.) Is that shot making — the literal definition, of course, is a missed shot. So, no, surely not. But maybe?

Toronto managed just 81 points against the Brooklyn Nets in its last contest. It scored 82 in three quarters against the Heat despite showing good shot making for approximately two minutes in the first half.

And. And! And! It lasted into the fourth. (At least for the start of it.) Quickley threw a lob to Barnes out of the pick and roll. (This has now happened more in the last week of games than I remember it ever having happened before.) Barnes caught the ball in the post and whirred the ball to Battle for a triple. Quickley — point guard! — directed Barnes back to the post on the next offensive possession, and was the first pass away, so caught the pass after Miami’s double and calmly drilled a triple. That’s strong leadership on the offensive end. That was definitely shot making. It was a good play call, a good decision based on the flow of the game, a well-created shot, and, of course, a made shot.

Then Barnes hit a jumper and dunked and dunked again on the drive. He went back in the post later and drove, paused, and hit a two-handed hook off the glass plus the foul.

Yes, Toronto won the game with its defence. And yes, it still only managed 112 points, which is a fairly low total in the modern NBA. But for stretches, for long stretches, it rediscovered shot making. It answered some questions that have been slowly wrapping around the team’s neck for the past few weeks. For now, It laid some ghosts to rest.