Scottie Barnes survived an injury scare, Brandon Ingram hit a big shot when it mattered and RJ Barrett, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Immanuel Quickley led a balanced Toronto Raptors attack in a 107-100 win over the visiting Utah Jazz on Sunday.

Toronto equalled last season’s win total of 30 and snapped a two-game losing streak behind 21 from Barrett, 20 from Mamukelashvili, 19 from Ingram and 14 points, nine rebounds. Utah’s Lauri Markkanen scored 27, but the visitors shot just 22.9% on three-pointers.

Barnes came up limping after a fourth quarter collision with Utah behemoth Jusuf Nurkic and briefly left the game after initially staying in, but quickly returned to help seal the win.

The Raptors led by two points before the fourth quarter, stretched it to seven and remained up. By at least five points the rest of the way.

Some takeaways from a hard-fought battle in Toronto:

ALL-STAR AFTERMATH

Right as the game tipped off it was revealed that Barnes had been named to his second NBA all-star game, but Ingram had not.

While that was the most expected outcome, Ingram had done enough to be in strong consideration (and still could end up in Los Angeles since Giannis Antetokounmpo is injured and will need to be replaced), it still had to be disappointing for Ingram.

He came out slow against the Jazz, missing six of eight shots to start the game, but then missed only once on his next four attempts, helping keep the Raptors’ offence afloat. Ingram cooled from there, but his 15-foot jump shot with 38 seconds remaining all but sealed it for Toronto.

In addition to having an all-star-calibre season so far, Ingram has also impressed by playing in 49 of Toronto’s 51 games. Ingram was only available for 18 games last year, none after being acquired by the Raptors and in the three years prior played 64, 45 and 55 games, respectively.

BUSY WEEK AHEAD

This is a stressful part of the NBA season, with the trade deadline (Thursday) lurking. Raptors players might benefit then by keeping busy to take their minds off things. Luckily, this is one of their most packed weeks of the campaign. There will be practice days Monday and Tuesday, back-to-back home games Wednesday and Thursday, possibly another practice on Saturday and then another game on Sunday.

A break is looming though, with only one more game remaining before the league’s lengthy all-star break.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said pre-game he tries to help his players ignore any trade chatter.

“I think it’s real. It’s there. It’s hard for players to not hear all the noise that’s outside and from Day 1, in training camp when we met, we agreed  to block all the noise and just really focus on us, focus on things that we can control,” Rajakovic said. “And reality is not players, not myself, we don’t have any control of what’s going to be talked about and what actually is going to happen or not happen. All of that is up in the air so all we can do is just be where we need to be, be in our shoes and focus on all the next task and that’s watch good film and prepare for the game tonight and out there and get our best tonight.

“So we’re really focusing on that part. And at the same time, acknowledging that it is a hard time in the season.”

It’s widely expected the Raptors will at the least make a small move allowing them to duck under the luxury tax while also ideally adding depth up front. Ochai Agbaji is regarded as the most likely Raptor to be dealt this week and teams have been sniffing around him, hoping a change of scenery can help the one-time Final Four most outstanding player find the form that led to a career year in 2024-25.

AROUND THE RIM

Utah head coach Will Hardy is a fan of Toronto’s makeup. “Playing hard is a skill. Changing ends is a skill. I know sometimes we all can take those things for granted, but Darko, with his staff, clearly have done a great job of getting their messaging across, and their teams bought in,” Hardy said pre-game. He also spoke highly of Barnes and how he can rebound the ball and lead a fast-break himself and the pressure that puts on an opponent …The Jazz often rest top big men Markkanen or Nurkic (the team only keeps its first-round pick this summer if it’s in the Top 8, so they get creative with their lineups), but both European standouts played. Most improved player candidate Keyonte George did not.

@WolstatSun