Raptors vs. Magic: A little Barnes, a little Barrett and a lot of support in Leonard’s absence - Toronto Star

The Raptors didn’t mope because one of their top players wasn’t available.

Ja’kobe Walter dunks after a steal for two of his 14 points Wednesday against Orlando. Walter was one of six Raptors to score in double figures.

No single player took over the game, or even tried to, as the Raptors did what they said they would do in this period without Kawhi Leonard.

They stayed true to their defensive schemes and met their standards, they got a little bit from a lot of players and they cruised to an easy 129-99 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.

It was a thorough, businesslike effort to dispatch the injury-bothered Magic and move Toronto to 3-1 on the season. Scottie Barnes scored 28 points, RJ Barrett had 25, and four other Raptors were in double figures as everyone chipped in.

Seldom-used Trayce Jackson-Davis provided solid first-quarter minutes while Jamal Shead, Jamison Battle and Collin Murray-Boyles keyed a game-breaking second quarter that turned a seven-point first quarter lead into a 16-point halftime advantage. The Raptors didn’t mope because one of their top players wasn’t available, the players who were available played to their strengths.

That’s what the team’s management envisioned when they added Leonard. They knew they had traded for a proven star but they only made the move because the pieces were in place.

“We believe we have a deep roster,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said before the game. “We saw those guys perform in the playoffs, pretty much the same group of guys.

“We’re confident in the work that they’re putting in, that guys are improving and getting better, and that just gives us confidence every single night that we are good enough and deep enough that we can face any team in the league.”

While the Raptors were trying to figure out how to succeed without Leonard, the Magic were missing vital cogs Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs, both out with injuries.

Toronto is part of a leaguewide problem that has cast a pall over the season’s first week. Several stars have suffered injuries that will range from two weeks out to the rest of the season and nearly 80 players were named on the league’s injury list Wednesday afternoon.

“There are different reasons,” Rajakovic said before the game. “Not all teams are playing the same style; there are teams playing players in short stints, there are players playing longer stints. There is no one recipe, there is no one formula.

“I think everything is trying to figure out what works best for their personnel. Obviously, I think the tendency in the league is that there is more physicality at this time and what are the real effects on the body of players is very important. It’s very important they be studied and then you need to learn more about it.”

But the studying takes times and it will be months before any clear data emerges about why so many players have been injured in such a short period. The Raptors can’t afford that time.

They have to weather the storm somehow, either by having unexpected players explode or by dint of their defence or because they have a surplus of cohesion built up from the 2025-26 season to bank on. They won’t win anything of significance in the first quarter of the regular season but an extended losing stretch will certainly cost them.

Taking advantage of a weakened Magic team was almost a must. Toronto needed to rid any lingering effects of a Sunday loss in Minnesota from their minds and, facing a four-game-in-six-night road trip on the weekend, they needed to take care of business.

There were issues though. Jakob Poeltl got two fouls in the game’s first three minutes and struggled through a bad night with just two points and only 10 minutes. And the Raptors committed 27 personal fouls to maintain their league lead in fouls through the first four games.

But those were minor problems. When the Raptors needed a thorough performance to win a game they were supposed to win, they delivered.

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Doug Smith is a sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on BlueSky: @smithraptorsbeat.bsky.social.