Rajakovic calls out Raptors' effort in another blowout loss

On Monday night, the Toronto Raptors were treated to a front-row seat to one of the greatest performances of the NBA season.

Unfortunately for them, it was one of their opponents putting up historic numbers.

Facing off against the San Antonio Spurs at Scotiabank Arena, 2023 first overall pick Victor Wembanyama dropped a stat line almost unseen in league history: 27 points, 14 rebounds, five assists… and a jaw-dropping 10 blocks.

In front of a crowd that seemed almost as much in support of the 7-foot-4 French phenom as their home team, Wembanyama’s Spurs destroyed Toronto 122-99, which was just their 11th win of the 54 games they’ve played this season.

And being on the wrong side of history, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic wasn’t exactly pleased with how his team performed on the evening.

“Lack of effort, lack of intensity, lack of focus… way too many turnovers,” Rajakovic said postgame.

At 12th in the Eastern Conference, Toronto sits at a record of 19-35, some five games out of the final play-in spot.

The Raptors committed 19 turnovers on the evening, tied for a season-high. San Antonio wasn’t much better — Wembanyama himself had seven — but they made up for it with strong defensive play and converting on a high percentage of their offensive chances.

It wasn’t just Toronto’s coach who seemed to be having a tough time with the loss. Toronto’s first-time All-Star Scottie Barnes was seen heading to the locker room in the waning seconds of the game, prior to the final buzzer.

Scottie Barnes to the locker room before the buzzer sounds pic.twitter.com/hSZk3lA750

— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) February 13, 2024

“It is definitely a learning opportunity for all the players on the team. From young guys to all the vets. And this is not the performance that we want to have, the competitive spirit that we want to have. So everybody is going to look in the mirror and figure out what we need to do. We need to be in our shoes,” Rajakovic said when asked about Barnes leaving the court early.

“We cannot be anywhere else. Tomorrow is a practice. We have a game against Indiana, and we’ve got to take care of business. We cannot be anywhere else, but be in our shoes and taking care of business.”

As for Barnes’ play itself? It was hardly a game to remember, as he went just 3-15 from the field while being held to seven points, nine assists, and nine rebounds in 30 minutes of action, to go along with five turnovers.

“I thought that he blended in with the performance of the whole team, and that was not the standard that we expect,” Rajakovic said bluntly.

Toronto has just one game before the 2024 NBA All-Star break, when they host former Raptor Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday evening. Tipoff for that one is set for 7:30 pm ET.

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