In the hours leading up to Wednesday’s opening tip, the club announced Barrett will be out at least a week.
If there’s any good news, it’s that no structural damage was revealed after Barrett underwent an imaging test.
Against Cleveland on Monday night, the Raptors started second-year wing Ja’Kobe Walter.
Against the Pacers, the Raptors went with rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, an undersized big, to give Toronto’s starting group a decidedly big look.
Barely two minutes into the game and CMB picked up his first personal foul when he was matched up against Siakam on the perimeter.
Without Barrett, the Raptors don’t have anyone capable of filling his shoes in the starting group.
Clearly, there are players who potentially can step up, but no one comes off screens like Barrett, no one cuts to the basket like Barrett, and no one handles the ball in the open floor like Barrett.
With 8:44 left in the opening quarter, CMB picked up his second foul.
Toronto’s start was very poor because the team’s play lacked energy, another dimension Barrett would often bring.
The opening 12 minutes were arguably among the very worst Toronto has played this season.
Consider only one three-pointer was made, how only three assists were recorded, while five turnovers were committed.
Not surprisingly, the Raptors trailed the Pacers 25-21.
Indiana went on a 5-0 run to begin the second quarter before the Raptors called a timeout.
The second quarter ended with the Raptors going on a 12-0 run.
Walter was on the floor during that spurt and was rewarded by starting the second half for CMB.
Wednesday’s home game brought an end to a very successful month for the Raptors.
November has been kind to the club, but in particular at Scotiabank Arena where the Raptors wrapped up an unbeaten run in front of their ardent fans.
Six home games were played during the month with six wins produced.
The road has also proven fruitful with the Raptors losing only once, a 130-120 setback in Philly, a night when the Raptors played the back end of a back-to-back and were without starting centre Jakob Poeltl.
Two games remain on the Raptors’ schedule before the calendar flips to December.
To date, the Raptors have compiled a 12-1 record in November.
At the same time, the competition hasn’t exactly been good.
In fact, Toronto’s opponents have been bad to brutal.
Outside of the road loss to the Sixers, the only quality opponent Toronto has faced this month has been Cleveland.
Milwaukee entered its game playing well, but the Bucks did play the host Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back.
Franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out the entire fourth quarter in a 28-point blowout loss.
A weekend of back-to-back tips await the Raptors, who will play the host Charlotte Hornets Saturday in the second meeting of the season before a Sunday date in Gotham sees Toronto play the New York Knicks for the first time in what could very well be a playoff preview, at least for those inclined to look that far into the future.