Scottie Barnes set a Toronto Raptors franchise record for most triple doubles in a season on Monday with four. He accomplished the feat in a 130-122 Raptors win over the Indiana Pacers at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Barnes had 21 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds. Kyle Lowry had the old Raptors record with three, which was set in 2017-18.
This was the first time this season that Barnes recorded a triple-double in a Toronto win. The other three triple-doubles in 2023-24 came in Toronto losses. Prior to this season, Barnes only had one triple-double.
In all, seven Raptors reached double figures in points in their win over the Pacers. RJ Barrett of Toronto, Ontario led the Raptors with 24 points. Barrett’s former New York Knicks teammate Immanuel Quickley had 19 points, Gradey Dick had 18 points, Jakob Poeltl had 15 points, Ochai Agbaji had 13 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 11 points.
Barnes, who is becoming quite popular in Canada because of his Subway commercials, became an All-Star for the first time this season. In 58 games, he is averaging exactly 20 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, 6.1 assists per game, 1.5 blocks per game, and 1.2 steals per game, with a field goal percentage of .475, three-point percentage of .346, and a free throw percentage of .786.
In all, there were two players with a Canadian connection who participated in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis. The other was Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto. So far this season, he is averaging 31.2 points per game, 6.6 assists per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, and 2.1 steals per game, along with a field goal percentage of .548, three-point percentage of .380, and a free-throw percentage of .883. Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA with 1746 points scored, 120 steals, 445 free throws made and 2.1 steals per game.
With the win over the Pacers, the Raptors improved to a record of 22 wins and 36 losses. They are three and a half games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the final spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
