As the Toronto Raptors have struggled to gain their footing in the NBA‘s Eastern Conference with a 22-21 record, there have been plenty of growing pains for rookie forward Scottie Barnes. Famously drafted over the Orlando Magic's Jalen Suggs in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft, Barnes has had his share of great games as well, and one of them came on Friday night.

In a game that the Raptors needed to win, Barnes led the team with 27 points while chipping in eight rebounds. While head coach Nick Nurse will probably want Barnes to end up with more than the one assist that he got on Friday, Raptors star guard Fred VanVleet had nothing bad to say whatsoever about his new favorite rookie.

VanVleet is not joking about the jump-hook, as Barnes ended up attempting almost all of his shots from inside the paint. The Raptors struggled to score in the fourth quarter, and Barnes seemed to be the only one that could get things going. They were able to hold off a late rally by Bradley Beal and the Wizards and ended up with a 114-104 road victory. Beal had this to say when asked about the rookie's performance:

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The win also moved Toronto ahead of Washington in the standings for the first time this year, something that Raptors fans are surely the most pleased about. The development of their rookie is great, but this is a team that can win now and later, The now part had better start to take shape if they want to compete for a title this year.