Scottie Barnes is not new to the idea of guarding superstars, but when the Toronto Raptors faced off against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, the roles were reversed. This time, he was the center of attention. This time, the Brooklyn defense had scouted ahead enough to recognize Barnes’ burgeoning offensive abilities, and so they put arguably their best stopper on him for a significant portion of the game’s latter half.

Kevin Durant.

“Kevin Durant’s a very good player,” Barnes told reporters. “He can do everything on the floor—put the ball on the floor, score, shoot, do whatever you want on the floor, really. But I just saw opportunities where I could drive and create open shots and just try to score at the right times. So I was just trying to get to certain spots and find ways to score.”

It quickly became apparent (growing as the game went on) that the respect both Durant and the Nets had for Barnes was warranted. In one instance, Barnes went directly at Durant in the mid-post, hitting him with a slick hook. In another, he easily powered his way through the former MVP and connected on a fadeaway after giving a subtle head fake. And in yet another, he snagged an offensive rebound before dribbling out to the perimeter, KD on his heels, where he pulled up immediately and nailed a clutch-time triple.

“I really was able to get to my spots where I was doing little moves to try to get him off balance,” the Raptors rookie shared. “So [Durant’s length] really didn’t bother me so much; it looked really open to me.”

Never did Barnes seem intimidated by the challenge when others might have faltered. Instead, he rose to the occasion time and again, engaged and invigorated by every possession, looking every bit of the Rookie of the Year candidate he is.

It wasn’t a passing of the torch (Durant is still much too good for that to be the case) by any means, but there was that strange sense one gets when there’s an unspoken understanding of a moment’s saliency. Barnes and Durant’s careers may not end up overlapping for an overly extensive amount of time, but here they did, and the result was immaculate.

“You know who you’re gonna go against when you’re playing against this team,” Barnes said. “You know Kevin Durant’s on the floor.”

Ultimately, Barnes put up 23 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on a 69.6 true shooting percentage in 44 minutes of overtime action. Despite his Raptors falling to the undermanned Nets, it was yet another reminder that the future is bright in Toronto.