A sense of déjà vu had to wash over Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic in Memphis on Wednesday night.
He had spent three years as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies, helping youngsters such as Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane develop into prime-time NBA players.
He sat on the bench as the Raptors' head coach watching the likes of Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and must have felt like he did all those years ago.
The three youngsters — Quickley's the oldest at 24 — provided the Raptors with energy at both ends of the floor in an impressive 116-111 victory.
Despite almost seeing a 20-point advantage disappear, the Raptors made enough of the right plays down the stretch to record their second straight win.
Quickley finished with 26 points, Barnes had 20 and Barrett wound up with 14 as Toronto began a six-game road trip with an impressive win. Pascal Siakam fought late-game foul trouble but had 24 points and seven rebounds, while Dennis Schröder added 16 points off the bench.
It had to remind Rajakovic of his three years as the Grizzlies became a legitimate team.
“I learned a ton from Taylor (Jenkins, Memphis head coach) and from the whole organization; it’s a very young organization,” Rajakovic said of his return to Memphis. “I was really blessed with the opportunity to coach some of the young and up-and-coming stars in this league (and) in a small percentage to influence their careers.”
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It’s what Rajakovic is charged with now, finding a way to let a promising group grow into a legitimate contender.
It is not a short-term project, even if the short-term results have been promising since Saturday's trade with the New York Knicks to acquire Barrett and Quickley. The pace is more consistent, and the divide between the backups and starters isn’t as glaring. The Raptors have just looked better.
It was a tremendous defensive performance from the Raptors. Not because they forced a ton of turnovers or had a series of momentum-changing deflections. They just played fundamentally sound: guarding their man, not letting Grizzlies all-star Morant go off, and avoiding long lapses in concentration or intensity.
Jakob Poeltl had a season-high five blocked shots as an anchor at the rim, and Barrett was a physical presence on the wing all night as Toronto held Memphis to just 42 per cent shooting from the field.
Morant finished with 24 points and Memphis felt to 5-3 since Morant returned from a 25-game suspension.
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