Surging Raptors win over Hornets thanks to Ingram, Barnes block party

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The Toronto Raptors stopped by Monday night to say hello to their fans, eager to remind them that they were one of the NBA's pleasant early surprises.

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For much of the evening they failed to quite make it, allowing the visiting Charlotte Hornets to stay in the game, but they saved the best for last and pulled out a thrilling 110-108 win. Toronto won its fourth game in a row thanks to a game-saving block and is now 8 of 9.

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Here are our findings:

HOW IT ENDED

Toronto led almost the entire game, trailing only four times and never by more than two points, but the Hornets seemed poised to steal one thanks to the great play of dynamic rookie Con Knuppel.

After Brandon Ingram kept the ball in the zone for too long, slightly increasing the attack, the team recalibrated. Collin Sexton's 3-pointer after Immanuel Quickley's miss made it 104-103 in favor of the Raptors, and Miles Bridges hit a 3-pointer to give Charlotte the lead. but Barnes dunked on Bridges to tie the game and set up a wild ending.

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The Raptors forced a turnover and got the ball to Ingram, who double-teamed but cut RJ Barrett four times for a layup. Ingram then blocked a dunk attempt by 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner with 7.5 seconds on the clock.

Bridges missed a jump shot when Charlotte got the ball back, Barnes blocked Collin Sexton's layup attempt, and that was it.

Ingram finished with 27 points and three blocks, Barnes had 16 to go along with six rebounds, six assists and two blocks, and Barrett also had 16.

I HAVE MAGIC

As noted previously, the Raptors have a terrible track record of signing quality free agents. In 31 years, few have exceeded expectations or made a major impact in Toronto. But two of the best players were in the house Monday: Hornets TV analyst Dell Curry, who became Toronto's first major free agent signing, adding a needed three-point forward to Vince Carter's playoff teams, and big man Sandro Mamukelashvili has been excellent this year after being signed from San Antonio.

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Mamukelashvili was strong off the bench, either with fellow reserves or alongside Toronto starters like Barnes, who excelled on the court alongside him.

Head coach Darko Rajakovic quickly accepted Mamukelashvili.

“He’s just a good basketball player, that’s all,” Rajakovic said before the game.

“He's really embraced our culture. He really likes the team and the guys here, and he's really trying to learn how to fit in with how we want to play on offense and defense. And on offense, he's the guy that helps us stick together,” he said.

“He's a great ball handler, a very, very unselfish player. Players love being on the floor with him and he's also great on defense, that's how he switches from one to five and stays in front of the ball and continues to improve his rebounding.”

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Prior to Monday, Mamukelashvili had made 44.8 percent of his three-point shots, providing much-needed space in the game.

OUR TOP BEST RAPTORS FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

1 Fred VanVleet (undrafted free agent)

2 Jose Calderon (still a fan favorite)

3 Curry (scored in several playoff games)

4 Anthony Parker (returned from overseas to become a good starter)

5 Chris Boucher (one of Toronto's best reserve players)

6 Bismack Biyombo (one great year earned him a big salary elsewhere)

7 Mamukelashvili (may rise)

8 Tracy Murray (also received salary elsewhere, but distinguished herself earlier)

9 Jamario Moon (solid, but not impressive)

10 DeMarre Carroll (rough finish, but had its moments)

It's hard to say whether Hakeem Olajuwon (technically a sign and trade) or Hedo Turkoglu were the bigger players that fell through.

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Are the Hornets FINALLY ON THE RIGHT PATH?

The Hornets were a model team in the 1990s, shortly after joining the NBA as an expansion team, but things have gone from bad to worse since then. The less we talk about the Bobcats years the better, but overall Charlotte has missed the playoffs in nine straight seasons and hasn't won a round since 2002. That's why their fans should be excited about the 2025 NBA Draft, there's finally some hope in the basketball hotbed of North Carolina.

Fourth overall pick Con Knueppel, a local Duke product, had a strong performance Monday with 24 points and leads all freshmen in scoring with over 17 points per game while also shooting over 40% from three and 87.5% from the free throw line. He looks like a future star. No. 29 pick Liam McNeely hasn't shown much yet, but two players taken in the second round, center Kalkbrenner and forward Zion James (who played with Knuppel for the Blue Devils), started their careers 20-for-41 from three. Kalkbrenner averaged 2.3 blocks per game as the team's starter and shot an incredible 81.8% from the field (54 of 66).

The Hornets need to find a way to keep star point guard Ball on the floor. He signed for big money for three more years after that, but played 47 games last season, 22 the season before and 36 before that.

Ball averaged 8.6 assists in five career games with Toronto, his eighth-most since his debut in 1995.

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