Barnes has career-high 41 points but frustrated by Raptors’ loss, lack of foul calls

“Definitely think I could have got to the free-throw line more,” said Barnes. “I think being that aggressive, only shooting three free throws is kind of crazy.

“But no, it just wasn’t going our way. It is what it is.”

Barnes was asked directly if he thought it was harder for the Raptors to get fouled. After a long pause, he answered with a chuckle.

“Trying to have good P.R. today,” said Barnes, smiling at a nearby member of Toronto’s communications team. “It’s tough out there. Like I said, we’re trying to be as aggressive as we can. I think they’re being aggressive as they can.

“I think that’s enough for me to say. I’m raging on the inside right now, but it is what it is.”

Head coach Darko Rajakovic was willing to be more direct in his post-game news conference.

“For me, a player that gets three foul shots in a game, who scores 41 points and goes to the free-throw line three times, that’s kind of B.S., to be honest with you,” said Rajakovic. “They got to the free-throw line 29 times. We got to the free-throw line 15 times, and I don’t think that we’re more physical or a more aggressive team than them.

“I think that both teams played really aggressive, good basketball, and I think that criteria should be the same on both ends of the floor.”

It was the 16th game of Barnes’s career where he had 30-plus points, five rebounds and five assists. That tied DeMar DeRozan for fourth most in Raptors’ history.

Starting centre Jakob Poeltl had by far his best game of the season. He entered play on Friday averaging 2.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game, but finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists against Orlando.

“To be honest, I don’t really care about the numbers,” sad Poeltl. “It doesn’t really matter to me if I at the end of game have 10 points, 10 rebounds, or if I have like two points and four rebounds, like whatever, as long as we’re winning the game.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Barnes has career-high 41 points but frustrated by Raptors’ loss, lack of foul calls

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