標籤: Darko

Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram was scratched in the final minutes of their game against the Utah Jazz on Monday due to heel swelling. But even without him, the Raptors claimed an easy 143-127 victory at the Delta Center.

Ingram was originally part of the starting lineup against the Jazz, but moments before tip-off, he was replaced by Jacoby Walter. The Raptors later announced that Ingram would miss the game.

Following their win, their fourth in six games, Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic was optimistic Ingram’s condition, as shown in video posted by Raptors reporter Omar Osman.

“It’s not really a big concern here. It’s just flared up. It’s something we’ll look at and see how he feels tomorrow. But I don’t think it’s going to be anything (serious),” Rajakovic said.

Darko isn’t too concerned about Brandon Ingram’s heel pain. https://t.co/PdsDilNS8M pic.twitter.com/gfD0a8GQX4

– Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) 24 March 2026

The Raptors are struggling to cement their place in the playoffs, and they cannot afford to lose the 28-year-old Ingram, who has a long injury history.

With the win over Utah, they improved to 40–31, good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Toronto has missed the playoffs for three consecutive years.

RJ Barrett stepped up in Ingram’s absence and scored a team-best 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting, including 4 of 5 from long range.

Sandro Mamukelashvili also had a solid performance with 23 points, four rebounds and five steals, while Walter and Scotty Barnes also reached the 20-point mark.

The Raptors were impressive with their accuracy, shooting 61% from the field, including 20 of 37 from Rainbow Country. They are ahead by 35 points.

He returns to action on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Grady Dick established himself as a solid rotation piece early on, during his rookie and sophomore campaigns. But in their third season, the bar has risen for the Toronto Raptors. They are no longer building a lottery team for the future. They are now a playoff-caliber team that intends to improve their record against the best teams in the association.

With the Raptors having different goals this season than the previous two seasons, Dick has fallen out of favor in head coach Darko Rajakovic’s rotation for most of the season. But on Sunday, Dick made the difference by scoring 10 points in just 13 minutes of play and most importantly, he impressed Rajakovic to the extent that he nailed member of rotation from this point onwards.

“He’s in the rotation now. That shouldn’t change. There are a lot of expectations for him. He needs a lot of work, because he’s a very important player for us. I have a lot of confidence in him,” Rajakovic said in his postgame presser, via Omar Osman on Twitter (formerly Twitter).

Darko on how Grady handled being in and out of the rotation:

“He handled it in the best possible way. He went back and did a lot of work. He was going back to shooting at night. He was coming in early and was the first one in the gym every morning getting shots, working out… pic.twitter.com/Y8AhrLrwfW

– Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) 9 March 2026

Grady Dick handled Raptors demotion gracefully

The Raptors drafted Dick with the 13th overall pick in 2023, and he started 71 games in his first two seasons in the NBA. This season, he has started in only one game.

Some young players may have taken this to heart; They may have become discouraged which will then lead to a negative feedback cycle. But that’s not the case with Dick, as the Raptors head coach noted.

Rajakovic said, “He handled it in the best way possible. He went back and did a lot of work. He was going back to shooting at night. He was coming in early and was the first one in the gym every morning taking shots and working out.”

There is no such thing as a rivalry between the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks, as the New York Knicks always beats the former. On Tuesday night, the Knicks used an excellent two-way effort late in the game to complete a season series sweep of the Raptors and win 111-95 on the road.

This is the Raptors’ fourth loss of the season to the Knicks, and none of those losses have been particularly close. New York has outscored Toronto by a total of 81 points in those games this season, and it’s become clear that the Raptors are not in the same league as the Knicks.

The Raptors’ latest loss is yet another loss against a team with a top-10 record, and it’s such a troubling sign and a foreboding sign that they won’t be able to do much in the postseason. Nonetheless, head coach Darko Rajakovic believes his team can get it right, although he admitted they could not do so on Tuesday.

“When the time is right, it wasn’t tonight,” Rajakovic said in response to a question from Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. When will they be able to get another win against a top-10 team?

Raptors are showing signs of being exhibitionists

The Raptors looked good early in the season, and it helped that they were dominant against the current number one team in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers. But their troubles against good teams remain and to become the best they have to beat the best. And Toronto has failed on this front.

The good news is that the Raptors are still fifth in the Eastern Conference and if the season ended today, they would face the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs – a team they have dispatched of three times already this season.

The game became increasingly intense in the first half, as the Toronto Raptors hosted the San Antonio Spurs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

After a stoppage in the second quarter, the Raptors raced to the other end to try to get a quick bucket. The ball went to Brandon Ingram, who attempted a three-pointer from the top of the key. Stephen Cassel, who was late coming back on defense, challenged Ingram’s shot.

While it appeared Cassel struck Ingram’s arm, no foul was called.

This enraged Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic, as shown in video shared by Raptors reporter Omar Osman. Rajakovic was whistled technical glitch.

Darko Rajkovic is absolutely furious over a non-call, and he faces a technical foul. https://t.co/o09eWDLgIw pic.twitter.com/C2u7ITlBD2

– Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) 26 February 2026

Rajakovic, 47, was absolutely furious at the referee, but he was probably also lighting a fire under his players.

It seemed to work, as the Raptors took a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.

Rajakovic has quickly won over fans with his intense approach on the court. But besides that, he can be quite goofy, as proven by his habit of running into the locker room screaming.

Rajakovic’s energetic aura has been praised by his players, including Ingram.

“He brings energy every day. He’s the leader of our team. He makes sure we bring it in practice, in games, in shootouts. He makes sure we have it every time we step on the basketball floor,” Ingram said in a report by John Chidley-Hill of The Canadian Press in November.

The Raptors are looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.