MINNEAPOLIS — In their 23-point win over the Toronto Raptors, the Minnesota Timberwolves held Scottie Barnes out of the scoring column, as he went 0-for-12 from the field and was a minus 27 overall.

“I mean, great, you know, obviously, great defense by all those guys that took the matchup,” said Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. “He's a heck of a player, you know, I think (Kuminga) started it.
Jaden (McDaniels) was on him a bit, Trey (Lyles) — I thought he did a really good job on him. You know, just kind of not letting him get to his spots.
And, you know, at that point in time, he's gotten so much size and skill that it's hard to stop him, but, you know, it was a heck of an effort by our guys.”

The Raptors star was effectively their number one scoring option this evening, as their newly re-acquired superstar Kawhi Leonard was out for the Timberwolves game due to right knee swelling.

It was effectively the worst game of Barnes’ career, as he tied the Raptors’ franchise record for field goals attempted without a make, per the RealApp.

SCOTTIE BARNES WENT OFF TONIGHT:

0 PTS
0/12 FGM
0/5 3PM

28 MINUTES OF PURE CARDIO 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4Z3Ud8xztT

— NBA Tour Dates (@NBATourDates) October 26, 2026

Overall, the Timberwolves defense was stellar, holding their opponent to under 100 points for the second time in three games — a rarity in today’s NBA.

“Yeah, I mean, for the most part, you know, our ball contain continues to be strong. You know, our fly-around is really good. You know, Rudy’s doing a good job down there. Kind of stuffing up with paint a little bit, and we've been able — I mean, they got up a lot of, you know, got up a good number of threes, but we did a good job of really getting out and contesting a lot of them, so.

The Timberwolves held the Raptors to just 38.5 percent shooting from the field, and 26.3 percent from beyond the three-point line. They also doubled Toronto’s total defensive rebounds (40 to 20).

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“I think our effort,” said four-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert. “Everyone is competing, we have each other's back, and still have a lot of work to do, a lot of room to grow. But with that mindset, we put ourselves in a position to win every night.”

Minnesota will head to Cleveland for the second of an early season back-to-back sporting an undefeated record through three games. They are in the midst of a five games-in-seven-days stretch. With a ballooning lead and early foul trouble, guard LaMelo Ball played just 17 minutes, finishing a game high plus 33 during his abbreviated action. “

We feel like we got a pretty deep squad that guys can help us,” said Finch, when asked about the upcoming schedule. “Certainly cognizant of the lead and the chance to get other guys in, and the foul trouble could help that too. But we'll take it tomorrow and then we'll see.”