By The Canadian Press

Raptors bench players learning on the job as mid-season injuries take toll

Dec 30, 2025 | 4:06 AM

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors are a little banged up as the midway point of the NBA season approaches, with regular starters RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl missing long stretches.

Fortunately, Toronto’s bench is learning to step up.

Backup point guard Jamal Shead scored a career-high 19 points and added five assists and four rebounds as the Raptors rallied past Orlando 107-106 on Monday and Toronto stayed ahead of the Magic in the Eastern Conference standings. Shead was on the court for all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter to help the Raptors close the game out.

“The bench unit is coming along, and I think we’re just growing as the season grows,” said Shead. “We’re not trying to stay too high, trying to stay too low, just trying to grow and learn from our mistakes.”

Toronto’s starting five, especially Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, looked sluggish in the second game of a back-to-back. The Raptors also rallied to victory Sunday, when they pushed the Golden State Warriors to overtime and won 141-127.

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Barnes and Quickley combined for two points in Monday’s first half against the Magic. Quickley only played 2:43 in the fourth quarter as Shead took over most of the playmaking duties for Toronto.

Barnes recovered a bit in the second half to finish with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors (20-14) and Brandon Ingram added 17 points and nine rebounds. Gradey Dick, who has struggled most of this season, came off the bench with 15 points.

“We’ve been in a lot of the same positions this year where we’ve given up in those situations and kind of let the game get away from us,” said Shead on Toronto’s toughness in the fourth quarter. “We’re learning and we’re growing as a team.

“And then you have Scottie. Scottie just gets to another gear, him and B.I. in that fourth quarter, so just following them in their lead, we were able to push back.”

Barrett had the night off for injury management as he works himself back into shape after missing five weeks of the season due to a sprained right knee.

The Raptors announced earlier Monday that Poeltl would be out for at least a week as he tries to address ongoing issues with lower back pain.

Rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, who missed Sunday’s game due to an undisclosed illness, was instrumental in keeping Toronto in the game against Orlando. He only had four points but pulled down 12 rebounds — seven off the offensive glass — in 25 minutes off the bench.

“It wasn’t easy, especially not really having much prep (for the game) because I’ve been quarantining from the team,” said Murray-Boyles, his hand wrapped in an ice pack after a hard fall after going for a rebound. “It’s been a struggle, but I found the energy later in the second quarter, and I just got my wind back going in for the rest of the game.

“I feel like just had to figure out how to bring something to the team, if I was just my rebounding, something like that, just to make sure we could come get this win.”

Head coach Darko Rajakovic credited his second unit with the win, singling out Shead, Dick, Murray-Boyles and Ja’Kobe Walter for their effort.

“It was great to see their energy, force, how they played, how they competed,” said Rajakovic. “We were down 20 and it was about, really, character.

“Are we going to try to come back after losing by 20? But also more importantly, we were shooting like 20 per cent at the start of the game. We kept believing and kept competing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2025.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press