Watch: Raptors star has a big first half against old team

Barrett put up 17 points in the first half as the 7-17 Toronto Raptors took a 61-60 lead on the Knicks. The game was starting to look like a potential blowout late in the second quarter, but Toronto stormed back into the game with a 13-0 run, capped off by a Barrett layup.

The Knicks sent Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors for OG Anunoby, and so far it has worked out well for both teams. Anunoby is becoming a cult hero in New York, while Barrett gets to play in his hometown with a team full of developing young talents.

One of those talents is Ochai Agbaji, who scored or assisted on the first 11 points of that run. The former lottery pick is having his best season with 11.4 points per game, while shooting 52.7% from the floor.

Another is this year’s No. 19 pick Ja’Kobe Walter, who had 14 points in the first half on just eight shots.

The expectations are low for the Raptors this season, after they dealt Anunoby and Pascal Siakam last season. But after a miserable, injury-ridden start to the season where they opened 2-12, Toronto has gone 5-5 in their last 10 games.

The team should get even better when Quickley, who has only played three games, returns in the next few weeks. Until then, Barrett is showing he can be a second option to Scottie Barnes, and make his old team feel some regrets about losing him.