Dennis Schroder signing pays dividends in Raptors' season-opening win over Timberwolves

TORONTO — Free-agent signing Dennis Schroder has already made his mark in Toronto, helping propel the Raptors to a 97-94 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in their season opener at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

It was only fitting that it also clinched a win that now marks Darko Rajakovic’s first as an NBA head coach. The point guard finished with team-highs of 22 points (4-8 three-point shooting) and seven assists, with a game-high plus-10 rating. Five of those points and three assists came in the fourth quarter, as his speed and court-awareness proved pivotal.

“Coach came in screaming,” said Schroder post-game on their celebration. “We got all the ice ready for him and put it over him. I think it's a special moment for him and a great experience for all of us in the locker room. ... He's always emotional."

Ahead of the season, Schroder credited Rajakovic as the reason why he wanted to play for the Raptors, after the time they spent together on the Oklahoma City Thunder between 2018-20. It was where Rajakovic as an assistant coach would tell him he should “have your own team” as a point guard, according to Schroder.

“I just tried to play as great as I can for [Rajakovic], for the organization, for my teammates, just to prove everybody wrong,” said Schroder, who signed a two-year, $26 million deal this past offseason with Toronto, marking his fifth team in five seasons.

His 20 points is the most in a Raptors debut since Kawhi Leonard’s 24 in 2018. For Schroder, he just wants to “get that winning culture back on our side,” something he knows quite a bit about after leading Germany to gold at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup as their MVP over the summer.

Following the win on Wednesday night, Rajakovic called out Schroder's ability to help the Raptors navigate a “new team, new terminology, new coaching staff,” as they showed common signs of early-season basketball. It marked somewhat of a new era, as the team was without head coach Nick Nurse and point guard Fred VanVleet, who both parted ways with the Raptors in the offseason.

“There were a couple of situations where we’d call a certain play, and players didn't quickly pick it up,” said Rajakovic.

“There's so much new with our team and having somebody (Schroder) who's been through it with different teams in the role of point guard, it brings calmness to the team. A couple of times he was able to talk to guys, put them in the right spots to help our offence.”

The Raptors finished the game shooting 40% from the field, compared to the Timberwolves’ 34%, while both racked up 14 turnovers. At times, the season opener emulated a preseason game, with careless decisions.

Rajakovic thought the Raptors “needed to play faster,” saying there were moments when they were “watching each other” instead of cutting, driving and collapsing the defence to find open looks, which also stagnated their offence.

“I thought that tonight, we could do a better job, with a couple situations of not turning the ball over," said Rajakovic.

"I talked to Scotty [Barnes] at halftime that we need him to push but also to be under control. We got to continue trusting the pass. … It’s the one (thing) when things are not going our way; how are we going to stick together and stay together. We did it enough tonight. And definitely we have a lot of room for improvement.”

For the Raptors, it was their defence and, as a result of it, transition offence that pushed them past the Timberwolves. Toronto scored 34 points in transition compared to the Timberwolves’ 12. It helped produce open looks, especially from three-point range, where the Raptors shot 40% on 35 attempts on their way to also tallying 27 assists on the night.

“I hope that every night we’re going have an elite defence," said Rajakovic. "I think that we have elite defenders and then when we bring that kind of energy and juice, we're really good defensively. And for us, that creates opportunities in transition.”

Defensively, the team was able to contain Anthony Edwards. The All-Star guard started the matchup hot, outscoring the Raptors himself 10-8 in the first five minutes of the game. That included a three-ball which made him the youngest player in NBA history to notch 600 triples.

However, after starting the first quarter with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting, the Raptors were able to limit the explosive shooting guard, who finished the game with 26 points on 8-of-27 shooting (29%).

“I was a little too loose with him,” said O.G. Anunoby, who finished with 20 points, while taking on the bulk of the responsibility of guarding Edwards.

"He's a great player, I was giving too much space. (Later, I was) just trying to make him more uncomfortable ... just trying to make it difficult for him, to just be physical with him and force him into difficult shots."

The team’s efforts on defence helped weather the size of the Timberwolves’ twin towers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, both perennial All-Stars.

Of the Raptors starters, only Jakob Poeltl didn’t play over 25 minutes. Instead, the Raptors’ speed, length and athleticism from their core wings and forwards was able to get the job done, such as Barnes who guarded Towns to go along with providing help-side defence on his way to notching a game-high five blocks. Towns on the other hand finished with 19 points on 8-of-25 shooting.

Rajakovic and Schroder also called out Precious Achiuwa, who was able to give the team “life” in both his stretches in the first and second half. That included a couple nasty slams on his way to eight points and nine boards while coming off the bench.

"I have so much belief, trust in this roster and guys coming off the bench, that we'll need them every single night," said Rajakovic. "I always tell guys every possession matters and when you're on the court, you need to value that, make the most of that. Our guys did a good job tonight, and this is just the first step for us to continue to grow."

Up next, the Raptors will hit the road on Friday, Oct. 27 to take on the Chicago Bulls, the same team that ended Toronto’s season in the 2023 play-in.