Toronto Raptors guard RJ Barrett, left, guard Jamal Shead, center, and guard Ja'Kobe Walter

Yesterday at 01:20 AM

ORLANDO — A two-point game, on the road and Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic summoned RJ Barrett, his last remaining starter, back to the bench.

The transformation was complete. On the bench were all of the Raptors’ veteran core. On the floor? A group that in normal circumstances would never be finishing a close NBA game on the road.

“All I could do was laugh,” said Barrett, who leads the Raptors in scoring this season and had played a superb game overall against the Orlando Magic, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and — as Rajakovic made a point of mentioning — 10 defensive deflections, a team-tracked stat that speaks to the level of defence he was bringing, matching up with Orlando stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

Barrett wasn't laughing at anyone, or anything in particular. It was more like, ‘This situation is… different.’

We should get used to it.

The key points here: The Raptors won a basketball game that, if they weren't exactly trying to lose, they were at least comfortable with not winning as they try to ‘manage’ their draft position down the stretch of the season.

And as these things go, when best-laid plans get blown up by talented athletes just looking for a chance to shine, the Raptors’ very hard-fought 114-113 win over the Magic was about as about as enjoyable as a late-season NBA game between one team hoping to win the draft lottery and another trying to make some noise in the play-in tournament could possibly be.

Take it from Ja’Kobe Walter, the 20-year-old rookie who got his 10th career start and delivered his first career game-winner as he hit an insanely difficult, highly contested triple from the top of the circle with 0.5 seconds left to send the Raptors bench into hysterics and deliver Toronto's second straight nail-biting win over the Magic at the Kia Centre.

"He was living up to his name today, ‘Ja-KOBE,’” said Jamal Shead, Walter's fellow rookie and locker-room neighbour.

With Gradey Dick (bone bruise) and Ochai Agbaji (ankle) out, Walter could be in the starting lineup for a while.

But the six-foot-five guard could start a 1,000 NBA games and not have a moment quite like this one as he came off a double-screen to get the ball on the inbounds play, reversed course and somehow got the shot up with six-foot-10 Tristan da Silva draped all over him.

"That was probably, really, the first game-winner of my life," said Walter, who finished with 17 points and was two-of-four from three in his 28 minutes. "So I'm definitely going to remember that one.”

He was prepared. The Raptors were down two with 4.8 seconds left and in a timeout, and while Walter was listening, he was in his own little world too. "Going into the timeout, I was already just picturing in my mind hitting my first game-winner. Coach drew up the play for me, but no matter what I was going to try to get open. I knew we were only down two, but I was going to go for the win. I shot it, I was trying to get a foul as well, but I still put it in the basket. Cash."

The win improved the Raptors’ record to 20-42 and while they still hold on to the fifth-best lottery odds they are only two wins away from falling to seventh. With more efforts like they showed over two games in Orlando, ‘falling up’ the standings will be unavoidable.

Still, the unlikelihood of Walter hitting a game-winner in that moment is hard to properly calculate.

When Barrett was subbed out with 97 seconds left the Raptors’ closing line up was as follows:

Walter, a rookie taken 19th overall last June; Shead, a rookie taken 45th overall in the same draft; Orlando Robinson, a journeyman centre the Raptors first signed on a 10-day contract and only converted to a standard NBA deal earlier in the day; Jared Rhoden, who was just recently signed to a two-way deal, was playing in his 37th career game and who had played one minute for the Raptors so far this season; and A.J. Lawson, the Brampton forward, and another two-way signee who had played 17 minutes for the Raptors before he played 40 in these two games against the Magic.

That group was matching up with a Magic lineup that represented nearly $400 million in future salary obligations, and likely about $250 million more if you factor in the maximum contract extension that Banchero will likely sign this summer.

It didn’t matter. Initially — before Barrett was subbed out — he helped drive the makeshift Raptors lineup, punching the paint repeatedly, getting fouled, and doing the best he could to keep the Raptors — who were leading by 11 with 8:07 to play — afloat.

Never more than when he blocked Wagner at one end — Barrett and the Magic star were going at each other's throats all night, including one exchange where Wagner picked up a flagrant foul for clobbering Barrett on the head on one drive — and pitched the ball ahead to Walter for a fast break dunk.

Barrett's goal when playing with the young group?

"Just keep a level head, instill confidence in them," he said. "Talk to the guys, because we knew we could do it, as long as we guard, we have a chance."

And then after doing everything he could to help keep the Raptors’ chances alive, Barrett's night was done too as the Raptors opted for a rotation that would have been expected in a garbage time of a 30-point game, not in the final minutes of a one possession game on the road.

It wasn't exactly waving the white towel, it was more the Raptors throwing fate to the wind.

Barrett had plenty of company on the bench. Already there was Scottie Barnes, the Raptors’ franchise player, who was neither hurt nor in foul trouble, but who spent the last 7:49 of the game on the bench after putting up 17 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing five assists and making three steals in 29 minutes. Also not seeing the floor down the stretch was starting point guard Immanuel Quickley, who sat for the final 9:43 of the fourth, and finished with 15 points and four assists in 26 minutes.

Starting centre Jakob Poeltl? He sat for the final eight minutes and seven seconds, and while he's on a minutes restriction, his 24 minutes were two minutes less than he played in the win over Orlando on Sunday night. Poeltl still managed 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals and was a game-high plus-14.

Moving over and making room for them on the Raptors bench was Chris Boucher, the eight-year veteran who has been Toronto's best reserve all season but hasn't even seen the floor for three straight games now.

In fairness, Rajakovic had telegraphed his intentions before the game when he was asked about how he was going to distribute his minutes between his veterans and the development pieces on his roster.

"It gives us an opportunity to take a look at different guys, different lineups giving more opportunities for players who aren't usually getting as many minutes,” the coach said. “That's a true investment in the development of these guys.”

They got some development. Not only did Walter hit his first career game-winner, but Lawson had the NBA game of his life as he finished with 13 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Prior to Walter's heroics, it was Lawson's three-pointer with 44 seconds on the clock out of timeout to put the Raptors up three that was the shocker.

It was the second of four triples in the final 97 seconds by each team — two by Banchero for the Magic — in a wild finish that featured two ties and three lead changes in the final minutes.

And Lawson was as surprised as anyone else to have his number called. "It was like the elevator play. I had to go around the screen, go through the elevator doors (two teammates coming together on a screen) and if I was open, shoot it. And I thought was open, so. That's first elevator play I got called for me this year, even with Raptors 905. I'm happy they trusted me."

Everyone was happy. Barrett was happy for Lawson, who he grew up playing with and against for years. The whole bench mobbed Walter, and Barnes doused him with water while he was doing his post-game interview on the floor.

Even Raptors general manager Bobby Webster — whose job is to look ahead to the draft and building a team for the future — could only smile, as if to say "what can you do?"

In a season that has been trying at times and that even now is in a strange limbo, where a group of motivated and committed players want to be unleashed and play to their potential even as those tasked with thinking bigger picture are prioritizing the future, it was a win they fought for and deserved in the present.

The how, the why, the what's next? The Raptors have 20 games left and the schedule only gets drastically easier from here on in. Count on more head shaking moments.

Sometimes you just have to laugh.