The Toronto Raptors couldn’t handle the banged-up Phoenix Suns on Sunday, partly because Brandon Ingram had one of those brutal outings.
Ingram is averaging 21.6 points on a 47.2% shooting in the 2025-26 NBA season, but he coughed up just 6 points on a 3/10 shooting in 27 minutes in Toronto’s 120-98 loss to the Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
The former Duke Blue Devils star also turned the ball over five times and finished with a horrid minus-29 plus/minus.
Rather than singling out Ingram for his ugly performance, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic assigned blame to the entire team.
“It’s a team effort, or lack of effort, but Brandon just did not look like himself,” Rajakovic said when asked about Ingram’s struggles against the Suns, who did not have Royce O’Neale, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams due to injuries.
“It’s a whole team. It cannot be just like one player. We win as a team, we lose as a team. We never want to point out a player. So I thought that our whole team tonight did not have enough urgency for the game and enough respect for our opponent tonight.”
Darko on Brandon Ingram’s struggles/team’s effort tonight:
— Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) March 23, 2026
“It’s a whole team. It cannot be just one player. We win as a team, we lose as a team. We never want to point out a player.”
“I thought that our whole team did have enough urgency for the game, and enough respect for… pic.twitter.com/REc0cr83LE
There were many issues that weighed down the Raptors. They committed 20 turnovers and were soundly beaten in the possession battle, with Phoenix taking 14 more shots from the field than Toronto.
Ingram wasn’t the only one at fault for the Raptors’ loss, but as a team cornerstone, he’ll always be in the spotlight after every stinker he puts up.
