TORONTO — He Played Just Nine Minutes, But Quincy Acy Had Two Telling Interactions In That Time.

The First Came Shortly After He Entered The Game. A Lazy Pass On The Perimeter Led To A Turnover — One Of The Raptors’ 19 — And A Milwaukee Basket. At The Next Stoppage In Play, Coach Dwane Casey Called The Raptors Rookie Power Forward Over To Him.

“He Made The Old Auto Pass: Caught It And Just Turn And Threw It,” Casey Said. “You Can’t Do That.”

“He Just Told Me To Ball Fake,” Acy Said. “Just Slow Down, Basically. I Was Pumped Up To Be Out There. He Told Me To Slow Down And Pump Fake. Don’t Be So Quick To Rotate It.”

By The End Of His Brief Stint In The Raptors’ 104-95 Victory, Acy Had Earned Praise, Making That Moment A Blip Rather Than His Evening’s Defining Moment. It Might Be A Minor Note, Acy’s Limited Time In The Second-to-last Pre-season Game. But This Was Acy’s First Significant Time On The Floor.

You Can Bet It Mattered To Him, Even If It Was Little More Than Incidental For The Raptors.

“I Was Pumped Up,” Acy Said. “I Already Play Fast And Hard. I Was Pretty Amped Up.”

“I Think He Was A Little Nervous At The Beginning,” Amir Johnson, Acy’s Frontcourt Mate, Said. “I Told Him At The Timeout, ‘Don’t Worry About The Turnover. Just Go Ahead And Play The Game Like We Practised.’ He Definitely Showed That.”

Acy Responded By Doing What He Is Known For: Getting On The Glass With Abandon. First, He Rebounded A Missed Jumper From Johnson, Gathered Himself, And Put In His First Two Points As A Professional.

Later On During His Run, He Knocked An Offensive Rebound Back Out To His Teammates. The Result Was Another Jumper From Johnson. This Time, It Fell.

“He Plays Hard, Man,” Johnson Said. “Every Time: He Goes For Every Rebound. He’s Kind Of Like A Reggie Evans. He’s More Athletic And Has A Softer Touch Around The Basket, Which Is Good.”

And After He Was Ready To Leave The Game, Starting Point Guard Kyle Lowry Was The First One To Meet Acy. He Had A High-five — Actually, It Was Given At Waste Level — For His Young Teammate.

“The Superstar, He Took The Time,” Acy Said. “I Do My Rookie Business. For Them To Still Come Up And Acknowledge Me, That Means A Ton.”

The Pre-season Can Often Seem Meaningless. For Acy, Nine Minutes Were The Height Of Professional Importance.

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