{"id":635448,"date":"2026-04-29T02:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T02:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/635448\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T02:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T02:38:13","slug":"toronto-raptors-rj-barrett-proving-to-be-playoff-tough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/635448\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors\u2019 RJ Barrett proving to be playoff tough"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2013 After the Raptors\u2019 gritty Game 4 win over Cleveland, RJ Barrett<\/a> was reflecting on his head-to-head battle with Cavaliers all-star guard Donovan Mitchell<\/a> and recalled an old interview with P.J. Tucker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two-time former Raptor and 14-year NBA veteran was a guest on JJ Redick<\/a>\u2019s podcast, The Old Man and The Three, back in 2021. Tucker was asked about guarding Kevin Durant<\/a> during the iconic second-round series between the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> and Brooklyn Nets<\/a> from a few months prior.<\/p>\n

Tucker\u2019s Bucks went on to win the championship that season, but they needed seven games \u2013 and an overtime period in Game 7 \u2013 to get past Brooklyn as Durant averaged 35.4 points in that series. Each game, KD would fill up the stat sheet, as great players do. One of the toughest perimeter defenders in recent memory, Tucker would come back the next game, challenge the future Hall of Famer to the best of his ability, and as he told Redick, dare him to do it again.<\/p>\n

Barrett has been trying to adopt the same mentality in his matchup with Mitchell, the NBA\u2019s seventh-leading scorer over the course of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Donovan has had success on me in this series,\u201d Barrett said of Mitchell, who totalled 62 points on 43 shots in the first two games, both Cavs wins. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m going to be there, I\u2019m going to fight to the best of my abilities, my teammates are going to have my back, and I\u2019m just going to [continue] to guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Raptors swingman isn\u2019t exactly known for his defence, and it\u2019s probably not the first thing that jumps out about his fantastic playoff debut for his hometown team. <\/p>\n

Through four games, Barrett is Toronto\u2019s second-leading scorer, barely trailing Scottie Barnes<\/a>. He\u2019s averaging 24.3 points and shooting 55 per cent from the field (48 per cent from three-point range), while playing more minutes than everyone but Barnes. <\/p>\n

Going into Tuesday\u2019s slate of games, he was leading the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring. His offence has been essential, especially with Brandon Ingram<\/a> \u2013 the team\u2019s leading scorer during the regular season \u2013 struggling.<\/p>\n

But, as former Raptors coach Dwane Casey used to say, he is also telling on himself with the way he\u2019s defending in this series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a narrative that he couldn\u2019t guard, but I think it\u2019s just because he didn\u2019t want to for a while,\u201d said Jamal Shead<\/a>, jokingly, with Barrett listening in on his Tuesday afternoon post-practice press conference.<\/p>\n

Since returning home for Games 3 and 4, the Raptors\u2019 defensive resurgence has allowed them to claw their way back into and even up the series at two wins apiece. Making life more difficult on the Cavs backcourt duo of Mitchell and Harden \u2013 who got whatever they wanted in Cleveland \u2013 has been a crucial part of that turnaround. <\/p>\n

Mitchell combined for 35 points and shot 33 per cent in the two Toronto wins, while Harden totalled 37 points on 41 per cent shooting after dropping 50 on 53 per cent in Cleveland. Together, they committed 22 of their team\u2019s 40 turnovers.<\/p>\n

Barnes has served as the primary defender on Harden and is rightly getting the bulk of the credit for Toronto\u2019s inspired defensive performance on Sunday, a 93-89 win in which the Raptors shot just 32 per cent from the field. Shead and Ja\u2019Kobe Walter have also done their part to limit Cleveland\u2019s guards. But don\u2019t overlook Barrett\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

According to NBA.com matchup data, Barrett has guarded Harden on 57.2 partial defensive possessions. In that time, the future Hall of Famer posted just eight points on 2-of-15 shooting, while missing all 10 of his three-point attempts and committing four turnovers, with only three assists. To Barrett\u2019s point, Mitchell has had more success against him, scoring 27 points on 40.7 partial possessions, but the Mississauga, Ont., native has made him work \u2013 he needed 24 shots to score those 27 points.<\/p>\n

With Barnes seeing more time on Harden as the series has gone on, Barrett has been asked to wrestle with Cleveland\u2019s bigs, Evan Mobley<\/a> (who has five inches on him) and Jarrett Allen<\/a> (who has 30 pounds on him), in the post. He\u2019s more than held his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cResults show,\u201d Barnes said of Barrett. \u201cI think he\u2019s been doing a great job of being able to guard the ball, being able to be in the paint, guarding the bigs, switching roles throughout the game. He\u2019s been big-time for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the great things about the playoffs is that it tends to expose players, for better or for worse. We find out what guys are really made of \u2013 who is tough enough, who is physical enough, who can block out the noise, handle the pressure, and rise the occasion, and who cannot. <\/p>\n

Consider Barrett\u2019s background. The son of a former professional basketball player and Canadian Olympian, Rowan Barrett, he was born and raised to play the sport at the highest level. He spent his lone collegiate season playing at Duke and the first five years of his NBA career under the New York City spotlight. He\u2019s not easily fazed.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being a dog,\u201d Barrett said of his postseason mentality. \u201cYou gotta win the game. You\u2019ve gotta do whatever it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s calm, he\u2019s never scared,\u201d said Shead. \u201cThere\u2019s not a shot that he takes in those fourth quarters that we\u2019re like, oh, that\u2019s not RJ\u2019s shot. We\u2019re cool with it. He\u2019s been big-time for us all year and he\u2019s showing it in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t be coming at a better time for the young vet, who is extension eligible again during the off-season, and if he doesn\u2019t get a new contract this summer, will be going into the final year of a deal that pays him nearly $30 million in 2026-27. He\u2019ll be looking for a raise, and given how much money Toronto already has invested in Barnes, Ingram, Immanuel Quickley<\/a>, and Jakob Poeltl<\/a>, it would be challenging to pay Barrett while also tiptoeing around the league\u2019s luxury tax line.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the biggest reason why his name has continuously come up in trade speculation and could resurface again this summer. But, at 25, Barrett is showing that he can reach another level and bring something new, something the Raptors might determine they can\u2019t do without.<\/p>\n

What have we learned about RJ Barrett<\/a>? He is certified playoff tough.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time that there is a playoff series, any time there are hard times, I think you see what a player is made of,\u201d head coach Darko Rajakovic said. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly finding out there is more\u2026 Whatever was your best the day before, once you reach that, you\u2019re searching for new highs. That\u2019s what this playoff series is showing us. There is more RJ can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gonna try to do whatever it takes to help the team win. In this playoff series, besides his scoring, it\u2019s his ability to guard his matchup. He\u2019s stepping up to that and doing a really good job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2013 After the Raptors\u2019 gritty Game 4 win over Cleveland, RJ Barrett was reflecting on his head-to-head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[712,49,48,459,131767,82,96661],"class_list":["post-635448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-rj-barrett-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-1132031","tag-sports","tag-toronto-raptors-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-28"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}