RJ Barrett Gives Advice to Teammates Who Are New to NBA Playoffs

The Toronto Raptors have clinched the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and are on their way to the 2026 NBA Playoffs. With a relatively inexperienced roster, they have their work cut out for them in the first round, facing the Cleveland Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden combine for 18 all-star appearances and 236 playoff games, far surpassing that of the entire Raptors rotation, totaling four all-star appearances and 65 playoff games. 

RJ Barrett, the leader in playoff minutes for the Raptors, has been playing his best basketball to end the regular season. After suffering separate knee and ankle injuries that allowed him to play just six games in two months, it took him about a month to return to form, but the Raptors greatly thrived when he did. Since the All-Star Break in mid-February, the former No. 3  pick in the 2019 NBA Draft averaged 20.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 50.3% shooting (via StatMuse). 

Ahead of Game 1 on Saturday at 1:00 PM EST, the former Duke Blue Devil was asked how he can assist his inexperienced teammates in their first taste of postseason basketball. 

“Stay even-keeled,” said Barrett. “[When] teams go on a run, stick to your principles. Do what you need to do. Long game. Every game is different. What happens in Game 1 is going to be different than what happens in Game 2. [Whether] you win or lose the first game, you gotta come back the next game ready to go again. It’s a long series.”

There really is no pressure like playoff basketball, and as Barrett went on to describe, nothing can quite prepare players for it. The atmosphere, the physicality, the pressure, the regular season simply doesn’t amount to any of it. It may take players multiple games to finally get comfortable playing in such a different setting, especially against such fierce and experienced competitors as Mitchell and Harden. 

If there is anything that the Raptors can hang their hat on going into the postseason, it’s their assertive defense. They have already established themselves as one of the most aggressive defenses in the NBA, and the postseason will only allow them to turn it up another notch, making even the best players uncomfortable. 

On the other side of the basketball, Toronto will need Barrett’s recent contributions. Against the top opponents, the Raptors struggled to score in the fourth quarter, largely due to the stagnation around watching two-time Brandon Ingram run isolation through the mid-range and mid-post. Barrett gives them another option for shot-creation, outside of the rim-runners in Barnes and Poeltl/Murray-Boyles. Ja’Kobe Walter presents a consistent threat late in games with his incredible display of three-point shooting late in the season. The Raptors need to hope that the culmination of these strong suits will allow them to achieve their first series win since the Bubble in 2020.