He hasn't quite looked the same since going down with knee and ankle injuries, and he gave insight as to why that may be.
RJ Barrett and the Toronto Raptors were unable to achieve a three-game win streak Tuesday night after falling 116-107 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The reigning champions were without the reigning MVP, Finals MVP, and Scoring Champion, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but Cason Wallace stepped into the primary ballhandling role with ease. He supplied 27 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists on 11-for-16 shooting with four threes made.
Toronto came out firing in the first quarter, led by Barrett’s 11 points in under seven minutes. This bounce-back was needed for the former No. 3 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft after just a seven-point outing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday. He finished the game as the Raptors’ leading scorer, adding 21 points, eight rebounds, and four assists on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc. This tied his most points since coming back from injury on Jan. 23rd and was just his third time scoring 20 or more points since then.
Toronto Raptors guard/forward RJ Barrett (9) | © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
After starting off the season by producing greatly for the Raptors, the former Duke Blue Devil has struggled to find his rhythm again since the two injuries that kept him out for extensive time. In his first 16 games before going down with a knee injury, he averaged 19.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 50.7% shooting (via StatMuse). Before last night’s game, Barrett had averaged 14.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 39.8% shooting and 27.5% from three in the 10 games since returning from the ankle injury (via StatMuse).
Barrett is well aware of his recent struggles, and he commented on his return from injury when speaking with TSN Sports’ Josh Lewenberg before the game.
“He said these last few months have been annoying and weird because he’s not somebody who’s used to missing games due to injury,” said Lewenberg. “He did admit that this process of working his way back has been difficult, and that he’s not 100% yet. He admitted that the knee is more of an issue than the ankle has been, but it’s mostly mental that when you miss a lot of time and dealt with so much pain, that it’s in your head every time you planning to even make a cut or taking contact around the rim … He feels like he’s making progress, and he just has to continue to power through and try to find other ways to help the team.”
The 6-foot-6, 214-pound forward has been through the wringer this season, when accounting for both injuries and the trade deadline. After being the most talked about Raptor to be on the move leading up to the Feb. 5th deadline, he has been under constant pressure to perform well enough to help his team make the playoffs for the first time in four years. Since he wasn't moved at the deadline, he also has increased pressure to prove that he is worth the contract he is being paid; otherwise, this season could be his last in Toronto.
This type of performance against the best defense in the NBA should be a great confidence booster for both him and head coach Darko Rajakovic as they maneuver through their toughest stretch of the season. The Raptors' record against top-10 teams in the league now drops to just 1-14, outside of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they’ll see four more over the next six games. That starts with tonight’s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, who are currently on an NBA-best nine-game win streak, on the second night of a back-to-back.