‘Crazy, psychic, hold up, that might go in’: Oral history of Raptors’ RJ Barrett miracle shot

'This your city, bro, and you playing for more than just the Raptors, Toronto. You're playing for Canada.'

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Published May 02, 2026  •  6 minute read

RJ Barrett #9 and Garrett Temple #17 of the Toronto Raptors celebrate after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-110 in Game Six of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 01, 2026 in Toronto. Photo by Cole Burston /Getty Images

RJ Barrett was already the most accomplished Canadian to play for the Toronto Raptors. After an all-time Friday night in downtown Toronto, he’ll also go down as an all-time Raptors legend, thanks to a shot that will always be remembered.

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With the season on the line, in a series Toronto trailed 3-2 to Cleveland, the leading scorer in the series, Barrett, poured in 24 more points — none more important than the final three — to see the Raptors through to Game 7.

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It was obvious that with Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley out, someone else would have to step up and put some points on the board.

Garrett Temple, the 16-year-veteran who operates as a player/coach/mentor for the Raptors, likely had an inkling of who it would be.

“I mean, we talked before the series, and specifically before Game 3,” Temple told the Toronto Sun after Game 6. “(Barrett) was like, ‘Man, I gotta relax. Calm down. First playoff game at home. This is different,” Temple recalled.

And Game 6 was on another level from that one. The Raptors trailed by a point with 25.6 seconds remaining in overtime after a Donovan Mitchell layup and 1-of-2 work at the free throw line by Jamal Shead. Cleveland had the ball and a Toronto victory at that point seemed highly improbable. 

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But Collin Murray-Boyles and A.J. Lawson, Barrett’s childhood friend and teammate, forced an Evan Mobley turnover, giving the Raptors the ball back with 10.9 seconds on the clock.

Scottie Barnes, spectacular again, was not going to be allowed to beat Cleveland, who swarmed Toronto’s superstar as time wound down. Barnes drove into three Cavaliers in the paint, then made a low pass to Barrett up top beyond the three-point line.

“Really I was trying to score. They did a good job of stopping me. They brought help. Just trust my teammate,” Barnes said of making the pass. “He already told me coming out on the court, before we passed the ball, and he was like, ‘I got you, just trust me.’

The former Duke star, from Mississauga, caught it and rose up as last year’s NBA defensive player of the year Mobley, he of the 7-foot-4 inch wingspan, tried to close out on him. Given the presence of Mobley and the fact Barrett had missed all six attempts in the fourth quarter and overtime until that moment (after nailing 7-of-14 earlier), things didn’t look great for the Raptors.

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But with a quick release, Barrett got up a long three-pointer just before Mobley could get to the ball.

What happened next? A lot of people wanted to talk about it:

“Huge moment. Call me crazy, call me psychic, but I saw this one coming tonight,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic.

“Talking to assistant coaches before the game, and I was planning (after timeout) plays for end of the game to get RJ in those situations. And it’s surreal,” Rajakovic said.

The shot hit back rim and soared way up into the air, before dropping through the net.

“I know it was a half of a second (when the ball was bouncing), but it looked like an eternity over there to be honest with you,” Rajakovic said.

“And I was just like hoping for him, for this city, for everybody, for all the players that is gonna drop down. And thank God it did.”

Shead wasn’t convinced. Once upon a time Raptors legend Serge Ibaka had said he nearly tipped the ball Kawhi Leonard memorably shot at that same rim, thinking it wasn’t going to fall through. This time, Shead was considering his options.

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‘What the heck’

“Oh, I was right under the rim. It hit the back rim. I saw it go up, and it felt I was trying to fight for position,” Shead said. “But I saw it come straight down. I didn’t know what to think after it bounced up. I tried to, like, fight, to try to get a rebound, or something and the ball just dropped down. I was like: ‘What the heck.’

“It felt like the ball was in the air for like five, six seconds, it was kind of crazy,” Shead said.

“Trusted him, seeing that ball bounce up, seeing it bounce up like two times, and please. Went in there and made the shot, then had to make a stop on the other end,” Barnes said. “The way that shot went in, and when we needed it most, he showed up. That’s big time. Yeah, it’s hard to even wrap your head around it.”

How did Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson view it? “Sometimes the basketball gods aren’t with you,” Atkinson said.

“Damn,” Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell said when asked by reporters what he was thinking.

What about the man himself?

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‘I knew it was good’

“I knew it was good because it went straight up. Like, if it goes straight up, you’ve got a chance like that (Tyrese) Haliburton shot (to beat the New York Knicks, Barrett’s former team) last year,” Barrett said. (Haliburton tweeted afterward: “That looked familiar.”) LeBron James thanked Barrett — and the rim — for giving him some extra days off before starting his next series instead of having to play on Sunday.

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“Still dream about it (Barrett said of growing up in the Greater Toronto Area thinking at night about what might be possible). I just want to say one, Scottie for making the pass, you know? I mean, I said it before, we talked about it right before the play happened, but him having that trust in me to make that pass at that moment was huge. And then glory be to God, I make nothing the whole fourth quarter, whole of overtime, so for that shot to drop … Yeah,” Barrett said, trailing off.

Temple was almost at a loss for words too. “It’s elite. And then he came out and did, did what he’s done since we’ve been (here) and then, you know, after making that shot, I can imagine how he feels,” Temple told the Sun.

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“I’m getting chills talking about it. So, you know, that’s what I keep reminding him: ‘This your city, bro, and you playing for more than just the Raptors. Toronto. You’re playing for Canada,” Temple said.

“Not everyone can withstand that. But he’s one that can and I’m glad it’s him that’s able to withstand it.”

Emerging Raptors wing Ja’Kobe Walter said he had a “front row seat to it. I was right there on the block,” Walter said. “As soon as I saw the shot go up and I saw it go in the air, it didn’t waver, it kind of just stayed over the basket. I was like, ‘Hold up, that might go in.’ Y’all seen it.”

Barrett said he tells his younger teammates all the time to believe in their grind, even if shots aren’t falling. He had to heed his own advice after a rough final stretch, with the Raptors struggling to generate offence, allowing the Cavaliers to nearly steal the game.

“Trust your work. We work on these shots every single day. I’m shooting shots that I work on every day, I’ve worked on it this morning, so at the end of the day, I think the biggest part of it is, being a competitor. But also, I really don’t care if I missed a shot. I’m willing to live and die on me taking that shot. I think when you have that confidence, you know, good things will happen,” Barrett said.

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“Just happy to be able to be in this moment, playing for my hometown team, like, that’s amazing. I’m so proud of this group so far, and I think it’s gonna be even sweeter when we go get Game 7,” Barrett said.

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Barrett was still a Raptors fan when he was going through the pre-draft process back in 2019. He remembers exactly where he was when Leonard’s four-bouncer became legend, on the same rim no less.

“I was in California getting ready for the draft,” Barrett said. “My friends and I were on the couch watching. So I definitely remember that shot. It was crazy. And just to be able to now kind of have a shot like that in history. It definitely feels pretty good.”

Read More

1. 

   Raptors force Game 7 with RJ Barrett's Kawhi-like miracle three, Barnes brilliance

2. 

   No matter how it ends, this Raptors season was a success

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