RJ Barrett reaching new level at crucial time for Toronto Raptors

Canadian star making contributions on both offence and defence as Toronto heads to Cleveland with series tied 2-2

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Published Apr 28, 2026  •  4 minute read

Toronto Raptors' RJ Barrett shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers' Evan Mobley defends during the first half of an NBA playoff game in Toronto on April 23, 2026. Photo by Nathan Denette /The Canadian Press

One of the main reasons the Toronto Raptors can take a series lead by beating the Cavaliers in Game 5 in Cleveland on Wednesday is the play of RJ Barrett.

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Scottie Barnes and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles have been given their due for shifting the series after Cleveland won the first two at home, but Barrett has also been a driving success — at both ends of the floor.

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Everyone knows Barrett can score. That’s how he became a five-star recruit for Duke and the third pick of the 2019 NBA draft. He scored for the New York Knicks and he led the Raptors in scoring for 1 1/2 seasons after being dealt home. Barrett’s had to take a step back on offence this season with fellow Duke alum Brandon Ingram coming on board, but still managed to average 19.3 points, shoot 49% from the field and raise his free-throw accuracy by nearly 10% from the prior year. Barrett got more efficient with less usage, gave a better effort defensively and had his second highest season for win shares.

But in the playoffs, the Mississauga native has gone to another level. Over the first four games, Barrett’s scored 24.3 points (tied with Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell for 13th in the playoffs) on 55% shooting from the field, including 47.6% on three-pointers.

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“Any time that there is a playoff series, any time there are hard times, I think you see what a player is made of, what a team is made of,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said Tuesday before heading to Cleveland.

“We’re always constantly finding out there is more … With RJ specifically, it’s really showing how much he cares, how much he’s trying to help the team win.”

Toronto Raptors’ RJ Barrett (9) celebrates a basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers with Jamison Battle (77) during second half NBA playoff basketball action in Toronto on Thursday, April 23, 2026. Photo by Nathan Denette /The Canadian Press

FOURTH QUARTER TAKEOVER

While Barrett’s overall numbers are strong, he’s levelled up during the most important parts of games so far. His 38 fourth quarter points on 15-for-20 shooting led all players before Tuesday’s games.

The media asked Jamal Shead after practice on Tuesday why that was happening.

“Because he’s calm. He’s never scared and he gets to what he knows,” Shead said.

“I think there’s not a shot that he takes in those fourth quarters that we’re like, ‘Oh, that’s not an RJ shot.’ We’re cool with it. And he’s been doing it all year.”

That’s true. Barrett led Toronto in fourth quarter scoring in the regular season with Ingram struggling in those periods and Barnes focusing more on defence. (Immanuel Quickley thrived in fourth quarters, but Barrett needs to help replace the injured point guard’s offence now.)

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Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots over RJ Barrett of the Toronto Raptors during Game 2 of their NBA playoff series Monday night. Photo by Jason Miller /Getty Images

DEFENCE DOESN’T REST

Barrett has never been known to be a strong defender, but he’s done the job so far in this series. Barrett has held former MVP James Harden to 2-for-15 shooting, three assists and four turnovers when directly matched up with him.

While Mitchell has fared better against him, he hasn’t been spectacular. Barrett said after Game 4 that he’s relishing the challenge of trying to contain Mitchell, but recognizes he could go off for 50 points because he’s that good. The trick is not letting a big Mitchell game get to you and to continue to guard him hard.

“Results show,” Rajakovic said. “I think he’s 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’s been big time for us.

“He’s gonna try to do whatever it takes to help the team win. In this playoff series, behind his scoring, it’s his ability to guard his matchup. He’s stepping up to that and doing a really good job.”

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Shead agreed, but drew laughs when alluding that Barrett always had this in him.

“RJ Barrett has shown a lot of people — not just the series, but this whole year — that he can guard if there’s a narrative that he couldn’t guard. I think it was just because he didn’t want to for a while,” said a smiling Shead.

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STATS PACK

Toronto will try to win a post-season game in Cleveland for the first time after losing nine straight dating to 2016. Only one of those games has been close (a two-point Cavaliers win in Game 3 in 2018, the only time Toronto has been the higher seed. Cleveland has won by an average of 20.1 points.

Toronto is 7-5 in playoff series that were tied 2-2, including 0-1 against the Cavaliers. Toronto is 11-6 all-time in Game 5s.

Game 5 winners take the series 81.5% of the time in best-of-seven series that were tied 2-2. The home team in Game 5s wins the series 73.1% of the time, regardless of where the series tally was at entering the game.

Last year, only three series began 2-2. Denver beat the Los Angeles Clippers in a seven-game classic in the first round, then lost to Oklahoma City in a Round 2 epic in seven, then the Thunder barely got by Indiana in the NBA Finals in seven.

This year, New York versus Atlanta also started 2-2 and Orlando versus Detroit could have as well had the Pistons not stunk up the court again on Monday to shockingly fall behind 3-1.

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