RJ Barrett keeps Toronto Raptors struggles against NBA’s top teams in perspective

TORONTO – RJ Barrett is keeping the Toronto Raptors’ struggles against the NBA’s top-tier teams in perspective.

Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists as Toronto failed in its comeback bid against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, losing 116-107.

Barrett said that the loss to the reigning NBA champions and a 113-95 rout by the Detroit Pistons on Feb. 11 aren’t disappointments but actually an indication of how far the Raptors have come since they finished last season with a 30-52 record.

“I mean, we’ve made a huge jump from where we were last year. You’ve got to think where we were last year versus now,” said Barrett. “A lot of these teams have either already been good, already been in playoff situations like tonight, won a championship. These teams already know. 

“They’re already battle tested, and it’s good for us to play those teams right now.”

Immanuel Quickley had 17 points and Ja’Kobe Walter came off the bench for 17 as Toronto (34-24) saw its modest two-game win streak snapped. 

The loss dropped the Raptors to 4-14 against the league’s top 10 teams with three of those wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers before they acquired James Harden in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4.

“Go through these tough losses right now during the season so that we’ll figure it out,” said Barrett about playing teams bound for the post-season. “Today, we started good, went down 20, fought all the way back so that we’re already learning something there.

“We’ve just got to continue to learn how to scratch and claw and beat these good teams, and we will.”

Toronto jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, outscoring the visitors 32-25. That was largely thanks to taking better care of the ball as the Raptors had just two turnovers in the first quarter while OKC had seven. 

That tilted in the other direction for the rest of the game as the Raptors coughed up the ball 14 more times while the Thunder only had nine more turnovers in the remaining three quarters.

“Hopefully the film is going to help us understand better but second, third quarter was not us and it was not our identity,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic. “That was not what we did in the first quarter to start the game. We were dictating and dominating on the offensive end, creating a lot of turnovers, which fuelled our offence and we took our foot off the gas.”

Raptors all-stars Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes were held to 15 points apiece by the Thunder’s smothering defence.

Worse yet, Barnes suffered a right-quad contusion and was listed as questionable for Wednesday night’s game against the visiting San Antonio Spurs. 

Barnes had been the backbone of Toronto’s defence against Oklahoma City, finishing with three steals, four blocks and a plus-18 defensive rating as the rest of the Raptors had negative ratings.

“I felt that he did a really good job there, defensively, and he was very, very disruptive,” said Rajakovic. “I think he really pushed our pace as well. 

“When he’s going to the rim, I think he’s outstanding. I thought a couple of times that he was getting to the rim, and he was not getting the foul call.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2026.