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 4 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 a sign of how far the Raptors have come since they finished last season with a 30-52 record.
“I mean, we’ve made an enormous jump from where we were last 12 months. You’ve got to think where we were last 12 months versus now,” said Barrett. “Numerous 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 at once.”
Immanuel Quickley had 17 points and Ja’Kobe Walter got here off the bench for 17 as Toronto (34-24) saw its modest two-game win streak snapped.
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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.
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“Undergo these tough losses at once throughout the season in order that we’ll figure it out,” said Barrett about playing teams certain for the post-season. “Today, we began good, went down 20, fought all the best way back in order that we’re already learning something there.
“We’ve just got to proceed to learn find out how to scratch and claw and beat these good teams, and we’ll.”
Toronto jumped out to an early lead in the primary quarter, outscoring the visitors 32-25. That was largely because of taking higher care of the ball because the Raptors had just two turnovers in the primary quarter while OKC had seven.
That tilted in the opposite direction for the remainder of the sport because the Raptors coughed up the ball 14 more times while the Thunder only had nine more turnovers within the remaining three quarters.
“Hopefully the film goes to assist us understand higher 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 primary quarter to start out the sport. We were dictating and dominating on the offensive end, creating a variety 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 fifteen 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, ending with three steals, 4 blocks and a plus-18 defensive rating as the remainder of the Raptors had negative rankings.
“I felt that he did a extremely good job there, defensively, and he was very, very disruptive,” said Rajakovic. “I believe he really pushed our pace as well.
“When he’s going to the rim, I believe he’s outstanding. I assumed a few times that he was attending to the rim, and he was not getting the foul call.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press