Scottie Barnes (4) led the Raptors in rebounds, steals and blocks and tied for the team lead in assists this season with point guard Immanuel Quickley.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
RJ Barrett remembers when the Toronto Raptors were on top of the NBA world.
The Mississauga, Ont. product was in Los Angeles conducting “pre-draft stuff” ahead of the 2019 NBA Draft.
But like many Canadians on the night of June 13, 2019, Barrett was huddled around a TV when the Raptors won the NBA championship.
“I was with my friends, screaming, jumping around the TV. It was hype,” said Barrett. “I saw buses were turned over in the streets.
“We have a whole country behind us, and so we have to go on and play for our country.”
The Raptors clawed their way to the 2026 NBA playoffs. Here's what you need to know
Toronto (46-36) enters the 2026 postseason – its first berth since 2022 – as the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed. Its first-round opponent is the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30).
But injury concerns linger around Toronto’s starting point guard.
Immanuel Quickley left Sunday’s playoff-clinching 136-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets midway through the game. On Monday, the team announced that Quickley is day-to-day with a mild hamstring strain.
“He’s doing well. He participated in individual workouts,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic after the team practised on Wednesday. “He did not take part in the team practice.”
Mississauga's RJ Barrett heads into the playoffs for the third time in his career, but his first as a Raptor.Gary A. Vasquez/Reuters
Quickley’s potential absence would leave Toronto without its most consistent three-point shooter. The University of Kentucky alum leads the team in three-pointers attempted per game, three-pointers made per game (6.8) and his 178 triples top the Raptors this season.
Jamal Shead picked up some of Quickley’s minutes on Sunday. He’s averaging 6.6 points, 5.4 assists and 1.7 rebounds on the season.
“Quick spaces the court for us very well, [he’s] very good at running the offence, pushing the pace,” said second-year guard Ja’Kobe Walter. “He gets into the paint very well and this year he really amped up his defence.
“He really means a lot to our team.”
The Raptors will look to Walter for his shooting and floor spacing ability this postseason. The 2024 first-rounder is hitting threes at a 47.6 per cent clip since the NBA all-star break. In total, he averaged 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 20.5 minutes this season.
But if the Raptors need a fill-in facilitator, Walter knows they can look to 6-foot-8 Scottie Barnes.
“Scottie, he’s pretty much like a big guard anyway,” said Walter. “He’s really good at pushing the pace. He’ll rebound and immediately push the ball, which causes all of us to run to our spots earlier and get out in transition.”
Walter, 21, is one of many Raptors set to make their playoff debut against Cleveland.
“My mentality is I don’t really back down from nobody. That’s never been a thing,” said Walter. “I’m not really scared about playing against the superstars, playing in the playoffs.”
Ja'Kobe Walter is eager to make his playoff debut and said he isn't intimidated by the big stage of the postseason, or by going up against superstar players.Cole Burston/Getty Images
The Raptors swept this year’s season series against Cleveland 3-0. The trio of wins came before December, meaning the victories came against a Cavaliers lineup that didn’t yet feature Keon Ellis, former-Raptor Dennis Schroder and 11-time All-Star James Harden.
“It’s a very different team now,” said Rajakovic. “Different dynamics inside that team. James Harden is playing a different style of basketball compared to other players that had been on the team in the past.”
The only remnant from the last Toronto team to make the playoffs is Barnes. The 24-year-old is one of eight roster players with previous playoff experience.
This time around, he’s able to share advice with the team’s young bucks.
“Of course, there’s going to be a little bit of nervousness, but I think you just turn it into excitement,” said Barnes. “Once you get out there on the floor, I think, all the nervousness just relaxes, and you just go out there and be able to play our game.”
Barrett echoed a similar sentiment.
“Stay even keeled is what I would say,” said Barrett, emphasizing that being prepared for every game in a series is important.
“I mean, it’s tough – there’s nothing that you could really say to have people be ready for that moment,” said Barrett. “I remember I had Derrick Rose trying to give me advice on the playoffs, but there’s nothing like getting those first couple of minutes in.”
On Tuesday, ESPN released an article predicting the 2026 play-in and first-round matchups. All 12 of the publication’s writers forecast Cleveland beating Toronto.
Barnes doesn’t care about being considered potential underdogs ahead of Saturday’s game.
“That [expletive] don’t matter,” he said.