RJ Barrett made his comeback in late January after being sidelined for an extended period due to injury.
Yet, the Toronto forward is only now beginning to resemble his usual form, according to Michael Grange.
Following a standout performance in Sunday’s victory over Dallas, where Barrett poured in a season-best 31 points while shooting an efficient 13-of-19, he explained that the persistent soreness in his knee has finally eased, allowing him to rebuild his stamina and rhythm steadily.
“That’s why a couple of weeks ago it didn’t look great,” he added. “Just got to continue to work through it.”
His recent stretch of games shows clear progress.
Across the last six contests, Barrett has displayed sharp efficiency and all-around production, putting up 21.7 points and six rebounds per game while shooting an impressive 56.7 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three-point range.
Grange observed that Barrett played with noticeable aggression against Dallas, consistently pressuring the defense by cutting without the ball and finishing strong at the rim, including both a dunk and a layup.
“I think we know what he’s capable of, we’ve seen it the last two-and-a-half years,” Scottie Barnes said.
“He’s able to score the ball and help us out in that area and in different ways. Once he gets his stuff going, he’s pretty hard to guard, especially going downhill (to the rim), for himself and kicking the ball out.”
Raptors Notes: Barrett, Fultz, Murray-Boyles, Jackson-Davis https://t.co/UjKm2JrkPV pic.twitter.com/Y9DWw5vzHz
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) March 9, 2026
