Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont., played against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday afternoon (Sportsnet/Sportsnet+, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT) after missing five weeks of Toronto’s season with a sprained right knee. Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had Barrett on a minutes restriction.
“He’s ready to go,” said Rajakovic in his pre-game media availability. “We’ve got to be very conscientious how we’re going to integrate him with the team and get his conditioning back and his rhythm back.
“He’s feeling great. He went through all the stages of recovery.”
Barrett was averaging 19.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists when he landed awkwardly from a dunk in a game against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 23. When healthy, the six-foot-six shooting guard/small forward has been key to Toronto’s offence, slashing to the net for offensive rebounds or when Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram are drawing double teams from opposing defences.
Rajakovic said that Barrett’s biggest contribution to the Raptors was being the connective tissue between the starters and reserves.
“I thought at the start of the season there was such a good balance between our starters and our second unit, we talked a lot about the success of our second unit,” said Rajakovic. “But RJ was on the court quite a bit helping that unit there as well. He was missed a lot.
“Hopefully he can get back to that type of performance.”
Centres Jakob Poeltl (lower back) and Collin Murray-Boyles (illness) missed the game. The Raptors said they would have a more detailed update on Poeltl’s condition ahead of Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic.
Murray-Boyles’s undisclosed illness appears to be a sickness that’s been circulating around the team.
“Running around with Vitamin C and zinc, and with hand sanitizers everywhere, and we’re trying to do everything that’s in our power to stop it from spreading around,” said Rajakovic on the illness. “We have guys that are under the weather and trying to play through the games, and they’re gonna be there in the huddle, all of us in the huddle.
“I think, the most important thing is making sure that we’re getting proper sleep, proper nutrition, we gotta start with maybe those things.”
Poeltl is averaging 9.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists as Toronto’s starting centre. Murray-Boyles is averaging seven points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his rookie season.