{"id":711478,"date":"2026-04-16T02:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711478\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T02:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:12:18","slug":"raptors-shrug-off-underdog-status-in-return-to-nba-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/711478\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors shrug off underdog status in return to NBA postseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

RJ Barrett remembers when the Toronto Raptors were on top of the NBA world. <\/p>\n

The Mississauga, Ont. product was in Los Angeles conducting \u201cpre-draft stuff\u201d ahead of the 2019 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

But like many Canadians on the night of June 13, 2019, Barrett was huddled around a TV when the Raptors won the NBA championship. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was with my friends, screaming, jumping around the TV. It was hype,\u201d said Barrett. \u201cI saw buses were turned over in the streets. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a whole country behind us, and so we have to go on and play for our country.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Raptors clawed their way to the 2026 NBA playoffs. Here’s what you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto (46-36) enters the 2026 postseason \u2013 its first berth since 2022 \u2013 as the Eastern Conference\u2019s fifth seed. Its first-round opponent is the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30). <\/p>\n

But injury concerns linger around Toronto\u2019s starting point guard. <\/p>\n

Immanuel Quickley left Sunday\u2019s playoff-clinching 136-101 victory<\/a> over the Brooklyn Nets midway through the game. On Monday, the team announced that Quickley is day-to-day with a mild hamstring strain. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing well. He participated in individual workouts,\u201d said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic after the team practised on Wednesday. \u201cHe did not take part in the team practice.\u201d <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Quickley\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

Jamal Shead picked up some of Quickley\u2019s minutes on Sunday. He\u2019s averaging 6.6 points, 5.4 assists and 1.7 rebounds on the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cQuick spaces the court for us very well, [he\u2019s] very good at running the offence, pushing the pace,\u201d said second-year guard Ja\u2019Kobe Walter. \u201cHe gets into the paint very well and this year he really amped up his defence. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe really means a lot to our team.\u201d <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But if the Raptors need a fill-in facilitator, Walter knows they can look to 6-foot-8 Scottie Barnes. <\/p>\n

\u201cScottie, he\u2019s pretty much like a big guard anyway,\u201d said Walter. \u201cHe\u2019s really good at pushing the pace. He\u2019ll rebound and immediately push the ball, which causes all of us to run to our spots earlier and get out in transition.\u201d <\/p>\n

Walter, 21, is one of many Raptors set to make their playoff debut against Cleveland. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy mentality is I don\u2019t really back down from nobody. That\u2019s never been a thing,\u201d said Walter. \u201cI\u2019m not really scared about playing against the superstars, playing in the playoffs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

The Raptors<\/a> swept this year\u2019s season series against Cleveland 3-0. The trio of wins came before December, meaning the victories came against a Cavaliers lineup that didn\u2019t yet feature Keon Ellis, former-Raptor Dennis Schroder and 11-time All-Star James Harden.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very different team now,\u201d said Rajakovic. \u201cDifferent 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

This time around, he\u2019s able to share advice with the team\u2019s young bucks. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there\u2019s going to be a little bit of nervousness, but I think you just turn it into excitement,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cOnce 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

Barrett echoed a similar sentiment. <\/p>\n

\u201cStay even keeled is what I would say,\u201d said Barrett, emphasizing that being prepared for every game in a series is important. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s tough \u2013 there\u2019s nothing that you could really say to have people be ready for that moment,\u201d said Barrett. \u201cI remember I had Derrick Rose trying to give me advice on the playoffs, but there\u2019s nothing like getting those first couple of minutes in.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, ESPN released an article<\/a> predicting the 2026 play-in and first-round matchups. All 12 of the publication\u2019s writers forecast Cleveland beating Toronto. <\/p>\n

Barnes doesn\u2019t care about being considered potential underdogs ahead of Saturday\u2019s game. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat [expletive] don\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Scottie Barnes (4) led the Raptors in rebounds, steals and blocks and tied…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[10388,10376,7,10389,4500,9436,10390,4821,10371,10382,10383,10378,10372,10370,7678,6682,10387,10381,10375,10401,10373,10374,10380,10377,1943,2679,10391,9876,6,10396,10397,10399,10394,10398,10392,10395,6870,10385,10386,3559,10384,10393,681,83,1963,680,476,3820,9087,10379,4486,447,10400],"class_list":{"0":"post-711478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-bc","12":"tag-breaking-news","13":"tag-breaking-news-video","14":"tag-british-columbia","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-nba","37":"tag-new-brunswick","38":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-raptors","51":"tag-sports-news","52":"tag-technology","53":"tag-toronto","54":"tag-toronto-raptors","55":"tag-torontoraptors","56":"tag-travel","57":"tag-trudeau","58":"tag-us-news","59":"tag-world-news","60":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}