SAN FRANCISCO—Maybe he looked down at the Golden State Warriors bench, saw Cory Joseph and felt compelled to make the veteran Canadian proud.
Perhaps he glanced across the Chase Center court, saw Andrew Wiggins and decided it was a night he’d take the Canadian torch and run with it.
Or maybe, most likely, he’s a good basketball player who had a very good night.
RJ Barrett, just a week and a day into his Toronto tenure, scored a season-high 37 points Sunday as the Raptors led wire to wire and crushed the Warriors 133-118.
While there was some balance to Toronto offence with six players in double figures, and while Chris Boucher had a great shooting night and 17 points, it was Barrett who set the tone as the Raptors learned a little bit more about their recent acquisition.
He tied his season high for a game with five three-pointers in a 26-point first half, he was 5-for-7 from inside the arc and he split the two free throws he made. Barrett finished 13-for-20 from the field.
“I’ve felt good since Game 1 (with Toronto),” Barrett said. “Personally, offensively, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been playing very well.
“I didn’t really score the ball in a crazy way the first three games but I’ve been efficient trying to play the right way and help my teammates.”
The Raptors are really just scratching the surface figuring out how to best utilize Barrett.
“First of all, (he’s) a very coachable player, very smart player,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said Sunday night.
“He’s trying to figure out how we’re playing, what is the style of play, where are his spots on the court.”
His spots Sunday were pretty much wherever he wanted as the Raptors led from start to finish.
“Obviously he scored a lot but I was really proud of his playmaking,” Rajakovic said of Barrett’s six-assist game. “He was trying to make the right play every time down the court and I also liked the force he was attacking the rim with.”
Pascal Siakam had 16 points and Jakob Poeltl 14 points and 11 rebounds as Toronto improved to 2-1 on its six-game road trip.
The big shock of the night was the fact Stephen Curry never really got untracked.
Curry missed the seven shots he took in the first half — four from three-point range — and didn’t make a basket until a layup in the third quarter.
He finished with just nine points and missed the nine three-pointers he took.
“With a player of that calibre, you just want to make it as hard as possible on him and it’s not one coverage and it’s not one player,” Rajakovic said of guarding Curry.
“The way he’s playing without the ball and moving, all of the players got to be on the court, alert to those cuts, to slow down, to be physical and then to make it physical and make it hard on him.”
