It took RJ Barrett 324 days after being acquired by the Toronto Raptors, but he finally found himself in first place in the team’s record books.
And sure, it might’ve been a category most Raptors players can’t find themselves competing for, but a record’s a record all the same.
On Monday night, Barrett dropped 39 points in a 130-119 win over the Indiana Pacers. That one-upped his teammate Chris Boucher’s 38 points in a 2021 contest against the Chicago Bulls for the most points in a game by a Canadian player in Raptors franchise history.
“Feels great to get a win. Feels great. We earned that one,” Barrett said. “They’re a team that can put up a lot of points, but we’re able to weather the storm. Played well. Guys that are just across the board played well.”
As per TSN’s Keerthika Uthayakumar, Barrett now holds six of the top eight scoring performances by a Canadian in Raptors history, with Boucher and Cory Joseph holding the others.
“That’s cool,” Barrett said in response to a question asked by Daily Hive about the record. “I didn’t know that, but that was just a testament to our team. I got open on a lot of screens from [Jakob Poeltl], [Jonathan] Mogbo, just everybody. And then I was just trusting the work put in every day, and coach putting the ball in my hand, and trusted me.”
Barrett’s still chasing his career high, however, which was set back in February 2022 while he was a member of the New York Knicks. In a loss to the Miami Heat, he scored nearly half of his team’s points, dropping 46 on the evening.
Despite Barrett’s big night, Toronto is still near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. With a record of 3-12, they’re sitting in 13th place in the conference, ahead of the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.
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