37 points in big Raptors road win for former high school star in Mississauga

He’s worn the Toronto Raptors jersey for only four games, but Mississauga native RJ Barrett has already made a big impact.

And no performance from the 23-year-old guard/small forward since his Dec. 30 acquisition was better than last night’s showing in which he piled up a season-high 37 points in a 133-118 Raptors road win over Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

Barrett, a one-time student and star athlete at St. Marcellinus Secondary School in Mississauga, shot 13-of-20 from the floor including 5-of-8 from three-point territory on Sunday night en route to his game-high total. He added six rebounds and six assists for good measure.

Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley arrived in Toronto via a trade nine days ago with the New York Knicks.

In his debut with his new club and hometown team, Barrett netted 19 points in a New Year’s Day home-court win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He followed that up with back-to-back 14-point outputs in road games in Memphis and Sacramento before his big showing last night in San Francisco.

Barrett, the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of Duke University, averaged 18.2 points a game this campaign while with the Knicks and is known as a solid three-point shooter.

The former St. Marcellinus standout was also a member of the Team Canada squad that competed last year at the FIBA World Cup from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.