'The Kawhi bounce!': Raptors' RJ Barrett forces Game 7 with unbelievable game-winner originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

When no one is stepping up, surely someone from the Toronto Raptors will. RJ Barrett lit Scotiabank Arena ablaze when he sank the game-winner. While a lot of fans are relishing an insane moment to end a 112-110 thriller, some eagle-eyed avid watchers of the NBA Playoffs saw something else. They could not help but compare this shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers to the one that Kawhi Leonard made in 2019.

Raptors fans go crazy in comparison Barrett and Leonard

Kawhi Leonard once hit a shot against the Philadelphia 76ers that became the defining moment of the 2019 Raptors NBA championship. RJ Barrett may have just done the same against the Cavaliers as he sent the NBA Playoffs series to a deciding Game 7.

Some Raptors fans were quick to make the observation, "How about RJ Barrett with the Kawhi Leonard/Don Nelson-like game-winning bounce on that INCREDIBLE SHOT with 1.2 seconds left in overtime tonight!!!! We now have not 1, not 2, but THREE GAME 7s in the first round in the Eastern Conference this weekend…"

Others were making big Larry O'Brien declarations, "RJ Barrett with a shot of a lifetime. Most fun I’ve had watching a Raptors game since the Championship run."

Some even think that this was the same game-winner that Tyrese Haliburton hit in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, "If the Haliburton Knicks shot and the Kawhi Raptors shot had a baby it’s the RJ Barrett shot."

One fan even urged the league to check the Raptors' facilities in the NBA Playoffs, "They need to check those rims on that side of the court in Toronto. Kawhi hit a game winner with a crazy rim bounce. Now RJ Barrett."

Barrett played 43 minutes for the Raptors prior to the game-winner. He notched 25 points on 52.4% field goal shooting and 33% from three-point range. Against the Cavaliers, he also grabbed nine rebounds, dropped three assists, and got a steal. This will always be remembered in the minds of Raptors fans as Barrett's accomplishment rather than being compared to Leonard, Nelson, or Haliburton.

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