O Canada, RJ Barrett is coming home to play.

The Knicks rookie missed his first NBA game Sunday because of an illness, but it should not keep him from playing in his first homecoming Wednesday night in Toronto against the Raptors.

“I can’t miss tomorrow night,” Barrett said through a few coughs Tuesday after the Knicks practiced. “I gotta go play for everybody I love.”

Barrett grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb just outside of Toronto, and became one of the top Canadian basketball prospects before going to Duke and then getting drafted by the Knicks with the No. 3 pick in June. On draft night, Barrett dazzled in a pink suit but revealed the inside had a Canadian flag lining.

The 19-year-old said he will be wearing “a little something” for his country on the court Wednesday night, but wanted to keep it a surprise. He knows he has a lot of friends and family coming, but left the avalanche of ticket requests for his parents to handle so he can focus on the game.

“It means a lot,” Barrett said. “I feel like everybody feels something for where they grew up and where they came from. For me, Canada, the whole country has my back and I love them for that.”

The Knicks have been a disappointment through their 4-13 start, but Barrett has not. Through his first 16 games in the NBA, he is averaging 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 41.3 percent from the floor. His free-throw shooting (49.4 percent) has left something to be desired, but on the whole, Barrett has been a glimmer of hope as a key piece of the Knicks’ future.

While Barrett has said he is not used to the losing, he is familiar from a fan standpoint. He began following the Raptors when he was eight or nine — which would have been around the time the franchise started a string of five straight losing seasons — and enjoyed watching DeMar DeRozan and Chris Bosh. But he did not have any favorite memories from going to games at Air Canada Centre, which now goes by Scotiabank Arena.

“No, because every time I went to a Raptors game, they lost,” Barrett said. “So I thought I was a curse.”

Barrett would like to keep the curse going Wednesday night, but it will be an uphill battle. The Raptors are the defending champions, and even after losing Kawhi Leonard, remain a force in the Eastern Conference.

A healthy Barrett would certainly give the Knicks a better shot. He played through coughing fits against the Spurs on Saturday night before feeling worse on Sunday and getting sent home. But Barrett said the extra rest has helped him feel “a little better,” and the opportunity to play in front of his home crowd may help more than any antibiotic could.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun, just to play in front of the crowd and just to be back home,” Barrett said. “I haven’t gotten a lot of chances to play at home, so for me it’s going to be exciting.”

The Raptors are expected to show a tribute to Canada’s national team players in Barrett’s honor. Barrett, whose father Rowan is the general manager of Canada’s national team, has won a gold and silver medal while representing his country in FIBA tournaments and rising to national prominence.

With the Raptors coming off the franchise’s first NBA title, basketball in Canada is gaining momentum.

“It’s kind of a moment just to see we’re here and we’re on the rise,” Barrett said. “We’re going to continue to get better every day.”

The Knicks are hoping for the same, with Barrett right in the middle of it.

For more on the Knicks, listen to the latest episode of the “Big Apple Buckets” podcast: