The Toronto Raptors may not have a guard Gary Trent Jr. and forwards Scottie Barnes and Thaddeus Young for Game 2 of their NBA playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Both Barnes (ankle) and Young (thumb) were injured in Saturday’s Game 1 131-111 against the Sixers, while Trent Jr was dealing with a non-COVID-related illness.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said all three players are unlikely to play Monday in Philadelphia.
Nurse told reporters on Sunday: “Listen, it doesn’t look good for any of those people. “All of them will be listed as, possibly, as questionable. So it doesn’t look good to any of them. But we’ll evaluate it as we go and hopefully we do. can see where we end up.”
Barnes, the NBA rookie of the year, made a stellar playoff debut, with 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, before the Sixers’ 280-pound quarterback Joel Embiid stepped on his foot. , leaving him sprawled on the floor in pain with about nine minutes left to play.
Young left the game after damaging his thumb in the second half.
The ailing Trent Jr, who averaged 18.3 points per game in the regular season, struggled in the playoff opener, scoring just nine points in a two-11 in 26 minutes of work.
“Give him a lot of credit for going out there and putting in the effort last night, because he worked really hard, obviously, as you can all say,” Nurse said of Trent Jr. “So I credit him because he went out there and improved a little bit. But we’ll see where we are with him when we get here. “
Meanwhile, the team is awaiting the results of an MRI scan performed on Barnes and Young on Sunday.
All-star keeper Fred VanVleet, who missed 11 of Toronto’s last 24 games of the regular season with a bruised knee, said dealing with injury and adversity is nothing new. for the Raptors.
“We’ve been playing without a man all year, obviously at this time of year you want all your best players but we’ll see how it goes, find out in the morning who in, who’s out and then it’s time for someone else to step up,” he said.
VanVleet said the team has been dealing with adversity all year and will have to do it again when they hit the floor Monday night.
The Raptors looked dominating against the 76ers in the first half and VanVleet admitted the team was “a bit soft and a bit slow” in the opening phase, which he appreciated against the Raptors’ inexperienced lineup.
“We are a young team, don’t forget that. I know we played well and we will be hot at the end of the year but this is a good wake-up call for a lot of boys,” said VanVleet, who has 18 points said. and six assists in the opener.
The series will head to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday and Game 4 next Saturday.
This report by the Canadian Press was first published on April 17, 2022.
