Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, who was officially diagnosed on Sunday with a left ankle sprain after leaving Game 1 on Saturday due to the injury, has been ruled out for Game 2 on Monday, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters, including Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).
Barnes was wearing a walking boot on his left foot today, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The Rookie of the Year finalist told reporters that he’s feeling better each day and is staying positive, but is unsure about when he might be able to return, per Lewenberg and Bontemps (Twitter link).
Losing Barnes is a major blow to a Raptors team that was defeated soundly by the Sixers in Game 1. No Raptor logged more minutes during the regular season than the No. 4 overall pick, who had an impressive playoff debut with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 32 minutes before Joel Embiid stepped on his foot, ending his night.
While Barnes has been definitively ruled out for Game 2, the Raptors are still considering Gary Trent Jr. and Thaddeus Young doubtful, tweets Bontemps. Young and the training staff are working to see if he’ll be able to play through a thumb sprain, while Trent missed Monday’s shootaround due to a non-COVID illness.
As Lewenberg tweets, if one of Trent or Young is going to play tonight, it sounds more likely to be Young, but Toronto may be without both of them in addition to missing Barnes.
Damnn, Joel better be keeping his head on a swivel tonight..
I am sure Joel is super worried.
What exactly did he do wrong? He played hard defense and a guy unfortunately got injured. Sadly, it happens.
That is a blow for Toronto. It wasn’t a dirty play, so not so sure Embiid needs to keep his head on a swivel. Barnes wasn’t gonna be the answer to Maxey, so Raptors need to come up with something.