Gary Trent Jr., who has been out of the Raptors lineup since Nov. 12 due to a hip injury and an illness, is expected to play on Wednesday, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reports.
Chris Boucher, who hasn’t played since Wednesday due to a non-COVID illness, and Trent took part in Monday’s light workout and should both be available against the Nets this Wednesday.
In another promising development, Pascal Siakam also participated in the practice on a limited basis. He has missed eight games due to an adductor strain.
“We certainly needed to survive here and Pascal was out there today in practice,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Well, not a whole lot of people in contact (practices) these days when the numbers are what they are, so he was out there moving around. So we shouldn’t be awfully far away from him being back.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks center Mitchell Robinson didn’t have much of an impact in his return to action, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. Robinson, who suffered a sprained right knee on Nov. 4 against the Sixers, finished with two points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 17 minutes against Phoenix on Sunday. “I don’t feel that far behind,” Robinson said. “I feel like I’m way better than I was last year as far as conditioning-wise. But since this happened, I’ve got to build it back up.” Jericho Sims, who filled in for Robinson, will likely drop out of the rotation.
- Kyrie Irving had his suspension lifted on Sunday and the Players’ Association will not file a grievance for the games he missed, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic tweets. Executive director Tamika Tremaglio said the union opted not to file a grievance with the league against the Nets on behalf of Irving, who missed eight games without pay.
- Celtics center Robert Williams has progressed to 3-on-3 work, another step in his knee rehab, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reports. “We’re happy with him as far as his progression and the work he’s put in toward coming back,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He’s picking it up on the court a little bit. … He looks good. He’s healthy and responding well to it. He’s in a good space as far as patience, and he’s doing the work he needs to do.” There’s no set timetable for Williams’ return to full practices and games.
Bad move… Kyrie should have squeezed BRK for all that they are worth!
Given all the bad press that Kyrie has gotten from this issue of his own making, the last thing that he should do is publicly fight to get his eight games of pay back.
Thank goodness the PA will not file a grievance. I mean, if Kyrie were to get paid for those eight games, where’s the punishment. Not suggesting that Kyrie would look at it this way, but if he were paid, it would be like a vacation.
He is now free to be traded to the Lakers. Kyrie, Curry and Morris for Westbrook on three.
1 2 …