Atlantic Notes: Murray-Boyles, Nets, Knicks, Edgecombe

Raptors rookie forward Collin Murray-Boyles has missed the team’s past eight games due to a sprained left thumb, but his return shouldn’t be far off. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link), Murray-Boyles took part in practice on Tuesday, with the club set to assess how he responds to that session before determining whether he’ll be available for Wednesday’s game in Chicago.

Even if Murray-Boyles isn’t cleared to play tomorrow, head coach Darko Rajakovic expects to have him back at some point during the upcoming five-game road trip, which begins on Wednesday and runs through next Wednesday in L.A., tweets Lewenberg.

Murray-Boyles had emerged as a key contributor for Toronto prior to the injury. He has started 18 of his last 19 outings, averaging 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 27.7 minutes per game while shooting 60.3% from the floor during that stretch.

Here are a few more items of interest from across the Atlantic:

• Eric Koreen of The Athletic wonders if this year’s Raptors are the equivalent of last season’s Pistons, a limited offensive team without enough shooting that nonetheless played a scrappy brand of basketball, exceeded expectations, ended a postseason drought, and pushed a higher seed in the first round of the playoffs.
• There are five “touch points” that will determine how quickly the Nets accelerate their rebuild, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post: How their rookies develop, where their lottery pick ends up, the results of the upcoming postseason, whether a star becomes available, and how free agency plays out.
• In a mailbag, Ian Begley of SNY.tv outlines why Knicks head coach Mike Brown is reluctant to make changes to a struggling starting five and notes that Mikal Bridges has played a key role in the club’s defensive turnaround while slumping offensively.
• With Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George all unavailable, the Sixers have won three of their last four games with young role players like VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and Justin Edwards leading the way, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. As Jones observes, Edgecombe is gaining important reps as Philadelphia’s go-to scorer, which could serve him well down the road. “I was being double-teamed against Brooklyn,” Edgecombe said, referring to Saturday’s game in which he scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting. “I had never been doubled in my life. I guess I just have to go back and look at the film.”