11:36am: Shead is listed in the starting lineup.
10:54am: Immanuel Quickley won’t play for the Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Cavaliers this afternoon, Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets.
Quickley had been listed as questionable due to a hamstring injury. Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic told the media this morning that Quickley wouldn’t suit up.
Quickley, who was already battling right foot plantar fasciitis, strained his right hamstring in Toronto’s regular-season finale against Brooklyn on April 12. Quickley said this week he wasn’t sure if the injuries were related.
“Just day-to-day. Trying to take care of myself so I can be back on the floor with my teammates,” Quickley said.
Quickley is averaging 16.4 points, 5.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds this season. He averaged 13.3 points and 6.3 assists against the Cavaliers in three games.
His absence puts more onus on key backcourt backups, Jamal Shead and Ja’Kobe Walter, to hold their own against Cleveland’s high-scoring duo of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. Rajakovic declined to say whether Shead or Walter would start in Quickley’s place.
Ja’Kobe Walter can make himself a lot of $ by staying hot from 3 in this series. He’s been 1 of their most important players all season & his role just keeps getting bigger & bigger. Matchup bw Strus & Walter will be very interesting.
Not so Quickley.
Nice one, here take a like as a reward
He can bring some steadiness to them, but they can still win without him