The Raptors are unlikely to have Brandon Ingram available for Sunday’s do-or-die Game 7 in Cleveland, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who tweets that the All-Star forward been downgraded to doubtful after initially being listed as questionable.
Ingram aggravated a right heel injury in the second quarter of Wednesday’s Game 5 loss in Cleveland and was unable to return for the remainder of that contest. That same heel issue that caused him to miss three games near the end of the regular season, when he made 77 appearances, the second-highest total of his career.
Ingram, who was out for Game 6, was still in a walking boot during the Raptors’ shootaround on Sunday morning, notes Michael Grange of Sportnet (via Twitter), so his downgraded status doesn’t come as a major surprise.
The second overall pick in the 2016 draft after one college season at Duke, Ingram is in his 10th NBA campaign despite being only 28 years old. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 33.8 minutes per game during the regular season, and while he had struggled in the first-round series against the Cavs, he still draws a lot of defensive attention and is a long and versatile player.
With Ingram out on Friday, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic started Jamal Shead, the second-year guard out of Houston. Shead didn’t shoot well in Game 6 (he was 2-of-9 from the field and had seven points), but he dished out six assists (against two turnovers) and played strong defense. Shead finished plus-six in 33 minutes during the two-point overtime victory.