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Injury Notes: Barnes, R. Williams, Doncic, Murray, MPJ

April 20th, 2022 at 7:34pm CST by Rory Maher

Rookie of the Year finalist Scottie Barnes has been ruled out for Game 3 of the Raptors‘ series against Philadelphia on Wednesday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. However, head coach Nick Nurse said Barnes has made “very encouraging” progress and is hopeful he’ll be able to suit up for Game 4, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).

Barnes was previously listed as doubtful as he continues to deal with the left ankle sprain that he suffered in Game 1 on Saturday.

Here are some more postseason injury notes from around the NBA:

  • Celtics center Robert Williams III has been able to do some three-on-three work, but the team has been closely monitoring his knee to ensure he’s not experiencing swelling post-surgery. Head coach Ime Udoka again stated that the team is operating under the assumption that Williams will miss Boston’s series against Brooklyn (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic).
  • Mavericks star Luka Doncic is officially listed as questionable for Game 3 against Utah on Thursday, the team’s PR department announced (via Twitter). As we relayed earlier today, Doncic was able to increase his activity at practice and if he and the team feel there’s little risk of aggravating his left calf strain, he might suit up.
  • Jamal Murray (ACL recovery) and Michael Porter Jr. (back surgery) have both been ruled out for Game 3 of the Nuggets‘ series against Golden State, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). Murray is considered doubtful to make his season debut in the series and he’s reportedly closer to action than Porter, although Porter is still optimistic about a potential first-round return.
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Injury Notes: Doncic, Trent, Barnes, Capela

April 20th, 2022 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

After Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Tuesday that there was optimism about Luka Doncic returning from his left calf strain as early as Game 3, the Mavericks star increased his activity at Wednesday’s practice, as veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein tweets.

Following that practice, Doncic spoke to the media for the first time during the playoffs and said he’s “feeling good,” per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). However, he wasn’t prepared to say he’ll be active for Game 3 in Utah on Thursday.

Doncic told reporters that a risk of aggravating the injury will be something he and the Mavs have to consider as they map out his return (Twitter links via MacMahon).

“I don’t know if I’m going to be 100 percent. I think that’s tough right now,” Doncic said. “But if I’m ready and there’s no risk of (aggravating the) injury, I’ll be out there.”

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

  • Raptors swingman Gary Trent Jr. (non-COVID illness) was initially listed as questionable for Game 3 on Wednesday vs. Philadelphia, but he’ll play and start, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The team will see how Trent feels in the first quarter before making a decision on how much he’ll play tonight, says Lewenberg.
  • Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, meanwhile, continues to be listed as doubtful for Game 3 due to a left ankle sprain, but the rookie is out of his walking boot, and head coach Nick Nurse didn’t rule out the possibility that he could play on Wednesday, per Lewenberg (Twitter links).
  • Providing an update on Clint Capela on Tuesday, Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said the injured big man remains limited to physical rehab work for now, per Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). As Spencer relays, Capela – who is recovering from a hyperextended right knee – was seen doing some light on-court work prior to Tuesday’s game (all video links).
  • In case you missed it, we passed along the latest news on Devin Booker (hamstring) and Ben Simmons (back) earlier today.
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Injury Updates: Simmons, Barnes, Trent, Collins

April 19th, 2022 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Ben Simmons, who continues to recover from a back issue, took contact for the first time on Monday and participated in a 4-on-4 scrimmage, head coach Steve Nash told reporters on Tuesday (link via Steve Popper of Newsday).

“Yesterday was his first day of contact, played with some teammates yesterday,” Nash said. “He’s making progress, but there’s no real update. We’ll just see how he responds and see if he’s able to do more contact tomorrow.”

It’s another positive update for Simmons after ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Shams Charania of The Athletic both referred to him on Monday as “pain-free,” per NetsDaily. The three-time All-Star has been ruled out for Game 2, but it remains possible that he could make his Nets debut later in the first round. A pair of reports last week indicated that Simmons was targeting a return between Games 4 and 6.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

  • The Raptors have listed forward Scottie Barnes (ankle) as doubtful for Game 3 on Wednesday, while swingman Gary Trent Jr. (non-COVID illness) has been deemed questionable, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.
  • Hawks big man John Collins is still experiencing pain in his finger and acknowledges he isn’t “at peak physical conditioning,” but he’s hoping to take on a bigger role in Game 2 after playing 21 minutes in his return on Sunday in Game 1, writes Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I feel like I’m as good as I can be right now,” Collins said. “Trying to take all the precautions and all the treatments. Only thing I can do. Obviously, I’m still in some pain. But I feel like everybody’s in some type of pain this time of year, at some point. Mine might be a little bit more than normal, but I’m still trying to do what I can.”
  • In case you missed it, there’s optimism that Mavericks star Luka Doncic will be able to return in Game 3 or Game 4 vs. Utah.
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Raptors’ Scottie Barnes Out For Game 2

April 18th, 2022 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

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.

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Nick Nurse Discusses Importance Of Making Adjustments In Playoffs

April 17th, 2022 at 7:06pm CST by JD Shaw
  • Sixers coach Doc Rivers and Raptors coach Nick Nurse understand the playoffs are about making adjustments, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Toronto lost Game 1 of its first-round series against Philadelphia 131-111, allowing Tyrese Maxey to score 38 points. The Sixers also made just three turnovers and shot 51% from the floor.
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NBA Announces 2021/22 Award Finalists

April 17th, 2022 at 5:28pm CST by JD Shaw

The NBA has announced the 2021/22 season award finalists for the league’s six major awards: Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors’ 2022 NBA Award Picks]

The awards were voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The three top vote-getters for each award are the finalists. They are as follows:

Most Valuable Player:

Rookie of the Year:

Sixth Man of the Year:

Coach of the Year:

  • Taylor Jenkins (Grizzlies)
  • Erik Spoelstra (Heat)
  • Monty Williams (Suns)

Defensive Player of the Year:

Most Improved Player:

Winners will be announced during TNT’s coverage of the NBA playoffs, according to the league.

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Raptors’ Barnes, Young, Trent Unlikely To Play In Game 2

April 17th, 2022 at 3:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

3:20pm: The Raptors have confirmed in a press statement that Barnes, Trent and Young are all doubtful to play in a critical Game 2 against the Sixers on Monday.

The club has indicated that Barnes officially has been diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, while the official diagnosis for Young is a left thumb hyperextension.

12:55pm: Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said today that rookie forward Scottie Barnes, veteran forward Thaddeus Young, and starting shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. are doubtful to suit up in Toronto’s second game of its first round series vs. the Sixers on Monday, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

According to Bontemps, Nurse indicated that all three Raptors players will be monitored over the course of the next day.

“I mean, listen, it doesn’t look good for any of those guys,” Nurse said after a team practice Sunday. “They’re all going to be listed as probably doubtful, so it doesn’t look good for any of them. We’ll evaluate them as we go and see where we end up.”

Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports reports (via Twitter) that Trent left the club’s practice Sunday as he deals with an illness. Nurse revealed that the ailment, a non-coronavirus illness, has kept Trent’s attendance in practice erratic.

Barnes, who tweaked the ankle during the Raptors’ 131-111 Game 1 loss to the Sixers on Sunday, is undergoing an MRI on the ankle. Young, dealing with a left thumb sprain, already got an MRI of his own and is currently waiting on the results.

Losing Barnes and Trent, both of whom started for Toronto Saturday, would be a big blow for the fifth-seeded Raptors, already the underdogs in the series. Young played for six minutes yesterday as a reserve.

The 6’9″ Barnes, a first-year player out of Florida State, is a finalist for Rookie of the Year hardware this season. Across his 74 contests for the 48-34 Raptors, the 20-year-old is averaging 15.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 3.5 APG, while shooting 49.2% from the field and connecting on 73.5% of his free-throw looks.

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MRI Set For Scottie Barnes’ Ankle Injury

April 16th, 2022 at 8:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes will undergo an MRI on Sunday after injuring his left ankle in Saturday’s playoff game against the Sixers, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. X-rays on the ankle were negative, according to Lewenberg.

Barnes was injured early in the fourth quarter when Joel Embiid accidentally stepped on his foot on a drive to the basket, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Barnes collapsed to the court while grabbing his foot and remained down for several minutes. He had to be helped to the locker room and was unable to put much weight on the foot. The Raptors officially declared him out of the game a few minutes later.

Barnes was outstanding in his first career playoff game, posting 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 31 minutes. Toronto, which lost by 20 points, will likely need Barnes to make the series competitive.

The series will resume Monday in Philadelphia and will shift to Toronto on Wednesday, so Barnes won’t have much time to recover. The first two-day break comes before Game 4, which is next Saturday in Toronto.

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Atlantic Notes: Young, Siakam, VanVleet, Harden, Pressure

April 15th, 2022 at 11:27pm CST by Rory Maher

Raptors veteran Thaddeus Young has mixed feelings about facing his former club in the first-round of the playoffs, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Young was drafted by the Sixers back in 2007 and spent his first seven seasons with the team.

“Honestly, that’s where I grew up,” Young said. “That’s where I went from being a boy to a man. I started my family there, married my wife, (had my) two kids. I went from being a kid, getting drafted seven days after turning 19 years old, and then to leave there at 26 and go to another team, it was definitely a hard situation for me because I thought I would always be there.”

“Philly will always be another home for me. I still talk to people that sit courtside. I still talk to some of the people that work in the organization all the time. They’re family, but at the end of the day I’m with Toronto Raptors now and this is my new family. And I have to make sure that my new family is gonna get this win and get this series.”

As Lewenberg notes, Young is the only player in his thirties (he’s 33) on Toronto’s roster, and his experience and leadership has been invaluable to the young team.

“I think he’s been super vocal,” Pascal Siakam said of Young. “He’s been through a lot, he’s played in big games, and he’s been in the league for [a long time], so I think that’s another presence. Obviously, we (referring to himself and Fred VanVleet) like to think of ourselves as vets, but we have six years of experience in the NBA and he has 15. That’s so many games and I think that we can definitely learn from him.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

  • The Raptors need Siakam and VanVleet to lead the way in the postseason, according to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Siakam and VanVleet are polar opposites in terms of leadership styles, Smith notes. VanVleet is vocal and intense, holding teammates and himself accountable, while Siakam is a quiet, lead-by-example type. Both players will be critical to the team’s chances of making a deep playoff run.
  • Sixers guard James Harden claims he isn’t feeling any pressure to perform in the playoffs, as ESPN’s Tim Bontemps relays. “Pressure, no. I feel good,” Harden said with a smile after Thursday’s practice at the team’s facility. “I’m ready to hoop. There’s nothing to it.” Harden also gave credit to the Raptors, his first-round opponent. “They just fly around,” Harden said. “They play extremely hard. They kind of junk up the game. They have a lot of guys that are tall, athletic, long and solid defenders. They use their length very well, and they just have each other’s back. They run around, they scramble, and they fly around defensively, so for us we have to execute, making sure we’re crisp in our passes and if the shot’s available, take it.”
  • The stakes are extremely high for the Sixers after they made the major trade to acquire Harden, contends Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. If the 76ers have another early exit, they’ll have a tough decision to make with the 32-year-old former MVP, who’s expected to pick up his $47.4MM player option this summer and will be eligible for a massive four-year extension worth over $220MM.
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Scottie Barnes Named East's Rookie Of The Month

April 12th, 2022 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets guard Jalen Green and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes were named the Rookies of the Month for March/April in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the NBA announced on Monday (via Twitter).

Green got off to an up-and-down start this season but finished strong, averaging 22.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 3.2 APG on .484/.395/.763 shooting in 22 games in March and April. Barnes helped the Raptors secure the No. 5 seed in the East by putting up 16.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 4.0 APG on 50.5% shooting in his last 22 contests.

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