CAMDEN, N.J.–Whenever a team loses one of its best players, things obviously change for them. For the Toronto Raptors, they are facing the possibility of losing prized rookie Scottie Barnes due to a foot injury he suffered in Philadelphia’s Game 1 win.
There is so much that Barnes does for the Raptors every night as a guy who can defend multiple positions, he is able to do so many things out on the floor, and he is able to provide a presence. He had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 31:34 of playing time in his playoff debut, and possibly losing a guy like that hurts any team.
“When you lose a good player, it hurts you,” said coach Doc Rivers. “That’s just obvious. He’s not a rookie, I’ll tell you that much. He’s a smart–we were showing film today, he just does really non-rookie things. He’s just smart with his rotations, guarding two guys at once with his instincts, with his length, he’s one of their better defenders. So that’ll change things. They’ll have to do something different.”
Nick Nurse says it’s likely that Scottie Barnes, Thad Young and Gary Trent are all doubtful for Game 2, but that the team will monitor them all over the next 24 hours and see where things go.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 17, 2022
Barnes probably would have been a prime candidate to defend Tyrese Maxey after he scored 38 points on 14-for-21 shooting with five triples in the series opener.
“I don’t know if Scottie Barnes is gonna play or not, but I assume Scottie would have been guarding Tyrese,” said Danny Green. “Put a bigger body on him to try and affect him with length.”
Green has a relationship with Barnes as he even gifted Barnes his championship jacket from the 2019 title run with the Raptors. So seeing him go down the way he did in Game 1 is tough.
“It sucked,” added Green. “It’s the playoffs, I’m focused on my team right now, but obviously, when it’s all said and done, I’ll check on him and make sure he’s good. I hope he’s OK. You obviously don’t wanna see anybody hurt. I’m praying for him and his family, but this is part of the NBA. Guys get hurt.”
With that being said, Green was injured in the 2021 playoffs for the Sixers against the Atlanta Hawks and nobody felt sorry for Philadelphia. Nobody is going to feel sorry for the Raptors in this situation.
“Last year, I got hurt,” Green finished. “Nobody felt sorry for us. Nobody feels sorry for them. It sucks. I hope he’s OK and like I said, when it’s all said and done, I will check on him.”
Game 2 of this series is set for Monday from Philadelphia.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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