UPDATE: Barnes will play on Thursday.
The Toronto Raptors’ 137-118 defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday sealed the Raptors’ fate and confirmed the Eastern Conference postseason picture. Toronto’s elimination means that they, along with the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, and Washington Wizards, will drop into the lottery. The Bulls will participate in the Play-In Tournament, the only team in either conference to confirm that position so far.
With nothing left to play for, it’s unsurprising that the Raptors are listing former All-Star Scottie Barnes on the injury report with a hand injury. Barnes has been a somewhat regular inclusion on the report, but he’s been relatively durable, missing just four total games since returning from the early-season orbital fracture that held him out of action for more than three weeks. He’s missed one game with a hand issue before, the March 12 contest against the Philadelphia 76ers.
It’s been a difficult season for the 2021-22 Rookie of the Year, who’s averaged 19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game while posting just a 47.7% effective field goal percentage, the fourth-worst among 119 qualified players this season. At least he’s shown some flashes of defensive improvements, ranking 20th of 181 qualified players in steal percentage.
If he plays, he’ll have a relatively tough matchup against a Portland team that, while merely league-average defensively, has one of the better individual perimeter defenders in the league in Toumani Camara, who won Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month in February. Between Camara and Matisse Thybulle, who’s now healthy, Barnes could find himself hounded on Thursday night.
With Jakob Poeltl and Immanuel Quickley resting and Gradey Dick still out with a hyperextended knee, it’s unclear who Toronto would start. If Barnes is out, it’s likely that the Raptors would opt for a starting lineup of Jamal Shead, RJ Barrett, Ja’Kobe Walter, Orlando Robinson, and either Ochai Agbaji or Jamison Battle.
