According to Shams Charania of ESPN on Wednesday, Toronto Raptors power forward Scottie Barnes of West Palm Beach, Florida will miss the next several weeks with a high ankle sprain. This is the second significant injury Barnes has had this season. On October 28, he broke his orbital bone and missed the next 11 games.
Barnes injured his ankle on Monday against the New York Knicks. He fell on Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns of Edison, New Jersey while attempting to block a shot. Barnes needed assistance off the court and could not put any weight whatsoever on his foot. By seeing his reaction after suffering the injury, it was clear the diagnosis would simply not be good.
The injury happened with six minutes and 47 seconds left in the third quarter. At the time, the Raptors were leading 73-68. When Barnes left the game, the Knicks outscored the Raptors 45-35 and won the game 113-108. It is also interesting that the Raptors lost to the Miami Heat by a full 10 points on Wednesday in their first game without Barnes again. Miami won 114-104. When Barnes was out the first time, the Raptors only once. That was on November 2, in a 131-128 Raptors win over the Sacramento Kings. It was on this night that the Raptors honoured Hall of Famer Vince Carter by retiring his number 15.
So far this season, Barnes is averaging 20.6 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game, 7.4 assists per game, and 1.3 steals per game. He has a field goal percentage of .461, three point percentage of .310, and free throw percentage of .725.
