According to Bryan Meler of Yahoo! Sports Canada, Toronto Raptors small forward Scottie Barnes of West Palm Beach, Florida will miss the next three weeks with a broken orbital bone. Barnes suffered the injury on Monday in a 127-125 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Barnes was in an attempt to get the rebound with 24 seconds left against the Nuggets, when he received a hit to the eye from three-time NBA most valuable player award winner and Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic of Sombor, Serbia, who was also attempting to get the rebound. Without Barnes, the Raptors were still able to battle with the Nuggets in the five minute extra overtime period, but in the end lost by a single field goal.
Barnes who was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2022, and was an All-Star in 2023-24 for the first time, is arguably the face of the Raptors franchise. In the first four games this season, he is averaging 19.3 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, six assists per game, and two steals per game. Barnes also has a field goal percentage of .460, three point percentage of .182, and a free throw percentage of .739.
Without Barnes over the next three weeks, the Raptors are expected to be where they are projected to be. That is in last place in the Atlantic Division.
At this time, the Raptors have the worst record in the East at one win and four losses. Their only win came a week ago when they stunned the Philadelphia 76ers 115-107. But it was Barnes who led the way with 27 points.
There are two other teams at 1-4. It should be no surprise that one of the teams is the Detroit Pistons. What is stunning is that the other team is the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee has lost four straight games, and none of the losses have been remotely close (between 11 and 23 points).
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