Raptors vs. Magic Injury Report: Multiple Stars Sit First Emirates NBA Cup Game

Friday night marks the first day of the 2026-27 regular season with Emirates NBA Cup games, and the Toronto Raptors are set for a rematch with the Orlando Magic. After handily defeating them 129-99 on Wednesday, head coach Darko Rajakovic is looking to push his squad towards an early 4-1 record, along with a 1-0 record in the NBA Cup group stage. 

Unfortunately, what would normally be a very exciting matchup is taken away due to the biggest problem throughout the league: injuries. Seven-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard continues to recover and regain his conditioning as he nurses some swelling in his left knee. On the other side, the Magic are without superstar forward Paolo Banchero due to an ankle sprain, along with starting point guard Jalen Suggs, who picked up a right knee contusion earlier in the week. 

Going into tonight’s matchup, nothing changes for either team in this sense, according to the official NBA injury report. For Orlando, Jonathan Isaac is still out with left knee injury management, and he is joined by Noah Penda and Izaiyah Nelson. For the Raptors, Leonard is again joined by Nate Bittle, out with a right avulsion fracture, and Malachi Smith, who is with the Raptors 905 G League team. 

Franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes had quite the switch-up on Wednesday. After recording zero points against the Timberwolves for just the second time in his career, he turned around and contributed 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting. He was able to do so by putting more emphasis on working his way from the inside out, scoring all of his first few buckets in the paint through layups or dunks. While Leonard is out, the time is now to determine who will be able to provide the offensive stability to get the team out of opposing runs and get the half-court sets rolling. 

RJ Barrett is the other lead candidate for leading the team in scoring, and in the final year of his contract, he has delivered so far. The former No. 3 pick in the 2019 NBA draft has scored at least 20 points in each of the Raptors’ four games so far, and the Toronto native has discussed his willingness and readiness to step up in his superstar teammate’s absence. 

The Raptors have again struggled to start the year in terms of outside shooting, and Barrett has been no different, shooting just 1-for-11 from behind the three-point line. He was able to turn that around against Orlando with a 3-for-7 performance to help boost Toronto to 43% shooting as a team. Given the team’s 29th-place ranking in three-point percentage before Wednesday, they’ll hope that it’s a sign of what’s to come instead of an anomaly. Their next chance to prove that it is the new normal comes tonight in the most important game of the year so far.