The injury bug has been terrible to the Raptors all season, but this news couldn't possibly come at a worse time.
The Toronto Raptors clinched their first playoff spot since 2022 after a dominant 136-101 win against the Brooklyn Nets in the regular season finale. Two-time All-Star Scottie Barnes needed only three quarters to capture his ninth career triple-double, finishing with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists to match three blocks and a steal.
Toronto finished the regular season as well as they possibly could have, winning three games in six days and clinching the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. After a rollercoaster ride of a season, the Raptors should be grateful to be facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs instead of the New York Knicks.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) with Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) and forward Scottie Barnes (4) | © Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
They went an abysmal 0-5 against New York this season with an overall point differential of -98. Their record with the Cavaliers, on the other hand, was 3-0; this marks the only team in the top-10 that the Raptors were able to get multiple wins against. It’s worth mentioning, though, that all three games against Cleveland came before the midseason blockbuster trade in which they acquired 11-time All-Star James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers in return for Darius Garland.
While it’s good news that the Raptors will face Cleveland in the first round, they were hit with bad news just one day after clinching the playoff spot.
It was announced on Monday that starting point guard Immanuel Quickley was diagnosed with a mild hamstring strain and should be considered day-to-day moving forward. He has played in three of the last four games after missing eight straight with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. This puts his availability for Game 1 of the ECQF on Saturday in Cleveland at risk.
This is brutal timing for a team that has had to overcome so many injuries this season. It’s well known at this point that Jakob Poeltl, Collin Murray-Boyles, and RJ Barrett combined to miss 84 games this season alone. It seems all of the Raptors’ main rotation players, outside of Jamal Shead and Sandro Mamukelashvili, have dealt with injuries that they have played through for a majority of the season, but this is unfortunate news during a time when the Raptors should be enjoying the moment.
Luckily for Toronto, head coach Darko Rajakovic was given time to experiment with the lineup without Quickley while he was out at the end of March and beginning of April. Barnes was responsible for the ball-handling and playmaking duties in his absence, and he flourished in that role.
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) | © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn ImagesHe averaged double-digit assists over the eight-game stretch, and the insertion of second-year guard Ja’Kobe Walter into the starting lineup also proved to be useful. His lights-out three-point shooting filled a hole that the Raptors’ starting lineup possessed all season long, so if they are forced to play without the $32.5 million point guard, they’ll be ready.