Sports
Raptors Shorthanded as RJ Barrett Pops Up On Injury List
The Toronto Raptors will once again be down at least three starters Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons.
RJ Barrett is the latest to be ruled out as he’s now listed as out for personal reasons. He’s joined by Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl who continue to be sidelined following hand surgery earlier this month.
Chris Boucher remains out with a partial MCL tear. He’s expected to miss multiple weeks, if not the remainder of the season as he recovers from surgery.
DJ Carton and Mouhamadou Gueye remain out as well.
Toronto has listed Gary Trent Jr. and Immanuel Quickley as questionable with a right groin strain and left hip flexor strain, respectively. If both players cannot play, Toronto could be without all five of its typical starters.
The Raptors were forced to start Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown, Gradey Dick, and Ochai Agbaji on Monday night against the Denver Nuggets. Jordan Nwora, Jalen McDaniels, Jontay Porter, and Javon Freeman-Liberty should be available off the bench Wednesday night.
Detroit has listed Ausar Thompson as questionable with asthma. Thompson did not play Monday night for the Pistons.
The Raptors currently sit one game back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth-worst record in the league and a 46% chance at landing a top-six pick in the NBA Draft. They sit 4.5 games back of the Portland Trail Blazers for the fifth-worst record.
Toronto is listed as +2.5-point underdogs on the road against Detroit with an implied win probability of 47.6%. The total for the game is 233.5.