Whereas nobody anticipated the Toronto Raptors to be aggressive throughout the 2024-25 season, they’ve a minimum of been one of the vital thrilling groups to observe within the NBA. Nevertheless, accidents have been troubling the Raptors all season lengthy, with Immanuel Quickley nonetheless on the mend and Scottie Barnes, shortly after getting back from an orbital fracture, continuing to injure his ankle. To make issues worse, the Raptors could also be at risk of lacking Jakob Poeltl after their beginning heart sustained a serious-looking groin harm of their 122-121 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night time.
Poeltl, as per Josh Lewenberg of TSN, ended up slipping on a spot close to the restricted space the place officers have been coping with condensation earlier within the sport. It was a brutal trying slip for the Raptors heart, as he almost did a full slip whereas making an attempt to contest a floater try from Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu.
On the very least, the excellent news for the Raptors is that Poeltl was in a position to return to the locker room below his personal energy, though it needs to be mentioned that he was strolling gingerly. Poeltl needed to exit the sport early (he left the sport on the 10:12 mark of the fourth quarter) and was not in a position to return, so he was not current for when Toronto stormed again from a double-digit deficit and almost snatched the victory.
The hope for the Raptors is that the groin harm Poeltl suffered is not too severe and that he can be again to motion for his or her Thursday night time contest towards the Brooklyn Nets. If Poeltl can’t go on Thursday, anticipate the likes of Chris Boucher, Kelly Olynyk, and even Jamal Shead to get some prolonged burn.
Raptors scrap and claw amid tanking season
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If there ever was a 12 months for the Raptors to punt, it is this season; along with Cooper Flagg, a number of of the incoming NBA prospects appear like gems, with the likes of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, simply to call a number of, trying like franchise-altering abilities. However they’ve been constructing some successful habits this season even when it hasn’t resulted in a lot on the wing column.
Though the Raptors have a foul 7-20 document, they’ve proven an indomitable preventing spirit, and that may be a testomony to the strong teaching of Darko Rajakovic that he has his males able to compete on most nights. And Monday night time confirmed nothing totally different, as they almost got here again from 16 all the way down to make the Bulls sweat within the endgame — even with Jakob Poeltl exiting early.