Terrence Ross is out indefinitely with a left thumb ligament injury, the team announced during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game against the New York Knicks.
Ross was an unexpected inactive for the game after injuring the thumb in a workout on Monday. After Tuesday’s game, Ross was wearing a brace on his left thumb/wrist and said he hit his hand on a teammate, causing the injury. He said he could be back as quickly as two weeks but was clear that was on the early end of a potential timeline.
The timing really couldn’t be worse as the Raptors have been without starting small forward DeMarre Carroll for the last two games due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
The absence of both players Tuesday led to spot minutes for Norman Powell at the two, another start for James Johnson at the three, and, somewhat surprisingly, heavy run for Anthony Bennett at small forward. Bennett did not acquit himself very well, struggling on offense and getting roasted by Carmelo Anthony at the other end of the floor.
The Raptors turned to a two-point guard look for the bulk of the fourth quarter, and that’s something they may explore doing on a more regular basis if the injuries to Ross and Carroll linger. The Raptors had outscored opponents by 13.9 points per-100 possessions with Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph sharing the floor entering play Tuesday, and the two seem to have discovered a nice chemistry in very short order.
Prior to hurting his thumb, Ross had played four obscenely poor games in a row. This, immediately following a three-year, $31-million contract extension being signed, requires a shrug of the shoulders and additional, if undeserved patience. The Raptors have a paucity of wing options thanks to using the end of the roster on youth – Powell doesn’t appear quite ready for regular run, Delon Wright has hardly been a rumor, and Bruno Caboclo was almost surely headed to the D-League this weekend before the injury bug bite.
Ross is averaging 6.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 17.4 minutes over seven games, shooting 36.4 percent from the floor and 28 percent from long-range. The outside shooting mark can be expected to correct once he returns, as the majority of Ross’ misses have been open looks that he normally cans with some regularity, the one area of his game that’s generally reliable.
As poorly as Ross has started the season, the injury threatens to leave the Raptors searching for answers in the rotation. They’ll need to either trust an unproven youngster in Powell, trust Johnson, who’s fallen out of favor on several occasions, continue to roll the dice with Bennett’s learning on the job, or task DeMar DeRozan with more time at small forward than initially intended. There’s also a small risk this causes the team to rush Carroll back, a move that would be quite regrettable given the nature of plantar fasciitis.
In any case, Ross’ injury highlights two of the primary concerns about the team entering the season: Wing depth and bench scoring. Ross hadn’t been providing much of either hut was a fair bet to bounce back to some degree, even if any success would always feel tenuous. It’s now time for head coach Dwane Casey to get a little creative and, mostly, cross his fingers for a speedy recovery for his two injured wings.
