With 7:06 to play in the third quarter on Friday, Jonas Valanciunas took a LeBron James elbow to the midsection fighting for a defensive rebound.
LeBron takes out JV’s ribs. pic.twitter.com/Iw5DAHcARf
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) February 27, 2016
Valanciunas hit the floor and stayed down for several moments before checking out of the game. On the sideline, he appeared to be working on his breathing and stretching out his chest or intercostal muscles, so it seems plausible he hurt a rib.
He went to the locker room shortly after. The team announced late in the third that Valanciunas is available to return after having his ribs and diaphragm examined (just examined – he didn’t require X-rays). He was able to return early in the fourth.
Prior to exiting, he was 3-of-3 from the floor for six points with four rebounds in 17 minutes. While the team started each half pretty poorly on defense, Valanciunas wasn’t playing poorly; it’s just an expectedly tough matchup for the Valanciunas-Luis Scola frontcourt duo.
Bismack Biyombo played excellently in the first half, so the Raptors didn’t lose a ton with Valanciunas only missing a few minutes. Biyombo had an array of dunks that got his chest puffed out, and he finished the first half with 10 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting and a plus-3 rating despite the team’s four-point deficit.
If Valanciunas had been ruled out for the game, that could mean super-small lineups – tough against Cleveland – or some Lucas Nogueira. Nogueira hasn’t seen meaningful run since Dec. 22, relegated to DNP-CDs and garbage time, though he did see extended run in a blowout loss on Feb. 1. During Valanciunas’ 17-game absence earlier in the year, Nogueira had a terrific three-game stretch before suffering an injury of his own and losing his momentum, as well as his playing time.
Valanciunas is averaging 12.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks on the season while shooting 55.3 percent from the floor
