It’s been a pretty quiet day for the Toronto Raptors, who are on their final two-day break of the regular season before closing out the year with six games in nine days.
Part of the reason things seemed so quiet out of practice Monday? No, not the fact that the Raptors are now locked into the two-seed, barring a Cleveland Cavaliers collapse, leaving little to talk about over the season’s final weeks, but because Kyle Lowry was absent from the session. Per Josh Lewenberg of TSN, Lowry has been excused to Houston to watch Villanova lose to North Carolina for the National Championship tonight.
You know who was at practice? DeMarre Carroll, who is still targeting a return to game action before the end of the regular season. Lewenberg has us covered:
Carroll and JT vs Bruno and Bebe. Who won? DeMarre: “We killed them. That wasn’t even a match-up” pic.twitter.com/x83YxvXbge
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 4, 2016
Carroll got in a full practice today. Casey said he’s coming along, moving well and swelling is down. Still no timetable for his return
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 4, 2016
Carroll is encouraged by the progress he’s making, said he feels much better after workouts now than he did pre-setback last month
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 4, 2016
So, that’s all good news! If he can get into a game by, say, Sunday against the Knicks, then play one of the season-closing Tuesday-Wednesday Philadelphia-Brooklyn back-to-back…he could play in the playoffs, right? (Bless the Atlantic Division, by the way.)
In other minor Raptors news, the organization has been named finalists for a pair of PBWA awards.
Head coach Dwane Casey is up for the Rudy Tomjanovich Award, given to the coach “who best combines excellence in his craft with cooperation with the media and fans,” an award Steve Kerr won a season ago. Casey’s up against Steve Clifford, Doc Rivers, Brad Stevens, and Stan Van Gundy.
The Raptors media relations staff, meanwhile, is capably defending their Brian McIntyre Award, given to the NBA PR staff that “exemplifies the standards of professionalism and excellence.” Last year’s well-deserved winners are up against the Hornets, Warriors, Suns, and Pistons this time around.
The other PBWA award is the Magic Johnson Award, the player version of the Tomjanovich one, but no Raptors are among the finalists.
