The Toronto Raptors really can’t get good news without bad immediately following. In the same game in which they got Jared Sullinger back in a surprise return from injury, they may have lost a player to a head injury. For the second night in a row, no less.
In the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers, DeMarre Carroll fell in the paint, and his head collided with the knee of rookie Pascal Siakam. Carroll stayed on the floor for a long period of time, eventually being rolled on to his back, and then staying down for another long stretch of time. The collision looked quite bad, and after the long delay, Carroll was slow to head to the locker room.
Carroll is being examined by the 76ers medical staff, according to the broadcast. Apparently the neck was their focus, not necessarily his head. He will not return due to what the team is calling a sore neck, which is about as rosy a diagnosis as you can hope for following that collision.
Here’s hoping Carroll feels better in short order. Head and neck injuries are scary things, and the Raptors will surely be cautious with their only recently returned-to-form combo-forward. The timing is never good for an injury like this, but it’s likely to be particularly frustrating for Carroll given the groove he’s finally found of late. If he were to miss time, Norman Powell would likely start and Terrence Ross would see his role expand off the bench. The Raptors would probably also play small a little less, which stretches their frontcourt (down Patrick Patterson and Lucas Nogueira) even thinner.
Above all else, though, here’s hoping Carroll is OK because we want Carroll to be OK.
More as we have it.
