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Pre-game news & notes: Lowry out with injured wrist, Ibaka and Tucker debut

Hey, they have power forwards again! Let's go!

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IMPORTANT UPDATE: SCROLL DOWN TO RAPTORS UPDATES. KYLE LOWRY IS INJURED.

The Boston Celtics are in town, which probably explains why I’ve been feeling petty, salty, and combative all day. Those aren’t flaws, to be clear. Being petty has a place, and when it comes to the Afflecks, there aren’t enough salt bae memes in the world to push past the line of what’s appropriate. This might not be a rivalry yet – there’s no playoff history, Toronto has dominated over the last few years, and the Raptors lead the current series 2-1 – but it’s on his way, and the Celtics standing pat on deadline day was almost as much cause for celebration in Toronto as the Raptors’ own additions.

Adding in the debut of Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker (who thinks he’ll play), the eight-day gap between games, and the ESPN crew here to broadcast this thing nationally in the U.S., this has all the makings of one of the better nights at the Air Canada Centre this year.

He spoke to media before the game, and here’s a sampling of the attitude he’s bringing here. It would be tough to walk away from that session anything but convinced he’s going to be a spiritual fit with this team.

The game tips off at 8 on Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 590, and ESPN in the U.S. You can check out the full game preview here.

Raptors updates
Friday marks the debut of Serge Ibaka and the return of Patrick Patterson. Power forwards! The month-long stretch of using a rookie or using two centers at a time or no second big at all are over for the time being. The question now becomes what Dwane Casey does with the rotation, who subs in for whom when, what lineups he deploys, and so on. As I wrote about in the pre-game, the next 25 games are about playing better and winning, yes, but more than anything else, they’re about learning.

P.J. Tucker will play despite his midnight flight being delayed and him not getting in until 9:30 a.m. this morning.

Oh, and KYLE LOWRY IS OUT WITH A WRIST INJURY. This is bad, bad news. Lowry apparently hurt his right wrist against Charlotte, thought it would be fine to play in the All-Star Game, and was still experiencing discomfort when he returned from the break. He’s undergone some testing already and is set for more, and Casey revealed that this is not a one day thing. Lowry is injured, and that’s a massive hit to the Raptors, even with Cory Joseph and Delon Wright behind him. This is not how the team wanted – and needed – to come out of the break.

If you want to question why Lowry played in the All-Star Game, uhh, yeah, by all means. Without knowing specifics, it’s hard to lay blame on anyone in particular, but playing through an injury during potential time off and returning still hurt is not a good look for the player or the team. This…is bad. And there probably won’t be more information for a few days still, in terms of a timeline.

“Unfortunately, we’re not gonna have Kyle tonight,” Casey said. “He hurt his wrist in the Charlotte game. Thought it was gonna get better, it’s still, he had X-rays today or images today, he’s gonna get more images next week. So that’s a blow. That’s a huge blow for us. But it’s an opportunity for Cory and Delon to step in and play. I don’t know how long he’s gonna be out. It’s not gonna be a one-day thing.”

PG: Cory Joseph, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carrol, P.J. Tucker, Bruno Caboclo
PF: Serge Ibaka, Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
TBD: None
ASSIGNED: None
OUT: Kyle Lowry

Celtics updates
Avery Bradley travelled with the Celtics and participated in shootaround, but it’s considered unlikely that he’ll play. He’s been dealing with a sore Achilles for basically all of 2017, and with the Celtics rolling just fine in his stead, there’s little reason to rush him back. Achilles are fickle, so the Celtics are right to be cautious here. Bradley’s a nice defensive piece and adds to the team’s defensive versatility, giving them an extra option against Kyle Lowry in particular (he’s a little small for DeMar DeRozan).

Gerald Green (heel) is out, while Jaylen Brown (hip, which may or may not be lying) is expected to suit up. If Green and Bradley are both down, the Celtics are a bit thin on the wing, but they’ve got some nice depth through downsizing, anyway.

UPDATE: Bradley and Green are out, Brown is in.

PG: Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Demetrius Jackson
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jae Crowder, James Young
PF: Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, Jordan Mickey
C: Al Horford, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller
Assigned: None
TBD: None
Out: Gerald Green, Avery Bradley

Assorted

  • Coming off of a huge win at home last night, all three 905ers – Fred VanVleet, Bruno Caboclo, and Pascal Siakam – were recalled. VanVleet, in particular, was terrific, while Siakam struggled a bit but brought some terrific energy. A few more games down there should do Siakam some good, and the 905 hit the road Saturday, then play four games next week, so there will be ample opportunity.
  • In related news, the 905 are losing Axel Toupane to the Milwaukee Bucks via a 10-day contract, which you can read about here.
  • Over at The Athletic – subscription required but recommended, ’cause I got kids dogs a taco habit to feed – I broke down the luxury tax crunch the Raptors will be facing this summer. It’s not urgent reading, and you’re more than welcome to just ignore the looming questions until after we see how the pieces all fit. But if you’re a planner, there that is. (I’ll obviously have something similar on these pages, but probably not until the eve of free agency when I drop my annual salary cap primer.)

The line

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