The Toronto Raptors only wanted to make it through Wednesday’s game without suffering an injury. Nope.
They made it into the fourth, but you can’t change defensive habits, and C.J. Miles took a tough charge early in the quarter that sent him to the locker room. A few plays prior, Miles had fallen underneath the Miami basket and looked a little banged up, too. It was hard to tell from the two plays what, specifically, was bothering him, but he took some time before returning late in the fourth quarter. He didn’t seem too hesitant about whatever it was, as he attempted to take another charge down the stretch.
A few minutes later, Serge Ibaka took a Kelly Olynyk elbow to the mouth and had to come out of the game after Kyle Lowry checked his teeth out. It didn’t look serious, but Ibaka looked to be in some discomfort and kept wiggling his teeth. There’s been no update on Ibaka, though he never checked back in down the stretch.
And then the most concerning one happened, as Fred VanVleet was hit with a(n illegal) screen and went down hard. He looked very disoriented upon getting up and was eventually taken to the locker room. VanVleet was diagnosed with a right shoulder bruise and is done for the game. There was no post-game update available, so the next news probably won’t come until Thursday at practice.
