The Toronto Raptors’ rookie Scottie Barnes left the game in Philadelphia with an ankle injury, which led to his team’s Game 1 loss. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The Toronto Raptors rookie forward Scottie Barnes left the game in Philadelphia because of an ankle sprain. The team was defeated by the 76ers, 110-98. Read more in detail here: nba.
8:50 p.m. Eastern Time
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ESPN’s Tim Bontemps
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Scottie Barnes, a rookie forward for the Toronto Raptors, had a sprained left ankle and departed Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center in the fourth quarter.
Barnes’ ankle X-rays came back negative, but Raptors coach Nick Nurse indicated he will have further imaging done on Sunday. He said the same thing about Raptors player Thaddeus Young, who departed the game with a left thumb injury in the second quarter.
Barnes’ injury is “terrible, dude,” Raptors forward Pascal Siakam said. “Obviously, he puts in a lot of effort, and he’s been performing well this season.” And I know he was really looking forward to the playoffs and wanted to be there to play.
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“So, sure, dude, we’ll see what happens. We obviously want to see him at the next game. But, yes, it’s heartbreaking to watch him fall. And I know it’s difficult for him because he wanted to be with us out there.”
When 76ers player Joel Embiid accidently stomped on Barnes’ left foot while driving into the lane, Barnes was in the lane playing defense. Barnes collapsed in a heap and gripped his left foot, apparently in agony, and stayed down for many minutes while Toronto’s training staff responded to him. Without being able to put much, if any, weight on his left foot, he was ultimately assisted to Toronto’s locker room.
A short time later, Barnes was declared out of the game. In his first career postseason game, he produced 15 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 31 minutes.
Nurse remarked of Barnes’ performance before his injury in his first NBA playoff game, “I thought he was really excellent.” “I believed he was doing a great job. I felt he was confident and making terrific plays out there. I’d like to see him get a couple more rim shots or just more shot attempts in general. He put up 15, and I felt he was cutting nicely and making some beautiful passes as he was moving to the free throw line. He seemed to belong out there, in my opinion. I think he looked like he belonged out there for a young rookie playing in his first playoff game on the road against a pretty talented club.”
Barnes, the fourth overall choice in last year’s draft, has had an outstanding rookie season, competing for Rookie of the Year accolades with Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley throughout the season. During the regular season, Barnes averaged 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 74 games for Toronto.
Young, however, departed the game after only a few minutes in the second quarter with a thumb injury and was promptly declared out for the remainder of the night.
Young, who was acquired by Toronto in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs at the NBA’s trade deadline, had one rebound and missed his lone shot in his return to Philadelphia, where he started his career after being picked 12th overall in 2007.
Barnes and Young’s injuries were just one of several issues that Toronto faced in Game 1. The Raptors allowed the 76ers to shoot 51% from the field, including 50% (16-of-32) from beyond the arc. Toronto was also outrebounded 39-36, including 10-7 on offensive rebounds, and only forced four turnovers, none in the first half.
While Nurse praised the 76ers for being the more aggressive team that outplayed the Raptors on Saturday, he also claimed that more calls against Embiid, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists while getting to the free throw line 11 times, should have been made.
“The reply is that if we’re lawful defensively, we’ve got to trust they’re going to call those,” Nurse said. “Like, we beat him to the place a number of times and he bowled us right over, and they just let him lay it in.”
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds; it’s a foul if you beat him to the area and he runs over.” He seemed to have thrown three or four elbows to the face, in my opinion. He was summoned for one. OK. We’re going to stand in there. We simply need to have them called if we’re going to be legal defensively. Otherwise, we don’t have a chance. Nobody can protect that man if they simply let him run you over over and again.
“We’re going to stand in there and see if we can’t get a few more elbow to the face calls and a few more beat them to the spot calls,” says the group.
