Raptors close to full strength

Just when Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse thought he was going to get a chance to roll out close to an ideal lineup, Kyle Lowry’s back put a wrench in those plans.

After a spirited Christmas Day practice here, Nurse had told Postmedia “Serge (Ibaka) is good, ready to go (for Wednesday night’s game against the Heat), everybody except (Jonas Valanciunas, out with an injured thumb) will be ready to go.”

Ibaka, the team’s starting centre, missed three games in a row due to knee soreness and all-star point guard Lowry sat for four due to thigh and back issues before playing 31 minutes in his native Philadelphia on Saturday.

But something changed between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, as Lowry, clad in sweats, sat and watched while his teammates went through shootaround. Afterward, his status was switched to doubtful, due to the wonky back.

Barring another lastminute swing, Wednesday’s game against Miami would be yet another missed opportunity for stars Lowry and Kawhi Leonard to develop chemistry with each other and the rest of the starting group. It would mark the ninth time in 13 December outings that one or the other would be out of the lineup.

Still, at some point, they’ll all be healthy and the return of Ibaka and starting shooting guard Danny Green were first steps.

“We’ve got a couple more guys back tonight. Serge is healthy and looking good, Danny wasn’t quite right in Philly the other night, even though he gave it a go. He also feeling better,” Nurse said Wednesday morning. “For us, we’re just hoping to get our team together so we can see what they look like as a unit.

“We’ve had too many (injuries) at once. It’s all right. We’ll be better for it in the end,” Nurse said.

Despite all of the absences, Nurse is happy with how his Nba-leading team has fared, though there are always improvements to be made.

“As I look back at the first 35 (games) I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made,” he said. “I’m pretty happy with the growth. I think there’s more to come and we just have to get our healthy bodies on the floor so we can build some chemistry and continue to grow.”

Nurse pointed to the defence as the main area that can be strengthened. He says the play of Leonard, following his long injury layoff last season while with San Antonio, has exceeded expectations and reiterated that Leonard figures to be able to play both ends of back-to-back sets starting in January.

“Still not in any big hurry, although I think we’re to that point where we’re probably just going to let him play. We’ve taken a lot of the restrictions off. I think we’ve been smart, handled it well (as an organization). Our team has handled it well, too,’’ he said. “We’ve played pretty good when he’s out. I’m most excited that he continues to show us more and more all the time and I think there’s still more to come.”