DeRozan still recovering from ankle injury
BOSTON — It took a near impossible shot with just over four seconds remaining in overtime against a Western Conference weak sister, but for a night the Raptors righted the ship.
Kyle Lowry made that shot, the veritable cherry on top of a 33-point sundae that at least temporarily calmed the panicked waters that surround the Toronto Raptors who have now lost only six of it’s past eight games.
The win over New Orleans came without the aid of DeMar DeRozan, the guy who stands beside the guy who hit that near impossible shot and who together are primarily responsible for making this team go.
Lowry had to carry the load at least one more game without DeRozan who was held back a second game last night in Boston to allow his wonky right ankle to heal.
DeRozan missed three games after turning the ankle in a loss to Phoenix a week ago Sunday.
He returned a week later on Sunday past in a loss to Orlando but some post-game swelling convinced the team’s medical staff that a two-day, in this case twogame layoff, was in order.
The Raptors medical staff have been nothing if not consistent with their approach to injuries.
The rule of thumb appears to be, when in doubt, hold them out.
This is not a criticism of that approach. The regular season is a long one and if Gregg Popovich and the Spurs management team have taught us anything over the past couple of years it is that sometimes we can get too caught up in short-term results, sometimes at the expense of long-term success.
Sitting out DeRozan a game or two now to give the Raptors a better chance of having him fully healthy when every result is paramount in the playoffs just seems like good business. It’s not a guarantee, but it does bump the odds.
The Raptors are paying a stiffer price in terms of injuries this year than they have in the past. Through games played Jan 29 the team has lost players a total of 103 games due to injury according to mangameslost.com.
All of last season, that number was just 106, but the numbers are somewhat deceiving.
A full 82 of those games lost this year due to injury are the result of two pre-season surgeries to Jared Sullinger and Delon Wright. Take those away and the Raps have lost just 24 games to injury which puts them right there among the healthiest NBA teams with Phoenix who have lost just 25 games total due to injury.
“I don’t think too many people got injured last year,” Patrick Patterson said after the win when the subject of injuries came up. “But it seems like this year is the exact opposite. It’s like a domino effect, one after the other. But it’s better that it happens now than in April.”
Patterson himself missed 10 games with a strained left knee. His loss was compounded when Lucas Nogueira missed a couple while in the NBA concussion protocol. Now it seems it’s DeRozan’s turn.
“With him it’s all about being 100%, pain free, being able to do everything he ant to do and play the way he want to play before he comes back,” Patterson said of DeRozan.
“I know he wants to get out there as soon as possible, but we’ll do our best to hold it down. We need him 100% before he steps back on the court,” Patterson said.