VANVLEET WILL BE READY

Fred VanVleet knew it was going to be bad and it was.

“It was sore, really sore,” he said of his injured shoulder the morning after helping the Raptors dispatch the Washington Wizards.

Fortunately there were no surprise developments after his shoulder went through the rigours of a full game for the first time in two weeks and he’s confident he can proceed as expected in Game 1 of the second round.

Not that there was ever much of a question about VanVleet finding a way.

“There was a lot of discomfort but it’s all part of the journey,” he siad. “Nothing serious. No long-term implications or anything. Just one of those things that is going to bother me a little bit.”

VanVleet’s return had the expected impact on the team. They looked

more like themselves and just more confident as a whole with him back on the floor and they are going to need all the confidence they can muster taking on LeBron James for a third consecutive year.

“I don’t know what else there is to say,” VanVleet replied when asked to sum up the challenge James presents. “Obviously, like I said, he’s one of the

best players in the league for a long time. Obviously, I respect the guy a lot, the type of player he is, obviously, the person is. But for me, the most respect I can give him is to not give him any respect in terms of going out there and just trying to challenge him and take him down, and that’s our job, and that’s what we need to do this week.”