Good news for Raptors with Ibaka, Lowry close to return
Injured Raptors Serge Ibaka, Kyle Lowry and Patrick McCaw find themselves at different stages of recovery, but the trio is trending in the right direction with the club heading for Atlanta to face the Hawks on Saturday night.
Ibaka, who suffered a rightankle sprain on Nov. 8 against the Pelicans in New Orleans, is the closest to a return. Coach Nick Nurse suggested Wednesday that the centre could be activated against Vince Carter and company, but Ibaka did not practise on Friday.
“There is a chance, but it’s unlikely,” Nurse said. “I really don’t like to throw a guy out there after he hasn’t had at least one good, decent practice beforehand.”
Ibaka, who did take some shots Friday without a wrap on the ankle, will travel with the team and was officially listed as doubtful. Two-way player Oshae Brissett, who was with the G League’s Raptors 905 on Friday morning, will also make the trip to give the Raptors another forward option off the bench.
The wait will be longer for Lowry, who also went down in the Pelicans game with a fractured left thumb. The team initially said the point guard would be re-evaluated Friday.
“Dec. 1, he should be ready to go,” Nurse said.
As for McCaw — the 24-yearold swingman who had a benign mass removed from the back of his left knee on Nov. 6, after playing just 40 minutes in his second season with the Raptors — Nurse was optimistic about his progress.
“(Raptors sports science VP Alex McKechnie) said he’s pain-free already,” Nurse said of McCaw, who was expected to miss about a month from the time of the surgery. “He said he’s moving around pretty well already. It’s a tissue-healing issue that just takes some time before we can really cut him loose.”
Rookie Dewan Hernandez (right thumb sprain) and forward Stanley Johnson (groin) will also sit out Saturday.
Until Ibaka, Lowry and McCaw are good to go, Nurse will continue to employ a next-man-up approach that has opened up opportunities for Terence Davis II, Chris Boucher and Rondae HollisJefferson — and given the coach a better look at they can do.
“I try to look at it as a really cool opportunity for some guys, and don’t fret very long about missing some guys and say, ‘OK, let’s look at the bright side,’ ” Nurse said earlier this week.
The coach knows depth will be important all season long. The more players he can trust, the more he can spread the minutes around and lighten the load on the veterans.
“Maybe some of our guys that are out get some miles rested and that’ll benefit us later in the year as well, and then we just try to look at what’s coming at us, and draw up a game plan based on who we do have and throw it out there,” Nurse said.
The bench’s inexperience relative to other NBA teams, and as a unit, has meant a lot of mixing and matching in the early part of the season.
“We’ll throw our game plan A out there and see how it’s going, and if it’s not going OK we’ll try to shift some things around and give them a chance to win,” Nurse said.
“As long as they keep playing as hard as they have been — they’ve been really playing hard — they’re giving themselves a chance to win a game. So let’s hope that continues for us.”