Raptors: Scottie Barnes to make his return from injury on Friday

The Toronto Raptors may have won a few tough road games over the last few days, but they’ve done so with an incomplete roster, as Scottie Barnes has been sidelined with a thumb injury sustained late in a win over Chris Duarte and the Pacers. This put his sensational rookie season on pause.

While it’s too early to declare a Rookie of the Year, Barnes is doing everything he can to make a charge for the award, as he averaged 18.1 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first seven NBA games, His finishing, on-ball defense, and gradually improving jumper have all helped him gel with this team quickly.

Barnes’ injury has been handled with the utmost dare given how valuable he is to this team and their plan for the future. Luckily for fans everywhere, Barnes seems ready to make his triumphant return against a surprisingly competitive opponent.

According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN, Barnes will be in the lineup for Toronto’s game against fellow rookie standout Evan Mobley and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Barnes had his thumb injury examined Thursday morning and was given clearance to play in this game.

Fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Even with the wins, Barnes’ health had to be a priority for this squad.

Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes is returning from injury.

Without Barnes, Svi Mykhailiuk has earned two stars against the Knicks and Wizards. Not only did he perform exceptionally well on the offensive end, but he did so while helping the Raptors pick up consecutive wins against some very talented teams. Still, the Raptors are a better team when they have Barnes in the lineup.

Barnes was leading the team in scoring for a brief period, as OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet started the season slowly. Now that both of them have found their stroke from 3-point range, look for Barnes to make his presence felt on both sides of the ball.

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Barnes has been a revelation during his rookie season, as despite the fact he was billed as a raw offensive player that was a year or two away from contributing on offense, he’s shown that he can already take games over.

While the Raptors may need to watch how Barnes performs and examine if he is ever at risk of aggravating the injury, it looks like their exciting youngster is ready to dominate on the court once again for a Raptors team that is playing quality basketball at the moment.