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TSN Raptors Reporter

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Earlier this week, Raptors coach Nick Nurse contemplated what he was going to do with his lineup once his team got back to full strength.

At that point it seemed imminent. Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Patrick McCaw had recently returned from injury and were just starting to look like themselves again. Fred VanVleet and Matt Thomas were on the mend and expected back soon.

For the first time since Oct. 30 – the fifth game of the season – the Raptors would be whole again, or so they thought.

Facing the Pistons in Detroit on Wednesday, Toronto came away with a 112-99 win, but it was a costly victory.

Marc Gasol was lost to a hamstring injury in the first quarter. Trying to get back in transition, the starting centre suddenly grabbed the back of his left leg and motioned over to the team’s bench. He limped to the locker room and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.

With just a few minutes left to play, Norman Powell ran into a screen set by Pistons forward Blake Griffin and went down holding his left shoulder. You could see the pain and frustration on his face. Powell had missed 21 games after dislocating that same shoulder last season.

An injury update from the team on Thursday revealed Gasol had sustained a strained left hamstring and, for the second time in a year, Powell suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder. Both players will be out indefinitely.

However, there was a third and unexpected casualty listed on the report. Pascal Siakam, the team’s budding superstar, stretched – or pulled – his groin while landing awkwardly after his dunk attempt was blocked midway through the fourth quarter. He too is out indefinitely, as all three players will be re-evaluated over the coming weeks.

In one night, the Raptors lost their best player, most valuable defender and hottest scorer. It’s a bleak turn of events for a team that’s been snake-bitten with injuries so far this season.

“Honestly, we avoided the injury bug last year and that really helped us throughout the whole year,” Lowry pointed out after Wednesday’s game. “But it’s been pretty tough for our team [this year].”

Indeed, a lot went right for the Raptors last season. To win a championship you’ve obviously got to be really good, but you also have to catch a few lucky breaks along the way. Toronto was both really good and very fortunate.

The Raptors lost 131 man-games to injury or illness last season, not including Kawhi Leonard’s load management – ninth-fewest in the NBA. Just a third of the way into this season, they’ve already lost 82 man-games – seventh-most in the NBA. Extrapolated over the course of a full campaign, they’re on pace to lose 249 man-games to injury.

Each of their top-eight rotation players has missed at least one game. Seven of them have already sustained a significant injury and have either missed extended time or are about to. Ironically, their healthiest player to this point, OG Anunoby, was their most snake-bitten a year ago.

Alas, it’s part of the game. Injuries happen and no matter how bad it seems, it can almost always be worse. To put things in perspective, the NBA’s other reigning finalist, Golden State, has lost a league-most 158 man-games to injury. Nobody is going to feel bad for the Raptors, especially coming off of a championship season.

There’s reason to believe they can withstand a stretch as daunting as this, though.

The Raptors went 9-2 while Lowry was out with a fractured thumb earlier this season. They went 8-2 without him and Ibaka, who suffered a badly sprained ankle in New Orleans on Nov. 8 – the same night Lowry was injured.

They do have some reinforcements on the way. VanVleet has been ramping up his work of late and is nearing a return from the knee bruise that’s kept him out of five straight games. He could be back as early as Friday against Washington. Thomas, who has been out for nearly a month with a broken finger, isn’t far behind.

Filling the void left by Siakam, Gasol and Powell will be a challenge, to be sure.

After a slow start offensively, Gasol has come around over the last couple of weeks and was playing his best basketball of the season. But even when he’s not scoring or shooting the ball especially well, he serves as the anchor and most important cog of Toronto’s third-ranked defence. His passing, screen setting and high basketball IQ also helps the offence flow.

The timing of Powell’s injury is especially unfortunate. The fifth-year guard was playing the best basketball of his career. Prior to Wednesday’s contest, Powell had scored in double figures in 16 of 19 games. His recent play had forced Nurse to consider leaving him in the starting lineup even after VanVleet returned. Regardless of his role, the Raptors need Powell’s scoring and ability to create off the dribble.

Siakam will be the most difficult to replace, though his injury is believed to be the least severe of the three. Averaging 25.1 points per game, he’s the team’s leading scorer and the focal point of their already inconsistent offence.

With Siakam out, Nurse will lean on his point guards to carry the offence, even more than usual. Lowry and VanVleet, upon his return, should see their usage go up. The same can be said for Ibaka, who will reclaim the starting centre gig in the absence of Gasol.

Chris Boucher, who excelled while Ibaka was out earlier this season, will get another opportunity as the third big, and rookie Dewan Hernandez has been recalled from the G League to give the team some additional depth in the frontcourt.

VanVleet will continue to start alongside Lowry, while McCaw and Terrence Davis should play expanded roles off the bench. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson seems most likely to start in place of Siakam and could also play some small-ball five.

The upcoming schedule is tough, but manageable. Nurse prides himself on his ability to take the roster that he’s given and improvise. It’s something he’s always had to do, whether he was coaching overseas, internationally, in the G League, or even last season, with Leonard getting frequent rest nights.

The Raptors have already overcome some early-season adversity. At 19-8 and sitting fourth in the East, they have exceeded most reasonable expectations, especially when factor in the injuries they’ve had to endure. This will be their biggest test yet.