The injury-plagued Toronto Raptors will encounter another difficult task on Wednesday night with the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics in town.
The 5-5 Raptors will be without their best two players once again as Scottie Barnes is set to miss a third consecutive game with a groin strain while Kawhi Leonard, who hasn’t played since Oct. 23, continues to recover from swelling in his left knee.
To make matters more difficult, starting point guard Immanuel Quickley is listed as questionable with a hamstring problem, with the statuses of forward Collin Murray-Boyles and centre Trayce Jackson-Davis both up in the air due to illnesses.
Quickley and Murray-Boyles both joined Barnes on the bench as the Raptors were beaten 118-102 by the Memphis Grizzlies in their last game on Monday night.
Playing with a shorthanded lineup, the Raptors will need strong contributions from the likes of RJ Barrett, Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter and Jakob Poeltl if they’re going to keep pace with the 9-2 Celtics.
Boston has won four straight games, including nine of their last 10 after dropping the opening game of the season to the Detroit Pistons.
Veteran forward Paul George, 36, scored 36 points on 14-for-22 shooting against his former team on Tuesday night as the Celtics defeated LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 123-101.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Raptors following Wednesday’s game, as they’ll play the 9-3 76ers in Philadelphia on Thursday before hosting the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks (6-4) for back-to-back games on Sunday and Tuesday.