It hasn’t been the easiest season for the Toronto Raptors but they got some really bad news on Friday night that made their situation so much worse.
Shams Charania reported that Scottie Barnes has sustained a fracture to the third metacarpal bone of his left hand and will be out indefinitely.
Barnes injured his hand during the second quarter of Friday night’s loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The news of Barnes’ injury was met with a lot of sorrow from Raptors fans, who feel that Barnes is one of the keys to paving a path to the Play-In Tournament and the playoffs.
Raptors say Scottie Barnes has sustained a fracture to the third metacarpal bone of his left hand and is out indefinitely.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2024
The vast majority of messages on Twitter simply wished Barnes well.
💔💔 get well soon
— koralive (@livekora4567) March 2, 2024
Many other people attempted to predict how long Barnes could be out.
Some thought that he’d be sidelined for a few weeks, but there are others who foresee him missing the rest of the regular season with his injury.
damn, that’s a few weeks at least.
— Yosef.ai (@aifutureproof) March 2, 2024
Others said that Barnes will now miss out on his chance to win this season’s Most Improved Player award.
The former Rookie of the Year has averaged 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on 47.5% from the field.
This is horrible, was on his way to MIP.
— 🟣🏀 Chris (@HoopSpaces) March 2, 2024
Many Raptors followers feel that the loss of Barnes also eliminates any chance for the team to reach the Play-In Tournament.
“If they were to make it in the play in tournament, they would need him,” one user said.
That’s awful. If they were to make it in the play in tournament, they would need him
— Wise Words from Jules (@Im_DoubleDigits) March 2, 2024
The loss of Barnes is incredibly damaging to the team that was already struggling to make an impact in the East.
Toronto currently has a 22-38 record and is the 12th team in their conference.
Without the output and leadership of Barnes, the team will have an even tougher time reaching the postseason this year.
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