Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes will be sidelined for at least three weeks after he went down with a right orbital fracture, the team announced Wednesday.
Barnes was knocked out of Monday’s 127-125 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets after he took an elbow to his eye from Nikola Jokić in the paint. Jokić was battling Raptors center Jakob Poeltl for a rebound in the center of the lane when his left elbow swung back and inadvertently drilled Barnes right in his eye.
Scottie Barnes left the game with less than 30 seconds left after this elbow to Nikola Jokic’s face.
The Nuggets just forced OT in Toronto.pic.twitter.com/n8lkziKtHF
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 29, 2024
Barnes stayed in the game to finish the play, but the Raptors then called a timeout and he left for the locker room. The Nuggets forced overtime during that sequence and eventually captured the two-point victory. That completed a 15-point comeback for Denver and gave it its first win of the season.
Barnes finished with a team-high 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in that loss, which dropped the Raptors to 1-3 on the year.
Barnes averaged 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and six assists this season. The former Rookie of the Year averaged a career-high 19.9 points and 8.2 rebounds last season while earning his first All-Star nod. Barnes, 23, also signed a five-year rookie max extension this past offseason.
If Barnes is out for just three weeks, he could be back in time for their matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 21st. That would mean he missed just 11 games.
The Raptors will face the Charlotte Hornets next Wednesday night in North Carolina. Toronto went just 25-57 last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
