Toronto is the hottest team in the NBA, having won 10 in a row with a top-three offense and defense in the league — and a +10.8 net rating — in that window
The Raptors are going to have to continue that streak without a key role player, Norman Powell.
Powell fractured the fourth metacarpal of his left hand — the bone that connects the ring finger and the wrist — and will be out indefinitely, the team announced. The injury happened in the fourth quarter of the Raptors’ win against the Pistons on Friday night.
Other players who have had this injury have been out four to seven weeks. Jeff Stots of the indispensable In Street Clothes says to expect Powell to miss about 15 games.
Powell is having the best season of his career — averaging 15.3 points and 3.9 rebounds a game playing nearly 30 minutes a night off the bench — when he can stay healthy. Unfortunately, he had a shoulder injury that cost him three weeks, he has returned to form and now this.
Expect Terence Davis and Patrick McCaw to get some extra run now.
Hand injuries have freakishly hit the Raptors hard the past two seasons. This season Kyle Lowry missed 11 games with a thumb injury, Matt Thomas fractured his middle finger, and now Powell. Last season Jonas Valanciunas missed 25 games with a thumb injury; Fred VanVleet missed 12 games following thumb surgery; and McCaw missed nine games with a thumb injury.
Through 41 games, the number of games lost due to hand & wrist fractures in the NBA was three times higher than it was last season at the same point & higher than the previous three seasons combined. Norman Powell’s fractured 4th metacarpal will only further elevate the total.
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) February 1, 2020
Powell is the third NBA player to suffer a 4th metacarpal fracture this season, along with Gordon Hayward and Damion Lee. Since the 2005-06 season, the average missed time for similar injuries is roughly 15 games. https://t.co/ige3fOjg9c
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) February 1, 2020