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Raptors List Lowry, Siakam, Anunoby, and VanVleet Out vs. Thunder
Just one day after the NBA fined the Raptors for failing to comply with injury reporting protocols, Toronto appears to have sorted out its injury report.
The team has listed Pascal Siakam out with a left shoulder injury, OG Anunoby out with a left calf injury, Kyle Lowry out due to rest, and now Fred VanVleet is out due to his hip injury for Sunday night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
VanVleet's addition to the injury report comes after he made his return to the Raptors lineup on Friday. He is continuing to recover from the hip injury he sustained on April 2 against the Golden State Warriors. The injury was not initially thought to be too serious, but a pair of MRIs raised some concerns, Nurse said.
"It's just one of those things where you've gotta take it a day at a time," VanVleet said Saturday. "I'm sure if you gave everybody in the league a full-body MRI you'd find similar things, a little bit of wear and tear besides the initial injury that I had. So there were some things that I was concerned about but I don't think it's going to be anything major, long-term. I think it's just something to keep an eye on."
The Raptors, however, will have Gary Trent Jr. back in the lineup after the 22-year-old was forced to miss Friday's game with right ankle soreness, Nurse said.
As of Sunday, Toronto is sitting just 0.5 games back of the Chicago Bulls for the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament. In the reverse standings, for those more interested in lottery odds, the Raptors are in eighth, but a loss to Oklahoma City could go a long way to helping Toronto climb back up the lottery standings.
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