Scottie Barnes out again as Raptors face Celtics

Toronto's injury list was getting long before the Grizzlies ever showed up. By Sunday, Kawhi Leonard was back with the team for treatment but still hadn't progressed to on-court work.

Barnes has been dealing with a left groin strain since the Raptors played Denver on November 4. On Monday morning he was still listed as questionable with Immanuel Quickley (hamstring) and Collin Murray-Boyles (illness), so there was a little hope. That didn't last. By late afternoon the whole group was ruled out.

Josh Lewenberg

@JLew1050

Barnes, Quickley, Murray-Boyles and Leonard are all OUT vs Memphis tonight.

That's 4 of Toronto's top-6 scorers, including its 3 best defenders. Darko Rajakovic answered with Kyle Anderson's first start as a Raptor, against one of his old teams, next to Jamal Shead, Ja'Kobe Walter, RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl. That group had never played together, and it was Toronto's 6th different starting lineup in 10 games. Slo Mo opened well, with a nice dish to Poeltl under the rim and a block on Coward, and Shead hit 3 straight threes to account for half of Toronto's 26 first-quarter points.

The Raptors kept it close for a while. Barrett was bad early and then put up 10 points in the 3rd quarter to drive a comeback push. Poeltl kept looking like a different guy than the one who opened the season: 14.3 points and 8.8 rebounds a game over his last 4 after averaging 2.8 points in his first 4. Alijah Martin, who went 6-for-7 from 3 in his career night in Milwaukee, got a bigger role but scored just 2 points. Memphis had come in on a 3-game skid, and it found its legs again.

Damichael Cole

@DamichaelC

The Grizzlies got back to a lot of the things that were working when they started 6-0. Final: Grizzlies 118, Raptors 102 Memphis is now 5-0 on the road. Best start in franchise history. t.co/gLu2wK2vCD

Cameron Boozer and Ty Jerome did most of the damage, and Toronto-born Zach Edey added 8 points and 9 boards in his homecoming. On the Memphis side, the read was that the Grizzlies' depth wore down a team that had no margin for error.

Drew Hill

@DrewHill_DM

Boozer was great. Jerome made some tough shots. I also think Jersmi Grant was huge in this game for Memphis. He was the exact steadying force this team needed during that Raptors push.

It doesn't get easier from here. Tuesday afternoon the Raptors ruled Barnes out for Boston, with the injury now listed as a groin strain, and moved Quickley, Murray-Boyles and Jarrett Jackson-Davis to questionable. By Wednesday, Jackson-Davis was out too.

Josh Lewenberg

@JLew1050

Jackson-Davis (illness) is now out vs Boston. As are Barnes and Kawhi. The rest remain questionable. Still no injury report for the Celtics, who are on the second night of a b2b

Josh Lewenberg

@JLew1050

Barnes (groin strain) has been ruled OUT for tomorrow’s game vs Boston. Quickley (hamstring), Murray-Boyles (illness) and Jackson-Davis (illness) are all questionable.

There's still no timeline for Barnes, and Kawhi hasn't done any on-court work yet. The Celtics are on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, which is about the only break Toronto is getting. The things to watch are whether Quickley and Murray-Boyles clear in time, whether Boston rests anyone, and how much longer the Raptors can hang around.500 while their stars sit.