TORONTO – It could only be expected that the return of one key cog in the Toronto Raptors‘ rotation would come at the expense of two others.
If this is the price of lugging around an opulent NBA championship ring, it’s worth it.
So it came to pass that Norman Powell returned after missing nine games with a broken finger on his left hand for Friday’s game against the visiting Charlotte Hornets, at the same time that Fred VanVleet (shoulder soreness) and Serge Ibaka (soreness in his right knee) had to take the night off.
It can’t last, pledged Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. One game, one day, all Raptors will be whole again.
Hmm, we’ll believe it when we see it. Although Nurse did say that VanVleet, Ibaka and even Marc Gasol (hamstring) would head west on the Raptors’ upcoming road trip — with the expectation that VanVleet and Ibaka would return to action on the trip, and Gasol would be a possibility.
For now, the plan is to appreciate what you’ve got. And it’s no small thing that Powell is back — along with Patrick McCaw, we should mention, who missed the first three games after the All-Star break with flu-like symptoms.
In between injuries — Powell had previously missed 11 games with a shoulder sprain before Christmas — he has been as important as any Raptor other than all-stars Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam.
It was as if the player who showed up in flashes and turned around playoff series — ‘playoff Norm’ — was here full-time.
He stood out like water in the desert, picking up where he left off before he was hurt — looking smooth, confident and in control with the ball on a night when most of his teammates were playing like bear cubs wearing mittens.
Powell scored 22 points and was 4-of-11 from three, though two of his misses were tough shots as Toronto was trying to complete a comeback in what ended up being a sloppy 99-96 loss to the Hornets.
“I just tried to see how the game was going and play within the flow of that,” said Powell after the game. “I thought it was a tough time for us as a team to hit shots and get something going offensively. I thought we did a great job from pretty much the middle of the second quarter and on, fighting and battling and scrambling and making plays when needed to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
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The Raptors’ offensive struggles were widespread — they shot 35.1 per cent from the floor as a team, were 10-of-43 from deep and shot poorly at the foul line, too, going just 20-of-29.
Powell seemed immune. He scored seven in the fourth quarter as the Raptors tried to steal a win after playing from behind all night.
That helped Toronto get in position for Lowry to take them home, as the Raptors’ all-star point guard scored nine of his 20 points in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter to keep pace with the Hornets, who were in rhythm from deep.
They fell short. With the game tied 96-96 and just 29 seconds left, first Powell and then Lowry had a chance from deep to put the Hornets away but couldn’t.
Things got a little strange at that point, as the refs granted Charlotte a timeout even though Caleb Martin had broken free and appeared to be home for a solo lay-up with 2.1 seconds left.
Then, on the inbounds out of the timeout, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was whistled for a suspect foul that put Hornets’ guard Terry Rozier on the line where he broke the tie. Charlotte kept the ball and scored again and Powell couldn’t convert a contested turnaround triple from the corner as the buzzer sounded.
It was just the Raptors’ fourth loss this season against a team with a losing record, and dropped Toronto to 42-17 as they head out on a five-game west-coast road trip that begins in Denver Sunday night.
Powell’s return was both welcome and well-timed.
“He has matured so much this year, like he’s not so up and down and scratching his head [about play calls],” said Nurse. “He’s just out there balling with confidence. I think it’s a new level of maturity. A lot of these came back this year different guys, and he’s one of them.”
The only problem is the 20 games he’s missed — fingers crossed there that the number doesn’t grow. Powell was limping in the locker room afterwards. Did he get banged up?
“No comment. I plead the fifth,” he said.
When he’s been on the floor, Powell has been the kind of player any elite team has to have: Equally adept at starting or coming off the bench; willing and able to score in bunches; a high-level perimeter threat that can create his own shot.
In his last 11 games before injuring his finger, Powell was giving the Raptors 17.5 points a night in 26.5 minutes a game while shooting 42.6 per cent from three. In the 23 games before injuring his shoulder, it was 15.9 points in 29.5 minutes a game on 41.7 per cent from deep.
His ability to play through the interruptions allows Nurse to find the bright side in losing one of his most prolific scorers for more than a third of the Raptors’ first 59 games.
He’s also shown a remarkable knack for coming back from his absences playing at the same level or even better.
“I just think where I am mentally, I have been able to stay focused on certain things and locked in,” he said. “My whole demeanor about whatever is being thrown at me is pretty much even-keeled and positive no matter what is.
“Injuries suck but you can’t look at it as a ‘Why me?’ situation or [be] negative or be upset about it. You have to find a positive out of it and run with it. I stay in the gym when I can, and continue to work on breaking down film of myself and the game and do different exercises mentally to stay locked in and have the same approach.”
Powell didn’t waste any time in his first outing back, starting in place of VanVleet. He pulled up from three on his first two touches, making the second. He hunted shots off the dribble. He faded to the corners as an outlet in transition and made a three doing that, too. In his first seven minutes he got up eight shots, made four and led all scorers will 11 points as Nurse kept his stints short.
The benefit of having so many players in and out of the lineup is that Nurse has learned his bench is deeper and more versatile than anyone thought before the season started.
It has only been due to the extended absences of Gasol — whose hamstring injury has kept him out for 34 games and counting — and Ibaka, who previously missed 10 games with an ankle sprain, that Hollis-Jefferson has emerged as a viable small-ball five, or even, a not-so-small-ball five.
The Raptors were searching for anything early on against the Hornets. Apart from Powell, the well was dry offensively and the energy — both in the building and on the floor — was noticeably absent after the high-profile slugfest against Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
Toronto trailed by 15 against the non-descript Hornets late in the second quarter, and went into the half down 52-41 — which was remarkable, given that they shot just 26.9 per cent from the floor and 6-of-24 from three.
The Raptors began chipping away in the third, but offence was still at a premium.
Down seven with just over three minutes left, Toronto missed four-straight shots including a gimme lay-up by Siakam. It was not pretty, as the Raptors eventually bricked eight-straight shots before Powell stepped into a mid-range jumper that helped keep Toronto within striking distance, trailing 73-66.
Powell was a big part in the Raptors’ comeback, even if it did ultimately flounder. But more importantly, he’s back. If he and the rest of the Raptors’ walking wounded can stay in the lineup for a while, they might be on to something.
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