OG Anunoby injury update: Raptors forward out at least another two weeks with fractured finger, per report

 

OG Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Anunoby has missed the Raptors' four games since the All-Star break with a broken right ring finger and saw a specialist on Monday. 

Anunoby is not expected to need surgery, per ESPN. On Tuesday, Toronto coach Nick Nurse told reporters that it is a "slight fracture" that should heal with rest. 

"He's been playing with it for quite some time," Nurse said. "We're not even sure how long. It is getting better. The specialist thought it was nearly healed, said it will get better every day. I guess we're just waiting to determine if he's able to play on it. And they said probably within two weeks it will be fully healed, so we're just, I guess, trying to decide what route we're going to take there."

In Anunoby's absence, the Raptors have been starting center Khem Birch, but they closed Tuesday's 109-108 win against the Brooklyn Nets with Precious Achiuwa in his place. All-Star guard Fred VanVleet missed both sides of Toronto's home-and-home against the Nets this week because of right knee soreness, and big man D.J. Wilson, who is on a 10-day contract, missed the second game because of left knee soreness. 

This season, Anunoby is averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists, with a career-high 20.8 percent usage rate and a career-low 53.8 percent true shooting percentage. While his 35.1-percent mark from 3-point range doesn't sound particularly impressive, he is one of the Raptors' few floor spacers and is shooting 43 percent in the corners. Toronto misses Anunoby's shooting, and it misses his all-world defense. 

In happier Raptor news: Scottie Barnes was named Eastern Conference rookie of the month for February. Barnes averaged 15.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 31.8 minutes in February, and ended the month with a 28-point, 16-rebound, four-assist, five-steal performance in Brooklyn, shooting 12 for 14 in perhaps the best game of his young career. March has started well for Barnes, too -- he had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists against the Nets on Tuesday, helping to seal the game with a block and a no-look pass in crunch time. He has been an important part of the team all season, and the Raptors will rely on him even more with Anunoby out of the lineup.