The Toronto Raptors secured the victory over the Charlotte Hornets without Scottie Barnes on Sunday night 111-106.
The Raptors were without Barnes who is out indefinitely with a left hand fracture. Bruce Brown Jr. was out and Jakob Poeltl left the game in the second quarter with a dislocated pinky on his left hand and did not return.
Darko Rajakovic said Poeltl does not have a fracture, but said the Austrian big man was still being evaluated.
The Raptors were still able to come away with the victory after Gary Trent Jr. stole the ball away from Vasilije Micić in the final seconds preventing the Hornets to attempt the game-typing three.
Immanuel Quickley scored 22 points and matched his season high with 11 assists. Meanwhile, RJ Barrett had 23 points as the Raptors earned their seventh consecutive home win over the Hornets.
Trent Jr. added 17 points and Ochai Agbaji who got the start in place of Barnes finished with 13 points and a career-high 9 rebounds.
Gradey Dick and Jordan Nwora each scored 11 points for Toronto from off the bench. Toronto outscored Charlotte 26-15 on fast break points.
Brandon Miller led the Hornets with 26 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Miles Bridges scored 20 points as the Hornets dropped their fourth game in a row.
Bridges missed Charlotte’s previous visit to Canada last December due to his past legal issues. However, he was allowed to cross the border this time.
With the win Toronto is now 3.5 games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Next on tap
The Raptors will host the New Orleans Pelicans on March 5 which will conclude their four-game homestand.
The Raptors look to make to back-to-back wins but they will be in tough against a Pelicans team that blew them out 138-100 in their last meeting.
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