Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes will be sidelined for at least three weeks after he went down with a right orbital fracture, the team announced on Wednesday.
Barnes was knocked out of Monday’s 127-125 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets after he took an elbow to his eye from Nikola Jokić in the paint. Jokić was fighting with Raptors center Jakob Poeltl for a rebound in the center of the lane when his left elbow swung back and inadvertently drilled Barnes directly in the eye.
Scottie Barnes left the game with under 30 seconds remaining after this elbow to the face by Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets just forced OT in Toronto.pic.twitter.com/n8lkziKtHF
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 29, 2024
Barnes remained in the game to finish out the play, but the Raptors then called a timeout and he left for the locker room. The Nuggets forced overtime during that sequence and eventually grabbed the two-point win. That completed a 15-point comeback for Denver and gave it its first win of the season.
Barnes finished with a team-high 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in that loss, which dropped the Raptors to 1-3 on the year.
Barnes has averaged 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and six assists this season. The former Rookie of the Year put up a career-high 19.9 points and 8.2 rebounds last season while earning his first All-Star nod. Barnes, 23, signed a five-year max rookie extension this past offseason, too.
If Barnes is out for just three weeks, he could return in time for their matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 21. That would mean he missed just 11 games.
The Raptors will take on the Charlotte Hornets next on Wednesday night in North Carolina. Toronto went just 25-57 last season and missed the playoffs for a second straight year.