Toronto Raptors vs. Charlotte Hornets Pick & Prediction MARCH 3rd 2024

The Toronto Raptors will begin life without All-Star Scottie Barnes on Sunday when they host the Charlotte Hornets.

Barnes suffered a fractured middle finger on his left hand with 1:56 left in the first half of Toronto’s 120-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Friday and will be out indefinitely.

“Obviously when you lose an All-Star player in the game, that definitely changes a lot of things,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “We tried with different lineups, different players (Friday), gave multiple players opportunities there.”

Barnes, in his third NBA campaign, was named an All-Star for the first time this season.

Barnes had 10 points when he left the game in obvious pain after contesting Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga at the rim. Barnes had his right hand up at the basket, and it appeared that his left hand may have been inadvertently kicked by teammate Immanuel Quickley, who was off balance during the play.

In 60 games (all starts) this season, Barnes has averaged career highs in points (19.9), rebounds (8.2) and assists (6.1).

RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23 points in the loss to the Warriors. Kelly Olynyk finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Quickley and Gradey Dick each supplied 12 points.

The Raptors have lost two in a row following their first three-game winning streak of the campaign.

They face another struggling team in the Hornets, who lost 121-114 to the host Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

Charlotte was also hampered by injury during its game on Friday. Seth Curry, starting for Brandon Miller (low back) left the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle, and Cody Martin then exited with a left ankle sprain.

“I have no idea,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said after the game regarding the status of Curry and Martin. “We’ll keep our fingers crossed and get ready to go on Sunday.”

Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 27 points and 11 rebounds against Philadelphia. Nick Richards scored 19 points.

Clifford said he intends to use what’s left of the season to build a winning attitude.

“Playing to win is important,” Clifford said. “We are going to play to win. We may play some guys to see what they can do and everything, but when you start doing that, let me just tell you, it’s weeks of losing. And we are not going to do that. And I also think what people don’t also understand is (when they say), ‘Why don’t they just play those guys?’ It kills your season. Kills it.”

The Hornets appear likely to miss the playoffs for an eighth straight season, the NBA’s longest playoff drought.

“The hardest thing with all the travel and the newness of our team is just, we have enough talent to win, we’re just not organized enough yet,” Clifford said. “With the travel and the back-to-backs and everything, we don’t have a lot of practice time. We have to figure that out.”

Toronto has won two of three games against Charlotte this season.

–Field Level Media