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During last night's debacle with the Chicago Bulls, you may recall Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas hurt his left hand. After playing only ten minutes, Valanciunas came out of the game and did not return. When pressed afterwards, JV could not confirm exactly how it happened -- it got "tangled up" in the play, he said -- but confirmed that his hand was not broken. He looked and sounded despondent in the locker room, but did travel with the team to Milwaukee.
Now, just under 24 hours later in Milwaukee, we have an update on the situation:
Jonas Valanciunas (left hand contusion) will not play tonight in Milwaukee. #rtz
— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) March 15, 2016
It's a sensitive time for the Raptors at the moment, with DeMarre Carroll (the most holy) still not back and the zombie Bulls lumbering to life in the fringes of the East playoff bracket. With the Raptors playing their second game of a back-to-back (and second in a four-in-five nights scenario), some rest for Jonas (and Lowry? and DeRozan? and...?) may not be a bad thing -- especially against the moribund Bucks. Still, Jonas' health will obviously play a sizable part in the Raptors coming post-season.
Here's hoping the contusion to Jonas' hand just needs some time to heal and he's back on the court sooner rather than later.
Tip-off for the Bucks game is 8pm. Brace yourselves.