As the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks square up in an Eastern Conference showdown, disaster struck when Scottie Barnes came down awkwardly in a tie-up with an already injured Karl-Anthony Towns and suffered what looked like a pretty brutal lower-body injury, with damage potentially coming to his right ankle and/or foot.
Taking to social media to share the news of the injury, TSN Raptors beat writer Josh Lewenberg broke down what happened to fans who weren't watching or simply missed the play, detailing how Barnes and KAT took a tumble, with the former taking extended time to get up after.
“Scottie Barnes came down on the foot of Towns,” Lewenberg wrote on social media. “KAT was slow to get up, and Barnes is still down, holding his ankle/foot and being looked at by the trainers.”
Expand Tweet
Goodness, saying “I can't feel my foot” three times in a row after suffering a leg injury certainly isn't good, much like having to be lifted off the court and helped to the locker room by support staff.
Related Toronto Raptors NewsArticle continues below
While it's never a good idea to lose a player of Barnes' caliber in a game, the worst part was that Barnes was actually playing very well against RJ Barrett's former team, scoring 15 points on 11 shots in just 23 minutes of action while rounding things out with five rebounds and three assists. With the two teams exchanging the lead into the final minutes of the fourth quarter, who knows how things would have looked had Barnes been able to stay on the court with Barrett, Ja'Kobe Walter, and company?
Sitting at 7-17, the Raptors already have a tough path to getting into the playoffs as a top-6 team, let alone making any real noise in the postseason. If Barnes is out for an extended period of time, that hole may become insurmountable.