TORONTO — Matt Thomas has played basketball in Wisconsin high school gyms, on NCAA Division I courts across the Big 12, and in rambunctious Liga ACB arenas around Spain. But he’s never touched an NBA G League floor.
Monday night, that’ll change as the well-traveled shooting guard will suit up with Raptors 905 for his first game action in six weeks, attempting to clear the final hurdle in a tedious recovery from a finger fracture that disrupted his debut NBA season.
“Yeah, it’ll be good just to get some timing back, get some game cardio, game conditioning,” Thomas said. “I’ve been doing a lot but you can’t really simulate a game with 5-on-5, playing against other guys, referees. So, it’ll be good.”
If all goes well, Thomas should be cleared to return to the big-league Toronto Raptors for Tuesday night’s tilt with the Portland Trail Blazers. That’s awfully good timing as it’s unlikely Fred VanVleet, a combo guard who’s played more minutes than any other Raptors player this season, will be available.
The 25-year-old tweaked a hamstring during Saturday night’s 121-102 win over the Brooklyn Nets, adding to the extensive catalogue of ailments he’s been playing through over the course of the season. He missed practice Monday to have the issue further evaluated, and while the Raptors are awaiting the results of that testing before saying anything definitive, VanVleet will be listed as “doubtful” for Tuesday’s game.
“We got hit kind of with the injury bug so far this season,” Thomas said. “But it’s something that comes with the game. It’s part of the territory.”
The tax bill of a relatively healthy NBA championship season has evidently come due for the Raptors, who are already playing without Pascal Siakam (groin), Marc Gasol (hamstring), Norman Powell (shoulder), and Dewan Hernandez (ankle). Plus, Serge Ibaka sat out 10 games in November due to an ankle issue, Kyle Lowry missed three weeks that same month with a fractured thumb, and Patrick McCaw played in only two of Toronto’s first 23 games as he battled a knee ailment.
Less than halfway through the season, undrafted rookie Terence Davis is the only Raptor to have appeared in all 36 of the team’s games. OG Anunoby’s played in 35, having missed an early November contest after being poked in the eye. And third-string centre Chris Boucher’s seen the floor in 33. VanVleet’s the only other Raptors player above 30.
“You just have to play through it. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Thomas said. “No other team’s going to. They’re going to come in here and try to beat us. They don’t care what product we have on the court. So, we have to be ready. Everyone — all 15, 17 of us have to be ready to play.”
Thomas’s return will at least provide some much needed three-point marksmanship for a team that has suffered some truly horrendous shooting nights of late. That includes a 10-of-38 performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers on New Year’s Eve and a disastrous 6-of-42 showing against the Miami Heat.
That second one was particularly difficult to watch as Miami frequently utilized zone coverages on defence, which clogged the paint and left plenty of room on the perimeter for the Raptors to shoot. And miss.
“Yeah, that Miami game was tough. It’s hard to sit out. But it’s even harder to sit out as a shooter when we’re struggling like that,” Thomas said. “But that will never happen again — going, I think it was 6-for-42? We were getting good looks, it just was one of those nights shots didn’t fall.”
Such is the varying nature of three-point shooting, and it was no surprise to see the Raptors turn their fortunes right back around 48 hours later in Brooklyn when they hit 13-of-32 from beyond the arc against the Nets. Even in spite of some extremely woeful shooting nights this season, the Raptors still sit fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage (36.8), averaging more than 13 made threes per game.
What matters more than the results of Toronto’s shots from beyond the arc is the process of how often the Raptors are able to get players uncontested looks from those areas. And the last two games showcased a nearly perfect process. Of Toronto’s 32 three-point attempts, 30 were classified as open (closest defender within four-to-six feet) or wide-open (six-plus feet) by NBA.com. Against the Heat, it was 40-of-42.
And we can keep going. Over Toronto’s last 10 games, 85 per cent of its three-point attempts (298-of-349) have been classified as open or wide-open. Nearly half (160-of-349) have been wide-open. The shots are there — they’ve just got to make them.
The return of Thomas, who shot 47 per cent from distance over his two seasons in Spain, ought to help in that regard. The last six weeks have been frustrating for him, as he’s been patiently waiting for the fracture in his non-shooting hand to heal. What made it difficult was he knew he could play. He’s been running full practices with the Raptors for weeks. But an unfortunate collision in the chaotic environment of an NBA game could have sent the injury back to square one. So, the team waited for it to heal fully before clearing him to return.
“It’s hard. I’ve had injuries before — I know how it works. But this one specifically, with just a finger on my non-shooting hand, it was tough,” Thomas said. “Because there was a point a few weeks ago where I could start doing things with a pretty heavy splint on. And you feel like you can play. But, obviously, the risk of it getting re-injured and potentially needing surgery if it got aggravated again, it just wasn’t worth it. But it was tough. As a competitor, I want to be out there.”
Now, he gets a rehab assignment with the 905 to ensure he’s ready to go. It’s a cunning use of Toronto’s development team, which plays in Mississauga, only a 30-minute drive west of downtown Toronto. Thomas gets the chance to find his sea legs amidst high-level competition, while Raptors decision-makers evaluate how he looks after such a long layoff. In theory, it should help alleviate some of the rust that Thomas would have otherwise had to shake off in an NBA game.
Maybe that translates to Thomas having a little more gas Tuesday night. Maybe it prevents a slow pass on offence or a missed assignment defensively. Maybe it means he comes in feeling more comfortable shooting the ball in the rhythm of Toronto’s offence, which the Raptors would obviously benefit from. Regardless, Thomas is just happy to be back involved with NBA competition, rather than watching it from the best seat in the house.
“I tried to learn as much as I could. Sitting out, there’s different things that you can work on. My mind was one thing,” Thomas said. “Sitting, watching games, being up close, not having a jersey on — it’s just a different feel. Obviously, my number’s not getting called to check in, so you can really shut off and just try to learn. Trying to be around some of these guys, the vets, that have been around the league for a while, and learn things from them. I think in the long run, something like this could actually benefit me.”
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