TORONTO – With only 30 minutes to spare, Malachi Flynn arrived at Fiserv Forum and re-joined his Raptors teammates ahead of Thursday’s game against the Bucks. The rookie point guard could’ve used a snack, and probably a nap, too. Instead, he threw on a jersey and got ready to go back to work.
Earlier that afternoon, Flynn logged 33 minutes for Raptors 905, scoring 16 points and recording five assists in a win. It was his sixth game in nine days since being assigned to Toronto’s G League affiliate and clearing quarantine in the Orlando bubble a couple weeks ago.
It was on the bus ride back to the hotel when Chad Sanders – general manager of Raptors 905 – told him that he had been recalled by the NBA club. He had 30 minutes to pack his bags, return a negative COVID-19 test, and board a private plane to Milwaukee – under the league’s health and safety protocols, he would’ve been required to quarantine upon arrival had he flown commercial.
“I didn’t even get a real meal, so that’s what I’m looking forward to right now,” said the 22-year-old, finally able to take a breath following Toronto’s 110-96 victory, the team’s second straight win over the Bucks. “Just a crazy day, for sure.”
Such is life for a rookie in the NBA during a global pandemic. Flynn didn’t check in until the third quarter and played just five scoreless minutes without attempting a shot, but he may be asked to carry a bigger workload in the near future.
The reason why Flynn was called up on Thursday – why he played in a rare G League-NBA doubleheader while flying 2,000 kilometres in between – is because of an injury to Kyle Lowry.
The Raptors’ starting point guard is expected to miss time – not as a result of the turned ankle that knocked him out of Tuesday’s game in the third quarter, but with a thumb ailment he sustained and played through earlier in that contest. Officially, it’s a sprained left thumb – the same one he hurt during the 2019 championship run and had surgery on that off-season, and also the same one he tweaked and that kept him out of 11 games last year.
He’ll miss Friday’s contest in Minnesota and they’ll re-evaluate him once they get back to Tampa after that, but the sense is that this could lead to an extended absence for the veteran, who even at 34 – and turning 35 next month – remains one of the team’s most valuable players.
On the surface, this is bad, potentially very bad. However, the Raptors have a way of overcoming the loss of key rotation pieces, Lowry included.
They’re 4-0 in the games that he’s missed this season, with wins over Sacramento, Miami, Indiana and now Milwaukee – three of them by at least 10 points, and two of them by 20 or more points. They’ve also won the two games he’s left early – victories over Memphis and Milwaukee, both of them by double-digit margins. They’re an impressive 16-2 without him since the start of last season.
Don’t read too much into that stat. It doesn’t mean they’re a better team without Lowry. It doesn’t speak to his importance to the organization. What it does mean is that when they’re at their best – and, somehow, being down a man or two often brings out the best in them – they can withstand the loss of Lowry, or any of their other regulars.
“He certainly gives us a lot,” Nick Nurse said of Lowry, who was averaging 21.8 points on 59 per cent shooting and 52 per cent from three-point range in his last four games before getting hurt. “I was worried about the defensive side of it. I know that probably sounds silly because he’s one of our primary scorers, but [with] the way he’s been guarding recently – he’s been outstanding – I was really worried. That’s the first thing that somebody’s got to pick up the slack on.”
Defence wasn’t an issue on Thursday, as it would turn out. The Raptors held Milwaukee – the NBA’s second-ranked offensive team – to a season-low 96 points. The Bucks’ all-star duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton combined to score 36 points – 12.5 points fewer than their season averages – on 13-for-33 shooting. It was the best Toronto has looked on that end of the floor in quite some time.
The margin for error has been razor thin all season, and it’ll be even smaller for as long as Lowry is out of the lineup, but they know they can win games undermanned. The formula is right in front of them.
They know they have to play harder and smarter than they would at full strength, and more often than not they do. Other guys are going to get opportunities and have to be ready to take advantage of them – on Thursday it was DeAndre’ Bembry, who got the start, and Matt Thomas, who logged 17 minutes off the bench, but Flynn should also get his chance. The remaining regulars will have to step up, like Fred VanVleet does whenever Lowry goes down, and like Norman Powell (29 points), Pascal Siakam (27 points) and OG Anunoby (10 points, including eight in the fourth quarter) did against the Bucks.
“I definitely wouldn’t say [Thursday’s shorthanded win over Milwaukee] surprised me,” said Flynn, who hasn’t been around long but catches on quick. “I think the whole team just has the next man up mentality. Whenever you’re called on, be ready to play, and I think the guys did that tonight.”
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