The Toronto Raptors have lost three of their last five games and the team that many thought could possibly beat the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals is now being talked about as a possible upset victim in the first round. A lot of the talk about the Raptors has changed due to injuries, and the news regarding those injuries hasn't been great.
Kyle Lowry is dealing with an elbow injury that the Raptors are concerned about moving forward, and of course there is DeMarre Carroll - who hasn't played since Jan. 3 because of knee surgery. Carroll seemed like he was on track to get back on the court very soon but that is not the case anymore and there are questions about whether he will even be able to play in the playoffs.
Carroll was making some huge progress up until last week as he was practicing against coaches and getting shots up. The next step for Carroll was to get clearance for contact from the doctor, but things went silent on that front which caused the many to believe he had suffered a setback. There was a report that the Raptors were planning to go the rest of the season without Carroll unless they made a deep playoff run.
Just one day after that report came out though, Carroll broke his silence and said he still expects to be back for at least a couple of games before the regular season ends. The main problem with Carroll's knee is that the swelling hasn't gone down since he started rehabbing, but he doesn't believe that will keep him out for the rest of the season.
The 29-year-old forward has said that he has seen the top doctors all over the United States and they all said he was good to go. Carroll's plan is to start ramping things up again over the next couple of days and weeks and he still hopes to be back before the playoffs begin.
This is great news for Toronto because Carroll was the big addition this offseason, and he is a difference maker when he is on the floor. Integrating Carroll back into the lineup shouldn't prove to be difficult since his main strength is the defensive end, so a couple of regular season games should do the trick. The negative in all of this is the fact that it is unlikely that Carroll will be 100 percent during the playoffs and he will probably have some limitations. The Raptors have been quite successful without their highest paid player though, and having him back at all should help during the postseason.
