TORONTO – Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic and the Toronto coaching staff are closely monitoring two injured players.
Starting center Jakob Poeltl missed the Raptors' game against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, while Canadian swingman R.J. Barrett continued to improve. Rajakovic said Poeltl was discussed daily as Toronto figured out how to deal with the lower back pain.
“He's experiencing some pain that comes and goes and it's quite unpredictable,” Rajakovic said at his pre-game press conference. “He goes into a game and he's great at the game and he can wake up the next morning and feel good or bad.
“It's the same with training. So, we have a long-term plan for him, which is to deal with this injury, to build his strength, to have him play through some level of discomfort. Long-term, we're not worried about that at all.”
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Poeltl is averaging 10.1 points, eight rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
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The 30-year-old was rested for one game of the Raptors' back-to-back games this season. Toronto visits the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
However, Poeltl also missed the Raptors' 111-105 win in Milwaukee on Thursday, meaning he will have at least five days of rest.
“It's just something we deal with in the middle of the season,” Rajakovic said. “If we were in the offseason and you shut it down for two weeks, he'd be fine, but it's something we're really trying to manage on a day-to-day basis.”
Barrett has been out with a sprained right knee since being injured against Brooklyn on Nov. 23. Before he was injured, he averaged 19.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
Toronto announced Monday that Barrett, of Mississauga, Ont., will begin returning to play this week after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection.
Rajakovic said Saturday that Barrett would step up his activities.
“He is responding very well to treatment and the PRP injection,” Rajakovic said. “He walked onto the court (yesterday) but still didn’t make live contact.
“It's going to happen in the next few days, playing against the coaches, against some contact, and playing live in training, against teammates or our video guys. After the game group, we're going to clear him and he'll be available.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
