Fred VanVleet was in the thick of the action today, but the Raptors might be sweating his health after his right shoulder gave him trouble in Tuesday night's 113-112 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers .
The second-year guard appeared to hurt his right shoulder in the second half and spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench as his team struggled to put the ball in the hoop. They shot just 5-for-24 in the final frame, missing their last 11 shots.
He missed most of their first round series against the Washington Wizards with an injury to the same shoulder.
Despite being banged up, VanVleet ended up with the ball in his hands with the game tied at 105-105, missing a wide-open go-ahead three with 8.2 seconds remaining.
Ban the Raptors from the playoffs pic.twitter.com/6bkmHlDFqf
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 2, 2018
In the overtime period, he had a good look at a potential game-winning three, with the Cavs leading 113-112 in the dying seconds. Again, luck wasn't on his side.
FINAL: Cavs 113 | Raptors 112
— Hashtag Basketball (@hashBasketball) May 2, 2018
Fred VanVleet misses the game-winning three and the Cavaliers STEAL Game 1 in Toronto 👀😮
Cleveland takes a 1-0 series lead.#AllForOne vs. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/QJytJRuTT4
With the Cavaliers swarming DeMar DeRozan on the final play, many questioned the late-game decision making of the Raptors, but their star man maintained that they have nothing but confidence in VanVleet's ability to knock down the big shots.
"I'll live with him shooting that shot 10 times out of 10," DeRozan said post-game.
"I told him, if we're in the same situation again, I'll make the same exact pass... He's got tough skin. He's going to bounce back."
Raptors' DeMar DeRozan on passing to Fred Van Vleet for final shot in OT loss to Cavs: "I'll live with him shooting that shot 10 times out of 10... I told him, if we're in the same situation again, I'll make the same exact pass... He's got tough skin. He's going to bounce back." pic.twitter.com/OsXz2ZUGWl
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 2, 2018
VanVleet finished with nine points, three rebounds and two assists.
All eyes will be on his status for Game 2 on Thursday night.