After missing nine straight games with a fractured finger, Norman Powell will return on Friday when the Toronto Raptors take on the Charlotte Hornets.
Not only that, Powell will reportedly start in place of Fred VanVleet, who is out with a shoulder injury. The Raptors will also be without Serge Ibaka, who is out with knee soreness.
Powell was originally listed as questionable against the Hornets.
Powell will start for the injured VanVleet. Hollis-Jefferson starts for the injured Ibaka.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) February 28, 2020
Powell has been Toronto's fifth-leading scorer on the season with a career-best 15.3 points per game, doing so 49.8 percent shooting from the field and 40.1 percent from 3-point range. He's scored 20 or more points in 12 games. He had a total of 12 such games in the first four years of his career.
Powell has missed time this season due to two different injuries. Before missing nine games with a fractured finger, Powell missed 11 games between the end of December and the second week of January with a subluxation of the left shoulder.
In total, the Raptors have missed 200 games this season with injury, per Spotrac. That's the fourth-most in the league.
In addition to VanVleet and Ibaka, the Raptors continue to be without Marc Gasol because of a hamstring injury. There is still no timetable for his return.