On Friday, the Toronto Raptors played the first of three scrimmages ahead of the season restart later this month.
Noticeably missing was Marc Gasol.
Gasol was in uniform against the Houston Rockets, but he didn't actually play. Serge Ibaka started in place of him and Chris Boucher soaked up the backup minutes at centre.
After the game, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse explained why Gasol didn't play, saying the small-ball Rockets were a better matchup for Ibaka and that it was a planned night of rest for him. Nurse added that Gasol is expected to play on Sunday when the Raptors take on the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that has a lot more size in Hassan Whiteside and Jusuf Nurkic.
Nurse said he gave Gasol game off because Houston didn’t have much size, so it made sense. Nothing wrong with McCaw, either. They’ll both play Sunday.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) July 25, 2020
Injuries have limited Gasol to 36 games this season. The word over the last couple of weeks is that he is fully healed and in great shape, to the point where Raptors rookie Terence Davis recently said that he looks like "prime Marc" again.
Sunday should provide an opportunity to see Gasol take the floor for only the second time since the end of January.
Prior to the season being suspended, Gasol was averaging 7.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
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