No injury relief in sight for Raptors against Pistons Friday, with Barnes, Trent Jr. and Achiuwa still out

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The injury bug continues to bite the Toronto Raptors.

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The team was once again without star sophomore Scottie Barnes, guard Gary Trent Jr. and big man Precious Achiuwa against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night at home.

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With only eight games remaining in the regular season, it’s unclear when they’ll be back either. “Still the same. All out. All still day-to-day,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said when asked about their status before the game.

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Barnes hurt his wrist last Sunday in Milwaukee and left that one early, then missed another loss, Wednesday, at home against the Indiana Pacers. Trent played 34 minutes against Milwaukee, but hurt himself on a late fall and has been feeling banged up ever since, while Achiuwa has hamstring soreness that has caused him to miss two straight as well.

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Trent would be the obvious choice to slot in to the starting lineup for Barnes, but with that not an option, Nurse has turned to veteran Gary Trent Jr., a late-season addition following Barton’s buyout with the Washington Wizards.

Barton has struggled so far as a Raptor, hitting just 9-of-36 shot attempts prior to Friday’s game, and didn’t play for the final 1.5 quarters of the previous game as Nurse sought out other options.

But he was back with the first group (Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl, O.G. Anunoby and Fred VanVleet) on Friday. “It’s a decision just to try to get him out there with those guys and get him acclimated or not. I think we go with it again and see what happens and get ready with the other guys. I imagine they all get a shot tonight,” Nurse said.