Sixers' Division Rival's Injury Problem Grows

The Toronto Raptors have announced that forward Precious Achiuwa will be out indefinitely, furthering their losses in the paint.

On Thursday, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, it was announced that Toronto Raptors veteran Precious Achiuwa would be out indefinitely after the forward suffered torn ligaments in his ankle.

The Raptors say Precious Achiuwa is out indefinitely with partial tears of ligaments in his right ankle. Already without Pascal Siakam, Toronto is now down another rangy forward.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 10, 2022

Despite the Raptors sitting with a record of 7-5 through the first weeks of the season, getting beaten by teams such as the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets, Achiuwa has been on a recent hot streak given his role in Toronto's system.

In his last five appearances prior to going out with an injury, Achiuwa averaged nine points, five rebounds, and one assist per game, which isn't horrible for a bench player.

So to say that his injury comes at an inconvenient time for Achiuwa would be an understatement, but it comes at an even more inconvenient time for the Raptors, who are already without Pascal Siakam.

The Cameroonian center made his way to the injury report in early November after suffering from a groin injury, which will see Siakam out for at least two weeks before being evaluated, per Yahoo Sports' Olivier Neven.

Up until his injury, Siakam was playing at an improved rate in comparison to last season, averaging 25 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists per game.

Without Siakam and Achiuwa, Nick Nurse could point towards an increase in minutes for Chrisitan Koloko, who has been playing more since Siakam went out as the starting center for the Raptors.

There is a possibility that the frontcourt duo could be out when the Raptors play the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 19.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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