The Toronto Raptors carry an impressive eight-game winning streak into Saturday night's game against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. While most of the roster is healthy, the Raptors were without All-Star guard Fred VanVleet on Thursday in a big win over the lowly Houston Rockets. That raises the question, is Fred VanVleet playing tonight?

Is Fred VanVleet playing vs. Nuggets

The short answer is likely no. VanVleet is listed as questionable for this contest due to groin soreness. Per Aaron Rose of Sports Illustrated:

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The Raptors star last played on Wednesday in the first game of a back-to-back, dropping 21 points and dishing out six assists in a victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Prior to missing Thursday's matchup, VanVleet had played an average of 40.6 minutes across his previous seven outings. Needless to say, that's a massive load and clearly, his body is just breaking down a bit.

At this point, it's not expected to be anything more than soreness. Obviously, it's a huge blow to not have one of your best players available, but the Raptors have enough other pieces who can step up for the time being. Scottie Barnes and Dalano Banton are the first two names who come to mind.

VanVleet is in the midst of a brilliant campaign for the Raptors. He's heading to his very first All-Star Game next weekend in Cleveland after posting averages of 21.6 points, 7.1 dimes, and 4.6 rebounds on a 40% clip from downtown so far. Talk about efficient.

The Raptors are proving to be a legitimate force in the East with their recent winning run. But, VanVleet's long-term health is absolutely crucial to just how far Toronto can go when it comes to the playoffs. So to answer the question, is Fred VanVleet playing vs Nuggets? Probably not, just to be safe.