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Fred VanVleet’s poor showing for the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 ended in more disaster, as he left Scotiabank Arena with a bloodied left eye and stitches.
As first reported by Josh Lewenberg of The Sports Network, VanVleet confirmed that he sustained the injury late in the game after taking an elbow to the eye, though he didn’t mention who hurt him. He needed stitches to close the cut and stop the bleeding.
VanVleet's left eye is bloodied. He said he took an elbow to it late in the game, needed stitches to close the gash. pic.twitter.com/AzU7OZra0e
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 20, 2019
VanVleet is having a horrible postseason so far, and an injury like this will only make it even harder for him to bounce back and find his rhythm.
In their Game 3 win against the Milwaukee Bucks, he recorded a measly three points on top of three rebounds and six assists despite playing nearly 31 minutes. He was 1-of-11 from the field (1-of-8 from the 3-point line), a far contrast from his 41.0 shooting average during the 2018-19 regular season.
In 15 postseason games, the third-year guard has only scored in double-digits once — during their opening matchup against the Orlando Magic. Since then, he has 12 games wherein he scored five points or less.
The Raptors will be hoping that VanVleet’s eye injury won’t affect him any further. After all, Toronto needs him to quickly find his shooting touch as they try to tie the series against the Bucks.