Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet has been on an excused leave of absence to be with his wife, who gave birth to a son on Monday. Freddy missed this morning's shootaround as well, but he's expected to be available for Thursday night's Game 5 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, according to a report from ESPN's Tim Bontemps.
VanVleet has enjoyed a great week. Not only did he and his wife welcome a new child into the world, but he also managed to score 13 points and six assists off the bench for the Raptors in their Game 4 win. In the end, he finished with a plus/minus score of +25.
Following his breakout performance in Game 4, VanVleet spoke about the birth of his second child, Fred Jr:
“It makes you tired,” VanVleet said of welcoming a second child, via ESPN. “It gives you a little perspective, I guess, on life. I had a lot of time to think. Had to sit at the hospital all day, had a lot of time to think, obviously a plane ride back.
“It just changes the way you're looking at things,” VanVleet added. “You are not so down on yourself about everything.”
Prior to Tuesday's Game 4 win, VanVleet was struggling to find a shooting rhythm. In fact, coming into Tuesday's matchup, he was 7-of-44 overall and 3-of-25 from 3-point range.
“I think he needed it,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry told ESPN, referring to VanVleet. “I think those type of things kind of relaxed him a little bit.
“Sometimes it's just one or two shots where something happens,” Lowry added. “It's all mental sometimes.”
The Raptors and Bucks will meet for Game 5 on Thursday night. Tip-off inside the Fiserv Forum is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, with TNT having live broadcast coverage.