Atlantic Notes: Raptors injuries, Raptors schedule, Mazzulla, McCain

The Raptors have listed RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Ja'Kobe WalterAnd Bruce Brown Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets that they are out for Wednesday's season opener against Cleveland.

Barrett is making progress in his recovery from his shoulder injury. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter links), he had a limited participation in practice on Tuesday but still has not been cleared for contact. Olynyk is battling back stiffness while Walter and Brown are recovering from shoulder and knee injuries, respectively.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

• The Raptors “I acknowledged that this will be a rebuilding season, but that doesn’t mean they have to be boring,” writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. The Raptors plan to pick up the pace and play an entertaining brand of basketball, but their early schedule is brutal, Koreen notes. In its first 25 games, Toronto will have 22 matchups against teams that finished better than .500 during the 2023-24 season.
• Joe Mazzulla had a blunt and somewhat amusing response to questions about the pressure of repeating as champions. “There’s no pressure” he said Celtics coach, according to ESPN News Services. “Nobody in this circle can do anything to me that could affect my identity and who I am as a person or a coach. Either we’ll win or we won’t, and in 40 years none of you will be invited to my funeral and that’s it.”
• Sixers First class Jared McCain averaged 12.8 points and shot 37.9% on 3-pointers in five preseason games, but he's unlikely to find many minutes on a winning team. McCain plans to work hard and handle whatever comes his way in his rookie campaign, he told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. McCain will be available for Philadelphia's home opener on Wednesday despite suffering a bruised lung in a preseason game last week. He is not listed on the injury report, Pompey tweets.