Fred VanVleet has spent more than his fair share of the Raptors’ playoff run looking like the butt of a you-should-see-the-other-guy joke.
Toronto’s backup point guard needed stitches under his left eye after taking an elbow to the face late in game three of the Eastern Conference final against the Milwaukee Bucks. The right side of his face took a beating in Toronto’s Game 4 win over Golden State on Friday, when an errant elbow by Warriors guard Shaun Livingston knocked out VanVleet’s front tooth and broke the skin on his right cheek, requiring another seven stitches.
It is not always pretty but it comes with the job, VanVleet said.