Boston Celtics' Sebastian Telfair, left, takes the ball to the basket past Detroit Pistons' Antonio McDyess during the first half of their NBA basketball game in this Feb. 6, 2007 file photo.The Associated Press
After a bit of a delay, new Toronto Raptors point guard Sebastian Telfair has joined to team and expects to make his debut Monday night when the team takes on the Washington Wizards at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors obtained the journeyman backup point guard just prior to Thursday's NBA trade deadline from the Phoenix Suns.
Telfair had to miss Sunday's practice after coming down with the flu, but he feels fine now and was present at Toronto's shootaround Monday morning.
"When I heard I was coming to be a Raptor I was pretty excited," Telfair said. "They've got a lot of good momentum going right here now with the playoff push so I'm happy to be a part of that."
The Raptors, 23-33, head into the Washington contest just four games out of the eighth and final playoff spot currently occupied by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Raptors have gone 19-14 since getting off to an abysmal 4-19 start and this week should prove pivotal toward their goal of pulling themselves into the playoffs.
After playing Washington, the Raptors will head into Cleveland to play another sub-500 team in the Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Then the Raptors will play the Indiana Pacers at home on Friday before a key encounter on Saturday against the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Telfair said he got to learn some of the Raptors playbook at shootaround and is looking forward to his first game, although it is uncertain how many minutes he might actually play.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey said that Telfair will be the third option off the bench at point guard behind starter Kyle Lowry and John Lucas.