Coming out of the Raptors’ Friday night win over the Pelicans, we knew Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka were hurt; both of Toronto’s veterans left the game in the first half due to separate moments of injury. The only question became how severe each one actually was. As it turns out, both may be even worse than we feared.
Per The Athletic’s Eric Koreen, on-site in New Orleans, Lowry has a small fracture in his left thumb and will be evaluated in Los Angeles tomorrow; Ibaka is down with a severely sprained ankle. Here’s the tweet report:
Kyle Lowry has a small fracture in his left thumb. NOT related to previous injury.
Ibaka has a severely sprained ankle, according to Nurse.
Not good.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) November 9, 2019
This, unfortunately, is the nightmare scenario. The Raptors are already extremely thin at both point guard and centre; now they’ve lost their best point guard (and most important player) and their most productive centre. (There’s an argument that Ibaka is their best centre period at the moment too.) It’s a lot to take in all at once, and perhaps the very worst way to start a five-game road trip.
Yes, Toronto can still rely on Pascal Siakam for scoring — as we saw on Friday night — and they will likely remain a strong defensive team. But the absence of Lowry and Ibaka puts a tremendous strain on an already taxed rotation and bench. As it stands, coach Nick Nurse will likely move Norman Powell up to the starting lineup to complete that five. Meanwhile, per Raptors PR, the team has already recalled Dewan Hernandez from the G League (he just posted 24-10-3 in his regular season debut, a loss). And they’ll have to check back in on the condition of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who by the way is still dealing with a groin injury.
The Raptors are 6-2 with four more games to play on this ongoing west coast swing. They head to Los Angeles on Sunday for back-to-back showdowns with the Lakers and Clippers. Then up to Portland to see the struggling Blazers, and a final match against the Mavericks before limping home. In the Raptors’ current state, a 2-3 sequence here would be a startling mark of success.
We’ll have more updates on the Lowry and Ibaka injuries as the news comes in.
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November 09, 2019 at 11:45AM
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