The Toronto Raptors were busy near the trade deadline, acquiring pieces like Serge Ibaka and P.J Tucker, These acquisitions only made their team stronger as they have an eye for a playoff run and moving up in the Eastern Conference standings. Well, those aspirations took a bit of a hit Monday afternoon, as their all-star guard Kyle Lowry will be out 4-6 weeks. Lowry has a right wrist injury that will require surgery. The surgery will be performed on Tuesday.
Lingering Pains
Lowry didn't suddenly have the wrist injury. He said he felt some soreness since the all-star break.
He still participated in the three-point challenge, where he underperformed, and he also took part in the all-star game. He missed the Raptors two games after the break, and he went to get a second opinion on Monday when the team was in New York preparing to play the Knicks. Lowry is known for playing through pain during his career, but he couldn't move his wrist in a certain position, which made he and the Raptors look for that second opinion. The surgery will be performed in New York. Coach Duane Casey said "It was one of those things where we didn't know it was as serious as it was. That's why you get second opinions as he did and we decided -- he decided to have it done now hopefully to be able to have some time before the playoffs to get some games in," (ESPN).
Raptor Extinction?
Kyle Lowry is a key piece for the Raptors. He averages 22.8 points per game, which is second on the team behind Demar Derozan. He leads the team in assist with almost seven a game. Toronto will call upon Corey Joseph and Delon Wright to share some of the responsibilities that Lowry had. Entering Monday, Toronto was tied for third in the east coming into their game Monday night, and with Lowry being out they can't afford to slide.
If they end up sliding to the fourth or fifth seed the will be looking at a matchup with the Cavs in the second round. The Raptors got knocked out by the Cavs last year in the conference finals, where the got bullied in a 4-2 series defeat. The Raptors shouldn't be to worried as they have a star in Demar Derozan, and they have their recent acquisitions in Ibaka and Tucker.
Lowry is a key piece to the Raptors and how their offense flows. They need to weather the storm so that when the playoffs come, they will be in the best position possible.