The heart can sink in stages like a sunset. Late in the first quarter, Kyle Lowry drove in transition and sprawled to the ground. It seemed like nothing. The sun was still bright in the sky, blazing afternoon, Raps dominating an inferior first-round opponent. The game cut to advertisements. But when the broadcast returned, a replay showed that Lowry had turned his left ankle stepping on an opponent’s foot. A dip, a wane, some darkening around the edges. Lowry tried to stay in the game, but it took him one cut to realize he couldn’t. The pain didn’t subside. He signaled to the bench and hobbled around the court for a moment, eventually taking an intentional foul to get out of the game. He limped directly to the locker room, and the hearts of Toronto’s collective fan base plunged into the night.
Midway through the second quarter, Toronto PR announced that he would not return. With Toronto leading 3-0 against an overmatched Nets squad, Lowry was not needed. Indeed, the Raptors won easily, dancing to the sweep, the first ever in franchise history. Lowry possibly didn’t return to the game because Toronto didn’t want to risk aggravating a possible injury in a meaningless game — as much as a playoff game can be meaningless. At the same time, Lowry left the building in which the game was played for an MRI on the arch of his left foot, rather than his ankle.
As has become standard for the Raptors, the loss of the team’s leader and heartbeat slowed them not a bit. The meaningless game became a record-setter, at least for the Raptors. They scored a franchise-record 150 points. They scored a league-record 100 bench points. Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka, and Normal Powell all scored with absolute ease whenever they chose. Toronto’s play on the offensive end was as close to perfect as a game like basketball can be. And when they chose to shift out of first gear, the defense was just as impressive.
And despite the innumerable positive vibes, and the franchise and league records set, the sweep against the Brooklyn Nets has to be considered, at least in part, imperfect; the Raptors did not escape the series with a healthy Lowry. The reality is that the Raptors probably won’t beat the Celtics without Lowry playing. That isn’t to say he won’t play. We don’t know yet, and even if he’s hurt, it’s quite possible Lowry plays through injury. He would play through all but the most severe hurts. Remember: he played for the majority of the championship playoff run with a severely mangled thumb.
“It’s going to be a helluva injury to keep him off the floor,” said Nurse. “[If he doesn’t play,] it’s not going to be a little thing; he’s going to try to figure it out.”
It’s foolish to speculate, to play the ‘will he or won’t he’ game, until we hear more about the injury. We don’t know anything yet. We do know, however, that Toronto will play to a certain standard with or without Lowry.
“I won’t be very comfortable without Kyle out there, I will say that, he’s certainly a big engine for us,” said Nurse after the game. “But I would say, I think that we play a system or a style where lots of guys are involved and it’s not like, yeah, we’re going to miss all those great, great things Kyle does if he doesn’t play but somebody else has got to take shots and play defense and play tough and do the things that he does to make up for it or we do it by committee, that’s probably a better way.”
If Lowry were not to play, the Raptors would find a way to play good, fundamental basketball. They would certainly not collapse. Fred VanVleet — perhaps Toronto’s best player in the first round — would take more shots and shift into a more ball-dominant position. Though that has been a weaker role for him in the past, he was effective against Brooklyn. Siakam would handle more, playing back-up point guard at times. Ibaka and Powell, who combined for 56 points on 28 shots in the final piece of humiliation against Brooklyn, would take more shots.
Whether that would be enough to make up for Lowry is doubtful. He does too much, is too important. The Boston Celtics are waiting, and they are a terrifyingly good team. Every bit a match for a fully healthy Toronto. And because the Raptors have never played the Celtics, and are playing so well, and were finally healthy, this all adds up to a letdown. Maybe. The sun went down in pieces during the game, and then a few more pieces fell with the news afterwards of Lowry’s MRI, but it’s truly sunk when you focus on the golden opportunity this year that could be marred if Lowry misses any time.
And so we’re left waiting, suspended. Out of orbit. On one hand, this bizarre, yawning season has been nothing but bonus fun after last year’s championship. It’s very possible that I’m worrying about nothing and Lowry is completely fine. That possibility doesn’t eliminate the worry we feel until we know. On the other hand, the Raptors are a legitimate championship contender, and if it happens, losing Lowry now, for any time at all or even losing his top end of performance, would hurt Toronto’s chances. We don’t know. We’re left in the dark, waiting, guessing whether the sun will rise.
