Game 4 of the Nets-Raptors first round series didn’t have much in the way of intrigue with Toronto holding a 3-0 series lead and having dispatched of Brooklyn with relative ease in the first three games.
The main task at hand for the Raptors was putting away the Nets while staying sharp for their upcoming second round series with Boston. Unfortunately, things took a wrong turn in the first quarter for Toronto when Kyle Lowry rolled his left ankle stepping on the foot of a Brooklyn defender and, after trying to continue playing, almost immediately had to ask out and headed to the locker room for evaluation.
Lowry heads to the locker room with an apparent injury pic.twitter.com/xXVSuZUn9d
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) August 23, 2020
The initial update from the Raptors didn’t provide much in the way of information on the severity of the injury, noting his availability for the rest of Game 4 was still to be determined — but it was later announced he would not return.
.@RaptorsPR says Lowry turned his left ankle, and his return is TBD.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) August 23, 2020
Kyle Lowry (ankle) will not return tonight.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 23, 2020
One expected, given the Raptors 3-0 series lead and the talent discrepancy even without Lowry, they would err on the side of caution here and so his day being done isn’t necessarily an indication of something too severe. With a second round matchup against the Celtics looming after Boston capped off a sweep of the Sixers earlier in the day, Toronto will need Lowry as healthy as possible given Boston’s strength in the backcourt, and keeping him from aggravating his injury further is the prudent move.
Later in the second quarter, the team confirmed Lowry had left the arena to go get an MRI on his ankle.
The Raptors say Kyle Lowry has left the building to get imaging on his ankle. Lowry left the game after turning it earlier in the first half.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) August 23, 2020