The Toronto Raptors find themselves in a similar to one they faced in the 2016 Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’re in a 2-0 series hole to the Cavs — much like they were in the Eastern Conference finals a year ago. Beyond the mere passage of time, though, other things have changed for Toronto — the foremost being the status of point guard Kyle Lowry, who is questionable for Game 3 with a sprained ankle. Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun has more:
But the big difference this year heading into Game 3 is that any comeback by the Raptors, assuming they have a comeback left in them, may just go off with the potential absence of Kyle Lowry from the proceedings.
That looked like a very real possibility after Lowry badly sprained his left ankle when teammate Norm Powell was thrown into him as the Cavs attacked the Toronto basket early in the third quarter Wednesday.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that Lowry came back and played another eight minutes on that ankle either. The Raptors training staff informed the coaching staff that as long as the ankle didn’t stiffen up, he would be fine to play. But as soon as he stopped and it did stiffen up, that would be it for Lowry.
Lowry did not practise Thursday, instead getting an MRI on that injured left ankle to rule out any structural damage.
Throw in the fact that he could barely put his full weight on it Wednesday night without cursing and there is a real possibility that he will not play in Game 3.
“Kyle is our driving force, our point guard, our leader,” DeRozan said. “So for us not to have him anything close to 100%, it would be difficult on us. But next guy, everybody else gotta do something a little bit more to fill whatever void it is he can’t fully do out there on the court.”
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The Lowry uncertainty just seems to be piling on at this point when it comes to the issues facing the Raptors’ as they attempt to come back from a 2-0 deficit against the defending world champs.
There’s the potential of Lowry’s loss and all that entails, the need to find some way to keep the Cavs from getting everything they want offensively, whether that’s their seemingly unstoppable three-point game or James just scoring at will, and equally importantly finding space for DeRozan to get his game going.
So far in the series, they can’t stop the Cavs while failing miserably at the other end to get any kind of offence of their own. DeRozan, coming off a five-point night in Game 2, is incredibly frustrated by both his own struggles and that of his team.
But history has shown us that DeRozan can change in a heartbeat, just as he did a year ago with a pair of 32-point games in the third and fourth games of the series.
It would be nice if there was some indication the Raptors were capable of making that happen this year.
Right now, the only thing on their side is history.
