It appears optimism about Kyle Lowry‘s return from quad and back issues was premature. The Raptors announced today in an email that their All-Star point guard had pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory injections for his lower-back soreness on Friday, and the team isn’t sure when he might return to action.
Lowry has taken the court just once in Toronto’s past eight games as the Raptors have slipped out of first place in the East. On Sunday, coach Nick Nurse told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps he expected Lowry back soon, but it appears the wait will be longer than expected.
“Any of our guys, we want them back as soon as possible,” Nurse said. “… I think we’re positive and hopeful that it’s going in the right direction, and we’ll see him back soon.”
Lowry’s injury is a two-part problem, Bontemps explains. At first, he was sidelined for a quad issue, then he missed the last three games with back soreness. He is averaging 14.4 points and a career-best 9.8 assists per night.
The Raptors also updated the condition of center Jonas Valanciunas, who had surgery after dislocating his left thumb on December 12. He had sutures removed from his hand three days ago and has started the rehab process, although no date has been set for him to return.
Really shows that Van Vleet is not ready to take over point guard duties or at least not ready to replace Lowry. Need to find someone (veteran Rose?) to fill in now while Lowry convalesces. Also don’t expect JV back anytime soon according to his barber. Ibaka, Monroe should be ok but we miss him too. Miss Poeltl right now……. Hope all is figured out before playoffs.