Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry began Game 1 on Sunday against the Boston Celtics after being uncertain to play due to a sprained left ankle.
Coach Nick Nurse told reporters before the game that he didn’t expect any restrictions on Lowry.
“We’ll have to see how it goes once we’re out there for real, but I’d say at this point, there are no limits,” Nurse said. “There may be something in the first half until he has his conditioning, but I doubt it. It’s a playoff game. He’s been through a lot. He knows how to handle things pretty well. But we’ll see.”
The Raptors announced Sunday morning that Lowry, who was officially upgraded to probable Saturday, would be available to play.
Lowry turned his ankle in the last game of the Toronto first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets on August 23. He was dribbling on the field in the first quarter when he was cut out and placed at the feet of Nets guard Chris Chiozza. He stayed in the game for a short time before committing a foul and signaling to the bench that he had to go out.
While the Raptors went 12-2 without Lowry during the season, they would like to have him in full swing for their conference semifinal against the Celtics. Boston is the only team to defeat Toronto (a 122-100 win on August 7) since the NBA resumed bubble play in Orlando, Florida.
Information from Andrew Lopez of ESPN was used in this report.
.
