Kyle Lowry Back Injury Diagnosed as Acute Spasm; Will Be Re-Evaluated Tuesday

Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry suffered an acute back spasm in Monday's 114-113 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets, the team announced.

Doctors will re-evaluate Lowry Tuesday to determine the significance of the injury.

Lowry is coming off a career year in 2016-17. He averaged 22.4 points and 7.0 assists per game en route to his third straight All-Star appearance. He also connected on 41.2 percent of his three-point attempts, having never eclipsed the 40 percent threshold once in his previous 10 seasons.

But the 31-year-old played in only 60 games, which has been a problem throughout his NBA career. In his first five years with the Raptors, he only twice appeared in more than 70 games.

Lowry is one of Toronto's most important players, as evidenced by the three-year, $100 million extension he signed with the team in the offseason. 

Last season, four games separated the first and fourth seeds in the Eastern Conference. It's not a stretch to say every game Lowry misses could have a big impact on where Toronto—currently occupying the No. 2 seed—finishes in the standings. In order to remain on track to earn a top-four seed, the Raptors need Lowry to return to the court sooner rather than later.