Kyle Lowry Won't Play vs. Trail Blazers After Thigh Injury Diagnosed as Bruise

Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry will miss Friday night's showdown against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center because of a thigh bruise, according to ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski. 

Lowry has dealt with injury issues throughout his career and played 80 or more games just once since he entered the league in 2006.            

The Villanova product is averaging 14.2 points and a league-leading 10.0 assists per game in 2018-19 after scoring 16.2 points and dishing out 6.9 assists a night last season.

Toronto is on the short list of NBA Finals challengers in the Eastern Conference, but it figures to go only as far as the combination of Lowry and Kawhi Leonard takes it. 

In the meantime, look for Leonard—who is returning to action after missing two games with a hip ailment—to shoulder even more of the scoring load. Elsewhere, Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright can assume more of the ball-handling duties until Lowry is ready to return.