Raptors' Kyle Lowry Ruled Out vs. Pacers After Suffering Whiplash Injury

Toronto Raptors veteran point guard Kyle Lowry suffered whiplash against the Indiana Pacers on Friday and did not return, per Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.

The 33-year-old had 16 points and 11 assists in 28 minutes before exiting.

Lowry, who already missed 11 games this season with a fractured thumb, entered Friday averaging 19.6 points and 7.3 assists during his 14th NBA campaign and eighth with the Raptors.

Entering the season, Lowry had been named an All-Star in five consecutive seasons, and he played a significant role in helping the Raptors win their first championship in franchise history last season.

In addition to putting up 14.2 points, a career-high 8.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, Lowry averaged 15.0 points, 6.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds per contest during Toronto's lengthy playoff run.

Lowry sat out 17 games last season and 22 games two seasons before that, so being without Lowry for a period of time isn't a foreign concept to the Raptors.

Even so, it is a significant loss whenever Lowry misses time since he is the Raptors' clear and obvious leader on the court, and there isn't another player on the roster who brings his type of leadership and hard-nosed play to the point guard position.

If Lowry does miss some time, Fred VanVleet will take on the bulk of his minutes at point guard. Terence Davis could also see more minutes in the backcourt.

The Raptors don't have the same quality depth they had on last year's team with the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green leaving in free agency, so it is more difficult to weather the storm when a player of Lowry's caliber lands on the shelf.

Toronto has been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference despite its big losses in free agency, though, which means it has some margin for error until Lowry returns.