Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry diagnosed with sprained ankle, iffy for Game 1 vs. Celtics

The Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics both swept their first-round NBA Eastern Conference first-round series in the Orlando bubble to set up a terrific semifinal matchup starting Thursday between the No. 2 and 3 seeds. Will the Raptors have All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry for the opener? That's in question after Lowry was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle Monday. Needless to say, his status will affect the NBA odds for Game 1 as well as the series line. Early projections have the Dinos around -125 on the series line.

Lowry went down in Toronto's 150-122 win over Brooklyn on Sunday to finish off the Nets. The Raptors are one of the deepest teams in the league and got 100 points from their bench. That's an NBA record since official starters began being tracked in 1970-71. Lowry, who was hurt in the first quarter, averaged 12.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 29.9 minutes per game in the series.

Lowry averaged 19.4 points, a team-high 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 36.2 minutes in 58 games with the Raptors during the regular season. The Dinos were 1-3 vs. Boston, and Toronto's only loss in the restart was Aug. 7 vs. the Celtics, 122-100. Lowry averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the series.

Norman Powell and Terence Davis would both see an uptick in minutes if Lowry misses any games. That the series doesn't start until Thursday helps him. It should be noted Mavericks star Luka Doncic played Game 4 vs. the LA Clippers on Sunday less than 48 hours after spraining his ankle and was fabulous. Every sprain is different, though. Toronto was 12-2 during the regular season when Lowry was out injured.

The SportsLine Projection Models lists Toronto currently as the 54.9 percent favorite to win the series, but that fully depends on Lowry's status. The Celtics wouldn't be favored in the series if Lowry were to miss a game or two but it could be close to 50/50 via the model. To win the East, Toronto is +260 at William Hill sportsbook and Boston +350.

Boston won't have starting forward Gordon Hayward during the series due to his own sprained ankle (he left the bubble), but losing him caused essentially no downgrade via the model. 

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