Toronto Raptors forward/center Serge Ibaka said Tuesday morning he is dealing with a sprained left ankle and is unsure of his availability for Game 6 against the Boston Celtics (6:30 ET, ESPN).
The Raptors lost Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday, 111-89, and trail Boston 3-2 in the series. Ibaka was in a walking boot during Tuesday’s interviews with the media and said he is going to see how he feels on Wednesday morning to determine his availability for Game 6.
.@sergeibaka says he twisted his ankle in game 5 and is going to see how he feels tomorrow morning to determine his availability for game 6. pic.twitter.com/uJb5pMvbgD
— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) September 8, 2020
One thing I'd point out about the Ibaka walking boot: Obviously it doesn't look good, but it's been standard Raptors protocol to put them in a boot right away regardless of severity of sprain. Doesn't mean he's out for sure.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) September 8, 2020
Ibaka played 18 minutes off the bench in Game 5, finishing with seven points, four rebounds and two blocks. In the 2020 playoffs, he is averaging 15.1, 8.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and shooting 57.6% overall and 52.8% on 3-pointers.
The early portion of Game 5 was a problem for Toronto. Here’s what the Raptors got out of their first 18 possessions: five points on 2-for-15 shooting, a stretch that included everything from missed open layups to airballed contested jumpers, along with five turnovers in the game’s first 8:53.
They were down 18-5 after all that, and it got worse in a hurry.
Another big scoring run — this time, 23-7 — in the second quarter pushed Boston’s lead from 37-25 to 60-32 late in the half. The Raptors had gone 5-for-6 from the field just before that spurt began and seemed to be getting in a rhythm; they missed 11 of their next 13 shots and things got out of hand.
Toronto is 9-10 all-time when facing elimination, as will be the case Wednesday. The Raptors went 1-0 last season in win-or-else games, that being the Game 7 triumph over Philadelphia in the East semifinals.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
