Kyle Lowry injury is a broken wrist that could keep the Raptors’ star out until the NBA playoffs

Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry is expected to miss several weeks after undergoing wrist surgery, the team announced.

The Raptors say that the “aim” is for Lowry to return by the postseason, which begins in just under seven weeks. There is a chance that Lowry returns sooner and plays by the end of the regular season, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

Lowry suffered the injury in the final regular season game before the All-Star break on Feb. 15. Despite that, he participated in the Three Point Contest and the All-Star Game that weekend, drawing eyes when he was seen with a huge wrap about his wrist on the bench.

Lowry will likely need to explain why he went through and participated that weekend despite the injury, but there’s no evidence Lowry’s injury worsened because he didn’t sit out. The more pressing issue is how Toronto will survive at least several weeks without him.

DeMar DeRozan is the team’s leading scorer, but the Raptors play best when he’s present. Toronto is plus-8.1 points per 100 possessions when Lowry is on the floor, by far the best of the five starters, compared to minus-3.5 without him.

Lowry is having his best year yet, averaging a career-high 22.8 points with more assists and fewer turnovers than last season. He’s shooting 46 percent from the field and 42 percent behind the arc, both numbers the best in his career for a full season.

Before his injury, the Raptors had only played one game without Lowry.

The Raptors are basically tied with Washington for the No. 3 seed, sitting one game back in the loss column. However, if Toronto doesn’t have Lowry, you can’t like their chances to pass Washington and keep that third seed.

In fact, holding off the Atlanta Hawks — 2.5 games back of the Raptors in the fifth seed — may be a more pressing issue.

Toronto made two aggressive moves at the trade deadline, picking up Serge Ibaka from Orlando and P.J. Tucker from Phoenix. Both moves came at a relatively cheap price, only losing Terrence Ross as a rotation player.

Without Lowry but with their new additions, Toronto have won both games coming out of the All-Star break, including a victory against Boston on Friday. Lowry’s importance to the team shouldn’t be underplayed, and his absence will likely catch up to Toronto at some point. However, two solid wins could be a sign that the Raptors can tread water well enough to avoid a major drop off while he’s out.