Raptors Rest Kyle Lowry in Must-Win Game vs. Wizards

The Toronto Raptors have decided to rest Kyle Lowry in Thursday night's must-win game against the Washington Wizards

So much for being a must-win game.

The Toronto Raptors have decided to give Kyle Lowry the night off Thursday night in what was previously considered a must-win game against the Washington Wizards.

"I would say that’s probably our last chance saloon a little bit," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday night. "I think them getting that one against us would be awful tough for us to recover from."

Fred VanVleet called it a "big game" saying on Tuesday that the team still had a chance to do something special and sneak into the play-in tournament.

Instead of going for it though, the Raptors will be without Lowry, OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, Paul Watson Jr., and now Yuta Watanabe who popped up on the injury report with a right ankle sprain.

Toronto will, however, have Gary Trent Jr. back in the lineup having recovered from his left leg injury.

With a win, the Raptors would pull to within two games of the Wizards for the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. It would still be tough for Toronto to sneak in, but considering Toronto holds the tie-breaker with Washington it wouldn't be impossible. A loss, however, might just end any hope of a comeback. 

Further Reading

The Raptors may be the NBA's unluckiest team ever

The Raptors are favoured in Thursday's do-or-die game against the Wizards

Jalen Harris has a chance to be one of Toronto's few second-round success stories