After two games on the shelf and inconclusive MRI results, the Toronto Raptors and Kyle Lowry have bitten the bullet. The All-Star and team-leading assist man could miss the rest of the regular season after wrist surgery:

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Lowry made the All-Star team by averaging 22.8 points, 6.9 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals in a league-leading 37.7 minutes a contest, but he played through that exhibition (and, apparently, the league’s Three-Point Shootout) with an injured right wrist.

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The 35-24 Raptors took care of business in two games with Lowry on the shelf after the All-Star break, in impressive wins over the visiting Celtics and Trail Blazers (in a game just following Lowry’s MRI returns, which showed no tears in the wrist), but the road toward the postseason (and, presumably, Lowry’s return) will be formidable.

The team is currently tied with the ascending Washington Wizards for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference, three games behind the second-ranked Celtics six games behind the defending champion Cavaliers.

Replacement starter Cory Joseph notched 12.5 points and six assists, with four steals (and just two turnovers in 70 minutes) in the two post-ASG victories, nice enough stats, but he’s hardly on the level with Lowry at this point. Delon Wright was impressive in one of his two games as the lead reserve point guard, but he remains untested in the role.

Toronto’s final 23 games will feature a slight uptick in terms of strength and schedule, but if the play continues in the all-out fashion Raptors fans witnessed in (admittedly, very tough) wins over the Celtics and Trail Blazers, the team should be able to keep its head above water. The tests start almost immediately with a home-and-home series (spread out over three nights) against a Washington club it has only played once previously (in November, in a win, back when we had all but left the Wizards for dead).

The regular season ends with a tough stretch, with the Raptors spending four of its final five games away from Toronto. Two of the contests could feature games against teams with playoff hopes in Indiana and Detroit, but three other tanking and/or coasting clubs to offset things in the Knicks, Heat and Cavaliers.

By then, Lowry could be in uniform after the Raptors spend weeks trying to buck the statistical trend that tells us that they are a terrible team with Kyle on the bench.

What is certain, evidenced by both the team’s spirited play against Boston and Portland and in the spirit of new trade deadline additions Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker, is that the Toronto Raptors won’t be an easy out, even with Kyle Lowry out. He’s rubbed off on the team that he’ll have to leave behind.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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