The Toronto Raptors had to close out a crucial game against the Cleveland Cavaliers without one of their top scoring options.
Brandon Ingram exited Wednesday's Game 5 showdown after dealing with right heel inflammation, the team announced before halftime.
The injury occurred after he squared up on Evan Mobley for an isolation, but wound up turning the ball over. He appeared to be limbering after the play, exited the game at the 7:32 mark and returned to the team's locker room.
He had been dealing with a lingering foot issue for some time and missed three games in the final month of the regular season with the injury.
"He re-aggravated that heel on one play," head coach Darko Rajakovic said after the 125-120 loss. "We tried to re-tape him. At half-time, he tried to see if he could be ready for the second half, and he was not able to come and play the second half. Tomorrow we will know more when we do more evaluation."
Ingram had played 11 minutes in Game 5 before leaving and had one point, one rebound and two assists while shooting 0-for-2 from the field.
After a strong first season with the Raptors, Ingram has been unable to replicate his regular-season production in the playoffs. He came into Wednesday's contest averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 33.9 per cent from the field and 38.5 per cent from three in the first-round series.
Rajakovic mentioned that the issue has been something that's "been on and off" throughout the series, but that it was fully reaggravated in Game 5.
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