Toronto Raptors big man Serge Ibaka was left bleeding after taking an elbow to the head from teammate Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard inadvertently elbowed Ibaka to the head while fighting for a rebound midway through the first quarter of Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers. Ibaka was immediately brought to the locker room to address the apparent cut on his forehead.
Serge Ibaka heads to locker room with apparent cut on his forehead pic.twitter.com/Mag8RehYZW
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) May 8, 2019
Ibaka … ouch pic.twitter.com/IdmTyJOxIL
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 8, 2019
Fortunately for Toronto, Ibaka was able to return to the game. He checked back in the second quarter, with the wound on his forehead bandaged.
The 29-year-old forward-center has been a key cog off the bench for Toronto in the playoffs. While he relinquished his starting role to Marc ZGasol in the postseason, losing him to an untimely injury would have been a major blow to a Raptors team looking to take care of business at home.
Ibaka is averaging 8.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game for the Raptors these playoffs. He struggled in the first three games of their series against the Sixers, but he played well in Game 4 to help Toronto tie the series at 2-2. Ibaka scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds during that match.
Toronto, and certainly Kawhi, would be happy though that he's back and doing well despite the unfortunate on-court accident.
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