NBA Notes: Raptors' Valanciunas Out for Rest of East Semifinal

MIAMI -- Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas will miss the rest of his team's Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Miami Heat with a sprained right ankle.

Valanciunas was injured in the third quarter of Toronto's win in Game 3.

X-rays did not show any fractures, but the team ruled him out for the rest of the series after more evaluation Sunday.

Valanciunas has averaged 15 points and 12.1 rebounds in these playoffs. He had a double-double in all three games against the Heat.

Toronto outscored Miami by 41 points when Valanciunas was on the floor in the first three games. The Heat have outscored the Raptors by 39 when he hasn't been on the court.

The announcement came shortly after Miami announced center Hassan Whiteside is day-to-day with a sprained knee ligament.

Heat: Whiteside has sprained MCL, listed day to day
MIAMI -- Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, the same injury that has sidelined Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry for the past couple weeks.

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Whiteside will be listed as day-to-day, the Heat announced Sunday after the results of an MRI exam were reviewed.

Typically, the recovery time for a mild MCL sprain can be a couple of weeks -- though there are examples where players returned within a day or two and examples where it has dragged on for several weeks.

The severity of Whiteside's injury is not known. Curry's was a Grade 1 sprain, which is defined as slight.

The Heat are surely hoping that Whiteside falls into the quicker category. They trail the Toronto Raptors 2-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, which resumes with Game 4 in Miami on Monday night.

Whiteside was hurt with 10:54 left in the second quarter of Game 3 on Saturday, trying to position himself for a rebound (see full story).

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