TORONTO -- Raptors forward Serge Ibaka needed some repair work Tuesday after taking an inadvertent elbow from teammate Kawhi Leonard in Game 5 of Toronto's playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The incident occurred under the Raptors basket with just under five minutes remaining in the first quarter. The six-foot-10 Ibaka, no shrinking violet when it comes to bodily contact, took the elbow to the forehead in a scrum of bodies going for a rebound.
Ibaka, a towel to his face, headed to the locker-room for treatment but was back on the bench with three stitches and a bandage on his forehead before the quarter ended.
He started the second quarter, stitches and all. And he drew cheers with a one-handed dunk for his first bucket.
"They make 'em TOUGH up North," the Raptors above a photo showing the plaster over a generous-sized hematoma above Ibaka's left eye.
