TORONTO — As the current No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, boasting the fourth-best record in the league, it makes sense that fans, media, players and coaches recognized the Toronto Raptors by giving their best player this season, DeMar DeRozan, an all-star starter nod.
But DeRozan isn’t the only Raptor who should be heading to Los Angeles to play on Feb. 18.
Let’s not forget about the guy who has arguably been Toronto’s best player during their most successful era ever (barring this season, of course): Kyle Lowry.
His coach certainly didn’t.
“Now we’ve got to get Kyle in,” Dwane Casey said Friday morning. “I’ve been texting coaches and going to be in tough with a lot of coaches to get him in. He should be in on his own merits, I shouldn’t have to do that because he is an all-star.
“If you find five other better guards, point guards in our conference than Kyle then I want to see them. I think the basketball gods will do the right thing and get him in.”
The San Antonio Spurs would likely agree with Casey’s words.
Without Kawhi Leonard (quadriceps), Manu Ginobili (thigh) and Rudy Gay (heel) the visiting Spurs were able to keep it close all throughout but, ultimately, were unable to keep up with Lowry and the much-healthier Raptors, falling 86-83 Friday night.
Led by Lowry’s game-high 24 points, on an efficient 8-of-16 shooting and 4-for-9 from outside, the three-time all-star’s fingerprints were all over this game while he remained within the flow of it.
He opened the scoring in the contest with a triple from the wing, then drilled another from the top of the key as part of the 9-0 run that helped Toronto get back into the game after a sluggish start, giving the Raptors momentum carrying into the second quarter.
In that frame, Lowry found his two big men, Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas, for easy looks and continued his long-distance barrage with another triple helping Toronto jump out to a 44-37 halftime lead.
He was held in check after the break, but in the fourth with Toronto leading by just one entering the period, Lowry delivered, scoring nine points on 3-for-5 shooting, including a dagger floater in the lane with 30.9 seconds left in the game, telling everyone in the building that there was no way in hell he was going to allow the Raptors to lose.
That’s what all-stars do.
“Just being aggressive,” Lowry said of his first 20-plus point scoring effort since Jan. 1. “It’s that time of year when everyone’s hitting a little bit of a rut here, just a little bit of a lull. But as a good team we’ve gotta continue to get better and take a step in the journey that makes us a better team.”
And that’s what all-stars say after a hard-fought W — both teams played smothering defence with the Raptors holding the Spurs to 34.1 per cent and Toronto only shooting 40 per cent in the game.
Entering Friday’s contest averaging 16.2 points, 6.9 assists, a career-best 6.2 rebounds on 41.6 per cent shooting and 38.9 per cent from three-point range, Lowry simply must be named an all-star.
He finished eighth overall in Eastern Conference guard all-star voting, but that’s likely a product of the fact his numbers have taken a dip from his two-previous campaigns, particularly in the scoring department.
This shouldn’t matter, however. The fact that Lowry is the second-best player — and perhaps its most important one — on the East’s second-best team is what should matter. Are guards like the Washington Wizards’ backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal putting up bigger numbers? Yes, but look where they are in the standings. The same goes for the reportedly-on-the-trading-block Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets.
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But if stats really are important to you, Lowry has historical precedence on his side. In 2014-15, Lowry was named an all-star for the first time in his career finishing that season with averages of 17.8 points, 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds on 41.2 per cent shooting and 33.8 per cent from beyond the arc. Extraordinarily similar figures to what he’s doing this season.
The big difference now is that Lowry’s doing this on a team that should be expected to contend for an Eastern Conference title, at least, and has had to do so while adapting his game to an entirely new Raptors culture and style of play — something no ordinary point guard could do.
But Lowry is no ordinary point guard. He’s exceptional. He’s special. He’s an all-star.
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