TORONTO — Kyle Lowry is playing the best basketball of his career. Based on his performance through the first 29 games of the season he deserves to start for the Eastern Conference All-Star team at the Air Canada Centre in February. He’s made the Toronto Raptors go.
Of course Lowry was off to the best start of his career a year ago too, one that led to his first All-Star appearance, widespread recognition as one of the best point guards in the NBA, and the Raptors’ undisputed heartbeat.
But everyone knows how that worked out. Lowry’s electric performance in the first two months of last season ended with a fizzle. The engine that drove the Raptors sputtered, and the club did too, posting an uninspiring 12-15 stretch run after their hot start and collapsing in the playoffs.
It’s a team game but it was hard not to draw parallels between Lowry’s struggles and the Raptors’ swoon. Lowry never elaborated what was behind his long stretch of sub-par (for him) play but when he came to training camp in the best shape of his career, having dropped at least 20 pounds, it was clear he felt he needed to do something to better handle to strain of being a franchise player.
After the Raptors downed the San Antonio Spurs at the ACC 10 days ago thanks to another in a long series of peak efforts from Lowry, the Raptors guard was asked about how he’s holding up under the weight of a road-heavy schedule and a lot of close games and Lowry said he wasn’t worried; his off-season conditioning had laid a foundation that would allow him to maintain his peak performance.
The problem is that until Lowry can push through and play at that level for 70-plus games and still be able to carry the load in the playoffs, any slides by Lowry will be examined to see if they are just normal slippage or early signs of cracks in that foundation.
Lowry’s showing against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday was not his best and his play — and eventually his lack of play after being ejected for arguing too vociferously with referee Scott Wall early in the third quarter — contributed to Toronto losing another home-court game against a sub-.500 opponent.
Toronto is 8-5 at the ACC and its last three losses have been to teams with a losing record.
“I guess I was trying to explain myself and understand what I got the first one for and I guess I was there too long,” said Lowry. “… at the end the day it’s my fault and I have to have better composure and take all responsibility for my actions. It sucks I couldn’t be out there for my teammates, that’s the most frustrating part, that I let my teammates down and the organization.”
The loss had all kinds of parents. They allowed Sacramento to shoot 53 per cent from the floor. Toronto fell behind 22-6 midway through the first quarter, in which it gave up a season-high 37 points. It was all uphill from there and there were, admirably, points where the Raptors looked liked they were going to pull it out as some strong performances by Terrence Ross (13 points) and Patrick Patterson (18 points) off the bench helped the Raptors pull within five with five minutes left.
Normally that would be Lowry’s chance to shine, but he wasn’t available and Sacramento pulled away.
Would Lowry have been able to pull it out? That’s another question. In his last six games he’s not been the player he was in the first 23 as he’s entered the first slump of his season. Over his last six games Lowry’s averaging just 17 points and four assists on 33 per cent shooting — 25 per cent from behind the arc — while averaging just four trips to the free-throw line a game.
In contrast he was averaging 22 points and six assists a game in the first 23 games of the year on 43 per cent shooting and 42 per cent from deep, while getting to the line six times a game. It was a spectacular stretch of basketball but the falloff is familiar.
A year ago Lowry was averaging 20 points and five assists on 46 per cent shooting while getting to the line six times a game after 29 starts. Things got wobbly after that as he shot just 34 per cent and 28 per cent from three over his next 25 games while getting to the line just 3.4 times a game.
He doesn’t think history is repeating itself.
“I’m just missing shots. I think I’m putting too much pressure on myself. I just have to find a way to ease it back off, take better shots,” he said. “The shots I take are shots I work on, at the end of the day they just haven’t gone in the hole.”
If there is a common thread between last year and this year it’s that some of Lowry’s woes can be traced to him trying to carry the load when key components are out of the lineup. Last season Lowry’s game took off while DeMar DeRozan was hurt, but the stress of doing everything seemed to wear on him.
This year the Raptors have been without Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll for long stretches and you have to wonder if defences are able to load up on Lowry because the Raptors are down a couple of key pieces.
“He’s logged a lot of minutes,” said Dwane Casey. “Teams are gearing up to him, double-teaming him. We have to recognize that and move the basketball. It’s nothing we have not seen [before] … but we have to be smarter as far as moving the basketball and take the high percentage shot.”
Lowry is adamant that he’s physically fine and in no way headed for the kind of swoon he went through a year ago. “I’m not worried about me sustaining, because I feel great,” he said. “The defences are really taking me out of the game, I need to find a way to be a decoy and get easy buckets.”
Carroll (knee) and Valanciunas (hand) are expected to be back in the lineup soon. Lowry’s done an admirable job holding the fort while they’ve been down. It could be their turn to help lighten Lowry’s load when they get back and allow him some respite as the season approaches the midpoint.
After all, the Raptors’ season won’t hinge on Lowry having a career-best start. It will turn on him having a career-best finish.
