TORONTO — As far as arena-wide, full-throated ovations between free throws 70 seconds into the game go, you never heard one like it. Honestly. Have you ever seen 20,000 rally so spontaneously and universally in anticipation of a game’s third point being registered? Under what other circumstances? In which dimension?
It was Kyle Lowry at the line, the Toronto Raptors point guard having drawn contact during his shooting motion from seven-foot, never-smiling Orlando Magic centre Nikola Vucevic. And, wow, did knuckles ever whiten when Lowry — who, as perhaps you’d heard, finished with zero points in Saturday’s Game 1 defeat — rimmed out his first one.
But you get two. And the Toronto crowd was not only keenly aware of this, they were uniting in brazen defiance of commonly accepted remain-silent-when-the-home-team’s-shooting-free-throws etiquette to rise and cheer, filling the arena with supportive noise at Lowry’s back and getting as loud as they would all night.
Actually, that’s a lie. They were even louder after Lowry drained it, finally joining the 17 other players to appear in the series with a point next to his name. By the end of the game, a 111-82 molly-whopping, he’d put up 21 more. You can shut up about him now.
“Made some shots,” Lowry said, accurately, when asked about the difference between Saturday’s game and Tuesday’s. “I think just me being more aggressive. Getting downhill. Getting to my spots a lot easier. And, you know, figuring it out.”
The outcry and angst over Lowry’s scoreless performance in Game 1, an uproar that was not unanimous among the Raptors fan base but nevertheless widespread, was always overblown. It’s possible to play an effective game of basketball without scoring a point. Lowry just did a couple nights ago.
His plus-11 in that game led the Raptors by a mile. His eight assists did, too. He had seven rebounds, four deflections, two loose balls recovered, two steals, and a drawn charge. There’s always a charge.
Tuesday there were two. Along with the 22 points, and the seven assists, and the two offensive boards, and the six deflections, and the four loose balls recovered, and the plus-30. And all the little winning plays he makes. The ones fans get tired of hearing about on nights he doesn’t put up many points. The ones you won’t find next to his name on your favourite app’s box score. The ones you can count on whether his shots are falling or not.
The next time you’re watching a Raptors game, just iso cam Lowry. Watch him not only with the ball, but without it. Look at the way he finds space, the way he creates space for others. See the how he anticipates and sees the game playing out two steps before it does. Notice the little tugs, grabs, bumps into another player’s hip — not flagrant enough to draw attention, but effective enough to give a teammate the time and space they need.
The Magic grew so frustrated with those little impediments at one point Tuesday that Michael Carter-Williams threw a left elbow at the side of Lowry’s head. It was the fourth quarter, and the game was well within Toronto’s control. But Lowry never stopped competing, and subtly held onto Carter-Williams’ wrist beneath the basket as he tried to collect a rebound.
Even after taking that elbow behind the ear and a shove, Lowry barely reacted, letting Carter-Williams pick up a personal foul and a technical. Carter-Williams — who Lowry bloodied in Game 1 with an errant forearm — was incensed. Meanwhile, Lowry walked calmly down to the other end and drained his team’s free shot.
"He played well tonight," said Kawhi Leonard, whose game was unbelievable. "I felt like he played hard in Game 1 — rebounded the ball well for a point guard, led us in assists. Tonight he made shots. He led us in intensity. He did a great job in bouncing back. He’s a pro. That’s what pros do. It’s one game, and they come into the next game ready to play."
That much was evident from the beginning. It was only a minute after that unlikely, mid-free throw ovation that Lowry drew his first charge, scrambling from one side of the paint to the other to get in the way of a stampeding Aaron Gordon, whose hip drove straight into Lowry’s chest.
And it was only a couple minutes after that when Lowry used a subtle Serge Ibaka pick to get open beyond the arc, where Leonard found him already rotating into his shooting motion. As his first three-pointer of the night, his first of the playoffs, and his first in 10 days fell, Lowry held his follow-through for a perfect beat before turning back up-court. All he did at the other end was block a D.J. Augustine attempt at the rim after the zippy Magic guard blew by Leonard.
Hard up the floor in transition he went, where Lowry fed a trailing Pascal Siakam and stuck that thick lower half of his directly into Vucevic, creating enough space for a bunny-hop floater that put the Raptors up by 14. And then it was back down to the defensive end, where Lowry made a split-second decision to leave his man and double-team Vucevic, forcing a jump ball.
That’s just one four-possession sequence in the first quarter. It was like that all night.
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"Yeah, he was big time tonight," Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said. "That’s him at his finest. Tonight he was charging up the floor and pushing the ball fast, shooting, driving, kicking, making steals, hands on everything, rebounding. He was doing it all."
And isn’t he always? Far more often than not, at least. All those factors save one — driving — were certainly evident in Game 1, to the point that the opposition’s head coach went out of his way to praise Lowry’s play between games. If anything, Lowry merely wasn’t as aggressive as he normally is that night. He wasn’t driving and attacking off the dribble with his usual urgency. Lowry noticed it on film between games. Sometimes it happens when your shot feels so uncomfortable.
"Tonight was a little bit different," Lowry said. "Just more aggressive, more assertive."
As it started, Lowry’s night ended with an ovation. Shoulders hunched, eyebrows furrowed, Lowry walked slowly off the court at the end of a game-high 37-minute shift as 20,000 rose to their feet. He fell into his seat at the end of the bench, loosened his shoelaces, wrapped a white towel around his neck. And for the rest of the night, he was a spectator just like everyone else.
"I think people got a little crazy about Game 1. We all know the type of guy that he is,” Siakam said. "I felt like in the first game he was more passive. But, this game, from the jump he had that fire in his eyes. Driving and kicking and doing the dirty work, taking charges. That’s the Kyle we know, for sure. And, I mean, the first game he was doing the same things. He just didn’t score."
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