TORONTO – When the Toronto Raptors set out to be a high-volume three-point shooting team, the math was in their favour. Shots from three are worth more that shots from anywhere on the floor.
It sounded good. Very modern.
But who was going to make them?
Off-season signee C.J. Miles was going to be good for a bunch, no problem there. And Serge Ibaka was coming off an excellent shooting year, connecting on a career-high 39.1 per cent from deep on four attempts a game. There was hope some of the Raptors’ less-proven threats from deep would get more comfortable from distance.
That has happened to a greater degree than might have been expected. Fred VanVleet (39 per cent), Delon Wright (37 per cent), DeMar DeRozan (32 per cent) and even Jonas Valanciunas (44 per cent on limited volume) have contributed to the Raptors’ mission, off-setting a somewhat disappointing year from Ibaka (34.6 per cent).
But it was a plan that could only work if Kyle Lowry remained one of the best deep shooters in the game and he has delivered. On Friday, he broke his own Raptors record of 212 threes with his 213th make of the season midway through the third quarter, a shot that helped spark a comeback over the Brooklyn Nets after a listless early effort. He hit two more in the second half to make sure they finished the job.
Lowry’s the best three-point shooter the Raptors have ever had, and it’s not close. No other Raptor has made more than 177 threes in a season. Lowry’s topped that mark four straight seasons.
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“I have the top three, top four now?” said Lowry with a laugh after the game. “Hey, it’s what I do.”
The three-ball was a major factor in Toronto’s 116-112 win as the Raptors were good on 14 threes in 29 attempts. The Raptors are now 25-3 in games when make at least 13 triples game. Lowry led the charge making five in six attempts, all of them crucial it seemed.
Then again, Lowry did a lot of everything and finished with his 10th triple-double as a Raptor, putting up 25 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. In his last four games, he’s made 23 of 35 attempts from deep or a cool 65.7 per cent, which is pretty good in the same way finding a suitcase full of money in the backyard is pretty good.
The Raptors needed everything Lowry had as they again came out flat defensively. Raptors head coach Dwane Casey made his point by pulling four of his five starters before four minutes had elapsed in the second half after Brooklyn had pushed five-point halftime lead to 11.
As has been the Raptors’ habit lately, their win came down to the wire. The Raptors prevailed and can look forward to some practice time in the next week or so to iron out their defensive wrinkles.
The win improved Toronto to an Eastern Conference-best 54-19 and its home mark to an NBA-best 30-6 and 32-2 against sub-.500 teams. That they allowed the Nets to shoot 53 per cent through three quarters indicates that they made it harder than the normally do.
The Raptors’ willingness to shoot threes at a high volume is a testament to their willingness to embrace change. Toronto came into the game third in the league in three-point attempts with 32.8 – trailing only Houston, who is in a different category with 40, and the Nets, who take 35 a game almost for a lack of other options. It’s almost shocking given the Raptors averaged 22.4 threes a game last season, which was 22nd in the league. But they’ve perhaps exceeded expectations by converting 35.9 per cent, just below the league average.
But while the other contributions have been welcome – even with Miles out of the lineup (flu), five other Raptors hit three, including four by VanVleet — the foundation piece to any kind of Raptors three-point shooting plan was going to depend on Kyle Lowry, the only starter with a true pedigree from the distance.
He’s only enhanced status this season.
Lowry broke his own record with a pull-up three right out of halftime. He would have smashed that last year had he not missed 22 games with a wrist injury as he has 193 triples in just 60 games, connecting on a career-best 41.2 per cent. Presuming Lowry stays above the 40 per cent mark for the remainder of the season he’ll be in rare territory.
Only five players in NBA history have had multiple seasons where they’ve made at least 200 threes while shooting a minimum 40 per cent – you’ve heard of all of them.
Steph Curry and fellow splash brother Klay Thompson have done it six times; J.J. Redick and Ray Allen three times each, while Peja Stojakovic did it twice.
Lowry doesn’t quite make the cut off as he was just shot 39 per cent the year he made 212 three and didn’t make 200 last year while shooting 41 per cent. But cumulatively, Lowry has averaged at least 200 threes and 40 per cent from deep for nearly full three seasons.
Lowry is indisputably one of the very best in the game.
“He’s an elite, elite three-point shooter,” said Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Raptors have made him even harder to make a game plan for. While playing alongside VanVleet and Delon Wright, Lowry has had a lot of freedom to play off the ball and shoot threes off the catch. Giving so much of the pick-and-roll duties to DeMar DeRozan has freed up Lowry even more.
“I think they’re more varied this year,” said Atkinson. “It isn’t just pick-and-roll with him. He’s coming off screening actions. They put him different situations and it definitely makes him harder to guard.”
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Lowry showed it when he ran off a Jonas Valanciunas screen for a deep three, his fifth of the game with 1:38 to play that put the Raptors up seven, effectively icing the game.
But give Lowry credit too. He’s self-made.
In his first three NBA seasons, Lowry shot 27 per cent from deep. In his next five seasons, he improved to 36.6 — or slightly above league average. Beginning two seasons ago, Lowry has shot better and shot significantly more – his 1,536 attempts prior to Friday’s game are more than the 1,215 he took in seven full seasons before coming to Toronto.
“It’s just his work ethic and his stick-to-itiveness,” said Casey. “The guy works on his three, gets in early in the morning, comes in before the games and gets it up. And I think, too, taking the minutes down some has helped his consistency. He’s not as worn down as he’s been the last few years. He’s made himself into a great three-point shooter. The guy works on it. We run a lot of sets for him to get ’em, and he takes ’em.”
Said Lowry: “I’ve always believed in what I can do. I felt like I could score the ball. It’s just continuing the work that I’ve put in. It’s pretty fun, honestly, just having fun with the way the game has changed, having the opportunity to just shoot threes and having fun and keep extending your range. It’s fun to play that type of game.”
But in his back pocket always is his ability to get his own shot from three, which makes him very difficult to guard. Among players with at least three three-point attempts off the dribble this season Lowry is fourth in accuracy at 39.5, just a fraction behind higher profile marksmen such as Curry (40.7) and Kyrie Irving (40.6).
They are the best of the best, and Lowry is among them.
“I just go out there and play my game and shoot the ball. Those guys are some of the best shooters to have ever played this game and to be mentioned along with them is humbling. It’s an honour,” said Lowry. “But I feel I can go out there and help my team win no matter what the situation is (or) the plays you want to put me on the spots on the floor.”
The Nets led by as many as 14 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter after leading by seven at the half. Lowry’s record-breaking triple sparked a quick 8-3 run to end the third period and the Raptors carried the momentum over to the fourth.
“I remember when he first got here, I was still old-school a little bit,” said Casey, who only slowly warmed to the benefits of high-volume three-point shooting. “His pull-up threes were a first confrontation we had. But then, too, he’s proven that he’s one of the best in the league at doing that. So he’s got the green light … and does a great job with it.”
No Raptor has done it better, and few players anywhere have either.
