Lowry: Raptors need to treat Game 1 against Wizards like a Game 7
A lot of critical fingers pointed in Kyle Lowry’s direction when the Toronto Raptors were swept by Washington in the opening round of the 2015 NBA playoffs.
The humiliating exit was a low point for both the team’s starting point guard and the franchise, and was the catalyst for changes to both.
“I know I got a lot of blame from some people in this room and I took it hard,” Lowry told a crowded room of reporters at the team’s Biosteel Centre practice facility Friday. “I came back and got better from it. I think a lot of people got better.”
The Raptors open the NBA playoffs on Saturday against the Wizards, and Lowry talked about adding that embarrassing series three years ago to the giant chip on his shoulder he’s famous for playing with.
“Every day I step on the floor I use it as motivation, everything in life I use as motivation,” Lowry said. “But I don’t dwell on it. It’s something that’s old for me. I’m not going to lose no sleep from it.”
Raptors fans, however, might lose some sleep over the team’s ill-boding opener. The team is infamous for blowing Game 1s, even in the friendly confines of the Air Canada Centre, winning just one of their 13 playoff openers. Their one victory came in the second round against Philadelphia in 2001.
The question was posed to several Raptors on Friday’s eve of the postseason. How do they slay that Game 1 dragon?
“Our Game 1 is our Game 7, to be honest,” Lowry said. “We’ve gotta play like it’s Game 7, like it’s our last game. We’ve lost a lot of Game 1s ... That’s the mentality that we have to have.”
Lowry had just four points on 2-of-11 shooting in last year’s opener, a 97-83 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Why are the Raptors notorious for bad starts?
“I think we just haven’t played hard enough,” Lowry said. “We’ve just been so uptight in Game 1s. I think this is a different year for us. We wanna play like a Game 7, but we just wanna go out there and play our game. Different offence, different system, different type of way we play the game and approach it. It’ll be fun.”
A reporter asked him to expand on why the team’s been “uptight.”
“I mean, we’ve lost a lot of Game 1s,” the six-foot guard said.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey also shrugged at the Game 1 anomaly.
“You tell me (why) and we’ll both know. We’ll go to Wall Street and make a lot of money in New York, Bay Street here,” the coach laughed. “I’m not a psychologist. I’m a basketball coach. I know how to prepare. That’s the way we have to approach it and not overthink it.”
Both the Raptors and Wizards have changed in the three years since Toronto’s quick playoff exit. For one: there’s no Paul Pierce, who was Public Enemy No. 1 two straight series with Brooklyn and Washington.
After Washington’s sweep, the now-retired player poked fun at the Raptors. He posted a couple of memorable photos on social media. In one, he’s seated on the Iron Throne from “Game of Thrones,” and proclaiming himself “King in the North.” In the other, Drake opens his shirt to reveal a Wizards jersey, alongside the words “If You’re Reading This, the Wizards Just Swept,” a play on one of the rapper’s album titles.