The curious case of Kyle Lowry: Four-time all-star in a bad funk
TORONTO — These are unprecedented times for Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors, mystifying and debilitating and they need to be straightened out before things go more sideways than they already are.
The four-time all-star is in the biggest scoring slump of his seven-plus seasons in Toronto, failing to record a point in a game Sunday for the first time since 2013, unable to get untracked from three-point range or at the rim.
He knows how bad it is, he knows how much his team needs him to score and the frustration becomes more apparent every game.
Strategically, there is a couple of things coach Nick Nurse might want to try to help Lowry snap out of it sooner rather than later.
The Raptors could move him off the ball a bit more and run plays to get him more catch-and-shoot opportunities.
But the chicken-and-egg reality of that plan is Lowry has to take those opportunities to fire up shots, or at least try to turn the corner and get into the lane and draw contact.
He’s become far less willing to get into the rim, he hasn’t attempted a single free throw in five of his past eight games and hasn’t been to the lane more than four times in any of the other three. Of his past 28 field-goal attempts, 25 have been three-pointers.
“I feel like he should be a little bit more aggressive,” Kawhi Leonard said after Sunday’s home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. “Our offence kind of allows everybody to be themselves and take their shots. It’s a lot of freedom. With that said, he’s going to have some big games coming up.”
And giving him more leeway to shoot rather than act primarily as a facilitator would help.
“He’s taking a back seat, it’s a decision he’s made and it’s helped our team, it’s helped guys have great years,” Fred VanVleet said. “He’s probably sacrificing for the greater of the team, which is honourable, but at the same time we still need ... to keep reminding him that we need him to be selfish a little bit, too, out there. We’ve got guys out there trying to get buckets.
“He’s deferring a little bit, which is good, and so when you only get five shots and you miss all of them — you’re never giving yourself a chance to really get going there. You’re getting end-of-shot-clock shots and heaves and whatever else, so it’s like you’re in a shooter’s slump but probably just aren’t getting the shots that you want.”
Questions about Lowry’s health have popped up because the recent struggles are so out of the ordinary — and he did miss a game with a tender back — but they have been rebuffed by Lowry and the fact is he has looked as active as ever on defence and in distributing the ball. He still leads the National Basketball Association in charges drawn, he’s second in the league in assists per game and there’s no hard evidence there’s anything physically wrong with him. Resting him might actually be counterproductive because a hard-nosed competitor like him isn’t going to take well to being told to sit down.
It’s inconceivable Lowry will remain in this funk for much longer; he’s got too much of an NBA track record to think this is anything other than a short-term aberration.
The three-pointers he’s taking are good ones — a wide-open corner three that would have been a huge dagger in the final minutes of Sunday’s loss to Milwaukee is a perfect case in point.
To suggest he’ll keep missing them is to discount his history.
“There’s ups and downs to being a shooter,” VanVleet said. “You’re not going to be hot all the time and he’ll finish the year over 40 per cent (from three) and this will seem like so long ago. Just want to stay on him and keep instilling confidence in him.”