Lowry triple-double rescues Raptors — sick
All-star fights through flu and collision with stanchion, three-point record on deck
BROOKLYN, N.Y.— Kyle Lowry was sick and cut and tired and frustrated, and his team had been brutal for about two weeks, and that’s when he knew he had to rise above all the circumstance.
He couldn’t pout or take a game off, or stumble and bumble his way through an afternoon. His personality wouldn’t let him, because he’s a competitor through and through.
“I get to play basketball. I get to hang out with great people. I get to meet great people. I get to put smiles on kids’ faces,” Lowry said here Sunday, after his triple-double led the Toronto Raptors to a much-needed 103-95 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
“It’s just a fun thing to do. It’s a part of the game. You’re going to get injured. You’re going to get hurt. It’s the ways you find to get through it. I’m always going to find ways to get through it.”
By fighting through it and bringing his team with him — if only for one day and against the worst team in the NBA — Lowry once again proved why his leadership is so valuable.
There was no Patrick Patterson (knee), there was no DeMar DeRozan (ankle) and there had been eight losses in 10 games. But there was Lowry and his will, the tonic the Raptors needed.
His 15 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds — the ninth triple-double of his career and fifth as a Raptor — were instrumental to the win. But the way he gutted it out — sickened by a flu bug that kept him out of practice on Saturday, sliced for a four-stitch cut on his right arm in a collision with a basket stanchion early in the game — set the tone.
It wasn’t a surprise, since he seems to do it all the time, but given the circumstances it was vital.
“Amazing, he’s amazing,” said Fred VanVleet, who once again was Lowry’s backup as Cory Joseph didn’t get off the bench. “That’s why he’s an all-star. He wasn’t feeling very good after the Orlando game — none of us were, but I think he had a little extra sickness to him.
“We texted a little bit yesterday: get mentally right, physically right. We need him at his best for us to be successful, and I think he showed it today.”
The only thing Lowry didn’t do was make two three-pointers to pass Morris Peterson for first place on the Raptors’ all-time list. Lowry’s stuck at 799 after going 0-for-5 on Sunday, but could set the standard in Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I’ll try to . . . break the record and do it in front of the home crowd,” he said. “That would be a great accomplishment, from where I’ve come from at the beginning of my career to having a franchise record.”
Lowry logged a game-high 39:21 — he leads the NBA in minutes played per game — and couldn’t rest for any length of time. The Raptors tried to give him the final five or six minutes off, but after he left the Nets carved a double-digit deficit to four points, and it was time for Lowry to take over again. He fed Jonas Valanciunas for an easy basket, made a bucket of his own and calmed things down.
“They cut it to four and I felt like I needed to make a couple of plays. And my team, they did a great job of getting open, finding their spots and letting me lead the team in rebounds,” he joked.