Guard VanVleet feeling wear, tear carrying the load to free up Lowry

For every action there is a reaction, and as the Toronto Raptors have spent nearly an entire National Basketball Association season trying to limit the minutes and wear and tear on Kyle Lowry someone has had to pick up the slack.

Hello, Fred VanVleet. While Lowry is as fresh at this point in a season as he’s ever been, VanVleet has had to deal with carrying the heaviest workload of his basketball life while trying to figure out how he can remain at peak efficiency. It’s been a chore.

“Rest,” VanVleet said of the way he’s caring for his body. “Try to stay off your feet as much as possible, come in, get some work in still, still find ways to get your work in, get treatment. (I’m) a little banged up here and there (so) a lot of cold tubs, a lot of sleep and hydration. Got to put the right things into your body and take advantage of the time when you get it.”

VanVleet, 24, is averaging more than 20 minutes a game this season, a huge increase from the eight minutes a game he played in his rookie season last year. They are hard minutes. Closing games handling the ball and defending the top backcourt player on the opposing team, a role few expected from him.

And as important as he’s become, the coaching staff is mindful of not wearing him completely out before the post-season arrives. “We’re conscious of it,” Dwane Casey said.

“He’s doing great things for us, but he’s not used to playing big minutes in the NBA and his usage rate with us right now is up and his minutes are up and we want him to be conscious of that because we need a fresh, lively Fred VanVleet.”