Lowry leads Raptors’ rally in return
Point guard scores 27 points after wrist injury kept him sidelined for 21 games
Any concern about Kyle Lowry needing plenty of time getting used to playing NBA games again was unfounded.
Playing in his first game after missing more than five weeks because of surgery on his right wrist, Lowry was outstanding, scoring 27 points and adding 10 assists in 42 minutes Wednesday night as the Raptors rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit to beat the Detroit Pistons 105-102 in their final visit to the Palace of Auburn Hills. DeMar DeRozan had a tremendous final two minutes, dishing off his10th assist on the night for a Jonas Valanciunas bucket that broke a 100100 tie and then scoring himself to put Toronto up four with less than 30 seconds left.
After a Pistons basket, Valanciunas capped an 18-point night by splitting free throws and the Pistons missed a pair of desperation shots.
But the result was almost secondary to Lowry’s participation in the game, his first after missing 21 in a row.
Logging the same amount of time as he played before going down, Lowry was Toronto’s leading scorer and its most effective offensive player by a large measure. He showed no rust on his game.
But while Lowry didn’t look bad, the rest of the Raptors offence struggled at times and the defence was below average for long stretches.
Still, the Raptors played a great fourth quarter, with Lowry and DeRozan leading the way, to keep Toronto in third place in the Eastern Conference.
Starters Serge Ibaka and DeMarre Carroll were a combined 1-for-10 from three-point range and 3-for-15 overall. Carroll gave way to P.J. Tucker for most of the fourth quarter while Ibaka sat until the final five minutes before making a crucial three-pointer off a DeRozan crosscourt pass.
Neither the Raptors nor Lowry had ever put a time frame on his return, instead letting the rehab process unfold in its own time. The goal was always to have a few regular-season games to get back into a rhythm before the playoffs begin.
“He’s been working his butt off, off the court, but it’s totally different when you go up against different coloured jerseys,” Casey told reporters before the game. “That’s going to be the whole goal, making sure he gets his rhythm, other players get their rhythm with him.
“Some of the new guys haven’t played with him before and this will be a good test for them to do that on both ends of the floor.”
Lowry was in the midst of the best season of his 11-year NBA career when he had the operation.
The three-time all-star had been averaging a career high 22.8 points, along with 6.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 37.7 minutes in his first 56 games, along with making a teamhigh 185 three-pointers. He was also shooting 41.7 per cent from threepoint range, another career best for the 31-year-old.
But even with Wednesday night’s performance, Lowry knows he needs a bit of time to get reacquainted with the speed of an NBA game. He hasn’t even had a full-speed practice with the team since the second week of February.
“Nothing’s like basketball,” he said earlier this week. “No conditioning you can do is like basketball. That’s going to only take a little bit of time.”
Lowry also has to get used the physicality of the game and got a reminder in the third quarter against the Pistons. He was drilled in the chops by an elbow swung by Detroit centre Andre Drummond, who was assessed a flagrant foul on the play. Lowry was also hit with a personal foul on the play.