Lowry headed back to all-star game
Coaches pick guard for fifth appearance as a Rap, matching Carter, Bosh
Kyle Lowry is still figuring it all out, playing a new role with new responsibilities and with new Toronto Raptors starters around him.
And he’s still got enough to be an NBA all-star.
Eastern Conference coaches named the veteran Raptor to his fifth consecutive all-star game in voting revealed Thursday night, sending him to the weekend festivities in Charlotte next month.
Lowry will be joined by starter Kawhi Leonard in the Feb. 17 game, but Toronto teammate Pascal Siakam did not get enough support from coaches to make his first all-star appearance.
Lowry is now tied with Vince Carter and Chris Bosh for the most all-star selections for a Raptors player.
The coaches added Lowry, Washington’s Brad Beal, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Detroit’s Blake Griffin, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic to the roster.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver will name a replacement for Oladipo, who is injured and out for the season.
Western Conference coaches added Anthony Davis of New Orleans, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Golden State’s Klay Thompson and LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs. Former Raptor DeMar DeRozan, now with the Spurs, was denied a fifth all-star berth.
Lowry has had his ups and downs for most of the season, trying to find a balance and a fit with a starting lineup that now features Leonard, Danny Green and Serge Ibaka where DeRozan, OG Anunoby and Jonas Valanciunas had been.
Lowry has spoken often about trying to find a balance between looking for his own offence and facilitating things for others.
“It’s been a different year for me,” he said recently. “I’m on the floor with four guys who can score the ball, who want to score the ball, who need the ball. It’s just the evolution of me to be able to find ways to get everybody involved and try to find a way to keep myself involved. I want to be aggressive, but at the same time I want to keep our team going and keep our team in rhythm.
“It’s a tough situation. But we’re winning. That’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
Lowry has also been injured a bit. He has missed 11 of Toronto’s 53 games, but he is still averaging 14.2 points per game, fourth best on the team behind Leonard (27.9) Ibaka (16.1) and Siakam (15.2).
The 32-year-old guard is averaging a career-high 9.4 assists per game, putting him second in the NBA behind only Westbrook.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse was in contact with his peers over the last week stumping for Lowry, Siakam and Ibaka but found there wasn’t a lot of selling needed for Lowry.
“There wasn't much case to be made,” Nurse said Thursday. “I think most of them were just like, ‘He's in.’ You didn't really need to almost bother with it.
“That's my feel, is that they were pretty much across the board were like, ‘You guys are good, we know he's your leader, he's almost leading the league in assists, maybe his scoring number's down but who cares, he plays his butt off and we know it.’ ”
The final teams will be select- ed next Thursday by team captains LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the leading vote-getters among starters.
They will choose four starters each from the original pool and then pick from the reserves, all without regard for conference affiliation.
The starting lineup pool includes Leonard, Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, James Harden of Houston, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant of Golden State and Oklahoma City’s Paul George.