Despite some late-game heroics by Kyle Lowry to force overtime (which literally brought Dwyane Wade to his knees), the Toronto Raptors dropped Game 1 of their second round matchup with the Miami Heat.
On the night, Lowry shot an abysmal 3-for-13 from the field and 1-for-7 from 3-point range (the one make came from beyond half court). He only scored seven points. In eight playoff games so far, he's barely hovering over 30% from the field.
Lowry acknowledged that he's struggling mentally, and in response to his terrible performance, he decided to work on his shot into the night. From the Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur:
“I’m going to hang out here for a little bit and just be in the gym, try to get back to just enjoying it, being in the gym, and having fun . . . I shoot the ball well when I’m by myself, but I’m by myself . . . it’s weird . . . I have (been through slumps like this), but not at this time, and that’s what sucks. Playoffs, all eyes are on you. So it sucks that I’m playing this bad when all eyes are on me, because I know I’m way better than this. So I’ve got to pick this s— up.”
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Following their practice today, teammate DeMarre Carroll offered some advice for his point guard, believing that Lowry's ability is just waiting to burst out.
“Sometimes you just have to look yourself in the mirror, and you have to man up. You have to be like, ‘I'm the Kyle Lowry that played 82 games, All-Star,'” Carroll said.
“The Kyle Lowry I knew back in Memphis, in Houston, was the nitty-gritty, blue collar type of guy like I am,” Carroll said. “He's still gonna be that same Kyle Lowry, and we never focus on offense. Blue collar guys never focus on offense. We focus on the defensive end, and then we allow the offense to open up, so I feel like if he could just get back to having fun and playing defense … his offense will come easy.”