As the Miami Heat prepare for a matchup against the Houston Rockets Monday night, there has been a late add to the NBA's official injury report as point guard Kyle Lowry's name is present. While he has been added to the list of players names that have injuries, fans will probably not have to worry too much.
Lowry is listed as “probable” with a “head; illness” for the first contest as a part of a four-game home stand inside the Kaseya Center. While there is always a chance for Lowry's status to be downgraded to “questionable,” “doubtful,” or “out,” it seems highly unlikely that will be the case.
If able to play Monday night, he is expected to be the starting point guard for Miami as he has been since the very first contest of the season. He has only missed four games this season and has played heavy time at the position averaging close to 30 minutes per game even at the age of 37-years old.
Erik Spoelstra praises Lowry for effort and calls him a “winner”
The former Toronto Raptors guard averages 9.3 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.6 rebound per game, but his effort on the court speaks louder than the statistics on the page. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra praises the NBA champion every chance he gets saying that Lowry has adapted to the game despite his age.
“He put in the time during the offseason,” Spoelstra said. “He was healthy going into the offseason, so he was really able to train and prepare for this season and he understands as well as anybody that Father Time is the ultimate opponent and you do have to adapt as you get older. The instinct is to do less and you actually have to do more to prepare for this. So I think if he was trying to fast track everything once the season started, he would not have been in a position to be able to handle these kinds of minutes early on.”
Lowry has especially came up huge as the Heat continue t0 deal with injury problems. That aspect has propelled him to play more minutes and Spoelstra says he understands that better than anybody.
“Kyle is just a winner,” Spoelstra said. “So he understands that we have guys out and we need him, we need our guys. Anybody that can play, we need them right now. Nobody waits in this league. You don’t want to make any excuses. If we’re constantly saying, ‘Hey, we have enough to get the job done,’ you have to have guys that actually live it and breathe that. Kyle is one of those kinds of guys.”
Lowry's motivation is simple
Turning 38-years old in March, Lowry's motivation to play as long as he had is simple: he loves “to play basketball.” He said to the media that he “takes pride” in being available for his team as he has had injuries in the past.
“I think at the end of the day, I like to play basketball,” Lowry said. “I love to play basketball. I’ve taken pride in being able to try to be available. Throughout my career, I’ve had a lot of different type of injuries, freak injuries, that take me out. But if I have an opportunity to be healthy enough to play, I take pride in that.”
As the Heat prepare for the Rockets Monday night, they will also be without star Jimmy Butler for the fourth straight game due to a toe ailment and Caleb Martin who is “doubtful” with an ankle injury. Even with the injury issues, Miami is 20-15 on the season which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference.
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