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The Miami Heat have their backs against the wall in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Boston Celtics are one win away from eliminating them and advancing to the NBA Finals.
Now there are a handful of reasons as to why they find themselves a game away from being sent home. The Celtics have been formidable defensively and arguably have the more dynamic offensive weapons. Miami has also dealt with a slew of injuries, keeping players out or playing through pain.
But one glaring issue has been the problematic play of Kyle Lowry. The All-Star point guard has been a shell of his former self in these playoffs, displaying some of the worst basketball of his life at a time when Miami sorely needs some star power.
The sample size isn't large, given that he's played in just three of the five games so far and has taken only 23 shots. But it's enough for Erik Spoelstra to have to make an executive decision for the Heat. Miami must bench Kyle Lowry.
Lowry is averaging an appalling 4.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game in the Eastern Conference Finals while continuing to start and playing 25 minutes per contest. His shooting splits are just as brutal, if not more so, at 21.7% from the field and 20% from the three-point line.
The biggest reason behind his struggles has been a lingering hamstring injuries that has hampered his mobility and clearly sapped both his aggressiveness and effectivity on the offensive end. But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it himself after their Game 5 defeat – this is no time to make excuses.
“We’re not going to make any kind of deflection or excuse,” Spoelstra said after the Heat loss. “Boston beat us tonight. Let’s be clear about that. There are guys that are far from 100 percent on both sides.”
However, it's gotten to the point where enough should be enough. The Heat have 48 minutes to keep their season alive, and as things stand, next to none of those should feature Kyle Lowry. Miami should instead lean on Gabe Vincent at point guard. Vincent is far from a sure thing himself, but he has had moments in the ECF and is the Heat's fourth leading scorer. He's simply the much more productive player right now and it's not even close.
Kyle Lowry was brought in to replace Goran Dragic, who was a highly productive part of the Heat's offensive attack last season. Lowry had the championship pedigree and was arguably the more productive player of the two, also touting better defense before the season began.
It's clearly a tough reality the Heat face given that he was their marquee offseason acquisition. Lowry has become a veteran leader in the Heat locker room and is highly respected by his peers. But coach Spo needs to make the hard decision to sit Kyle Lowry in Game 6. They're already facing an uphill battle the rest of the way against a stacked Boston Celtics roster. They cannot afford to risk having a weak link in their rotation.
