Amid all the criticisms that Kyle Lowry received after his horrendous Game 1 performance, Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse commended the guard and noted that he saw the best of him in their series with the Orlando Magic.
Per Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet, Nurse shared his thoughts of Lowry's overall performance in the first round of the playoffs.
“He was amazing in this series … maybe as good as I’ve ever seen him” — Nurse on Lowry.
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) April 24, 2019
In their Game 1 loss to the Magic, Kyle Lowry didn't score a single point and was 0-of-7 from the field and 0-of-6 from the 3-point country. His no-show performance attracted all sorts of criticisms. As the second-best player of the team behind Kawhi Leonard, analysts tagged Lowry's performance as unacceptable.
Though he followed it up with a 22-point night in Game 2, the succeeding games saw a Lowry who took lesser shots than usual and as a result, scored less. In Game 3, he scored just 12 points and followed it with nine and 14 markers in Games 4 and 5, respectively.
While some saw it as a cause of concern, Nick Nurse shared that Lowry has taken on a playmaker role for the team. So far in the postseason, the 32-year-old is averaging 8.5 assists per game — a career-high. He has also made strides in the defensive end with 2.3 steals per night, also a career-high.
Nurse was not bluffing when he said that it's the best version of Lowry he's seen. The guard is not scoring in bunches simply because he's doing all the other things that the team needs from him.
Follow Us
Subscribe