By Canadian Press

Teammates and opponents take notice when Lowry sets the tone on offence

Jun 6, 2019 | 10:30 AM

OAKLAND, Calif. — On a night when his team needed him to step up in a crucial NBA Finals game, Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry came through with a breakout performance.

Lowry had 23 points and nine assists to lead an offensively potent Raptors supporting cast behind superstar Kawhi Leonard in a 123-109 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. The victory gave the Raptors a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 4 on Friday at Oracle Arena.

“I think Kyle set a tone, played a great game for them and set a really good tone early,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Wednesday’s game. “Made some shots, controlled the game, and so he was a huge factor for them. Played a fantastic game.”

Lowry was coming off a frustrating Game 2 in which he fouled out after playing just 28 minutes, scoring 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting as Toronto fell 109-104. He had just seven points in Toronto’s series-opening win, though he contributed with nine assists and six rebounds.

But usually when he gets his offensive game going, his teammates feed off his confidence. On Wednesday he set the tone with his shooting from distance — he went 5-of-9 from three — and the result was every player in the Raptors starting lineup scoring at least 17 points.

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“I had a little talk with him before the game, and his kind of comments to me was he was going to let it rip tonight. So that was good,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “You saw him aggressive in transition, but, again, usually when he’s going good, it means he’s hitting the paint, he’s attacking off the screen and roll and really getting downhill. That’s usually a sign that he’s got a lot of his offensive game and confidence going.

Backcourt partner Danny Green was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Lowry’s offensive energy. The guard had been mired in a shooting slump in these playoffs, but broke out Wednesday with 18 points on six three-pointers.

“K-Lo’s a huge part of our pace and that’s why he gets paid the big bucks, man,” Green said. “He does the little things for us, even when he’s not scoring. Tonight he scored well, but the biggest thing that he brings for us is that edge.

“He’s a bulldog. He’s a pit bull down there and he’s going take charges, he’s going to get rebounds, he’s going to box people out, he’s going to do the dirty work, he’s a blue-collar guy, and he’s going to give us pace.”

While Lowry does not need to be the primary offensive catalyst for Toronto — that falls to Leonard, who had 30 points on Wednesday — the team responds when he supplements his brainy floor-general play with timely scoring. It’s something his opponents notice, and something he will need to keep providing if the depleted Warriors get injured all-stars Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson back on the floor later in the series.

“He’s such a smart basketball player and he controls a lot of the pace for them, said Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who had a playoff career-high 47 points in a losing effort. “Nights where he gets it going scoring-wise he can make it tough on you because they do have a lot of weapons around and they like to space the floor. He has the ball in his hand a lot as a distributor, but when he can turn it on, putting the ball in the basket, it’s just that much tougher.”

The Canadian Press