Kyle Lowry may have hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to send Tuesday night’s Raptors-Heat Game 1 into overtime, but overall he really struggled shooting… and has for over two months now.
Lowry: “It sucks that Im playing this bad when all eyes are on me because I know Im way better than this. So I’ve got to pick this shit up”
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 4, 2016
Lowry, a member of the Eastern Conference’s last two All-Star teams, was a fine 42.7% shooter from the field in the regular season. But that shooting percentage has been on the decline of late.
- 40.4 % in March.
- 39.5% in April.
- 31.6% (16.3% on threes) in the seven-game first round series against the Pacers.
- And now 23.1% (3-13; 1-7 on threes) in Game 1 vs the Heat.
Worst FG pct in single postseason, last 50 years (min. 100 att) 2016 Kyle Lowry: 30.6 2006 Larry Hughes: 31.9 2005 Lindsey Hunter: 31.9 — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 4, 2016
The Heat went on to beat the Raptors 102-96 in overtime, and soon after the game, Lowry took his frustrations right back to the Air Canada Centre court to get some shooting work in. Lowry was putting up shots in an empty arena until about 1 AM. This looks like a scene out of a hoops movie:
Kyle Lowry, right now pic.twitter.com/zwRrKcUAb5
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) May 4, 2016
More of Lowry, taking shots on the main floor at ACC 90 minutes after the final buzzer pic.twitter.com/DwytqDsjhi — Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 4, 2016
It’s 1 a.m. and that’s Kyle Lowry. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/I2iT8TXtLV — Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) May 4, 2016
You have to love that dedication. Unfortunately putting in the extra shooting work may not do much at all to get Lowry where he wants to be mentally. As he said in the postgame, he’s been shooting fine in the gym solo, but when it’s five-on-five in a game, “it’s a big difference”:
Is Lowry hitting shots in the gym? “It’s crazy, yeah. I shoot the ball well when I’m by myself but I’m by myself. It’s a big difference” — Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 4, 2016
Lowry isn’t going to get this slump out of his head until he shoots like he know he can in the actual games. The point guard will get the chance to get his game back on track in Game 2 on Thursday night in Toronto.
