Currently, Toronto Raptors are tied in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series with
the Philadelphia Sixers.
That’s not good for me, because I predicted that Toronto would beat Philadelphia pretty
easily 4-1.
And part of that prediction was because of Kawhi, because Embiid was injured, but there
was one thing I didn’t take into account.
A lot of things have changed for Toronto this year.
Kawhi is there.
They have a new coach, they don’t have to go through Lebron anymore, but there is one
thing or should I rather say, one player who has remained the same, like he always has
been - a choker in the playoffs.
Hey guys.
PRPLPRNCH here and today I want to compare Kyle Lowry in the regular season and Kyle
Lowry in the playoffs.
So for starters, let’s get this out of the way.
Kyle Lowry is a good player.
He’s a 5x time all-star, a pretty good shooter and passer, but all that is being accomplished
during the regular season.
When it comes to the playoffs.
He’s been just disappointing.
Kyle Lowry got his first playoff experience during the 2008-2009 NBA season when he was
still a member of the Houston Rockets.
Back then he was a bench player.
During the regular season Kyle Lowry played in 77 games averaging 21.8 MPG, 7.6 points,
3.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 turnovers.
He shot 43.5% from the field, 25.5% from the three and 80.1% from the free throw line.
In the playoffs Houston went all the way to Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals against
the Los Angeles Lakers and they lost.
Kyle Lowry played in all 13 games, averaged 19.5mpg, 5.3 ppg, 2.5 assists, 2.9 rebounds
and 1.3 turnovers.
Sounds pretty similar although if you really want to nitpick, he did average less points
and assists.
But what really stands out are his shooting percentages.
In the playoffs he shot 33.3% from the field, 25% from the three-point line and 74.2% from
the free throw line.
All lower when compared to his regular season.
He obviously wasn’t the backbone of a team back then and it was his first playoffs and
he was just 23 years old so we’ll give him a pass on that.
For the next five years Lowry and his teams would miss the playoffs.
In the process, he went to Toronto where he became the starting point guard for the team.
Lowry would finally get some playoff taste again in 2014.
He helped his Toronto Raptors to the 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference compiling
49 wins during the regular season.
By then Kyle Lowry was a full pledged starter and a star for the Toronto Raptors.
He was a borderline all-star and had the best season of his career playing 36.2mpg, averaging
17.9 points , 7.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 turnovers.
His shooting percentages - 42.3% from the field, 38% from the three and 81.3% from the
free throw line.
In the playoffs, Toronto Raptors met up with the Brooklyn’s old star squad and lost in
7 games.
In these playoffs, Kyle Lowry was actually Ok.
He even averaged 21.1 points which was an improvement over what he averaged during the
regular season.
A lot of other key stats, like always, went down.
His assists went down to just 4.7 and he had more turnovers - 2.9.
He shot 40.4% from the field, but improved his three-point percentage to 39.5% and his
free-throw percentage to 87.8%.
A quick 7 game sample, but somewhat encouraging nonetheless.
Since then Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors have made the playoffs every year.
In the 2014-2015 season they improved to 49 wins in the regular season.
That was good enough for the 4th place in Eastern Conference.
During the regular season Kyle Lowry made his first NBA All-Star team and averaged 34.5
minutes per game, 17.8 points, 6.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 turnovers.
He shot 41.2% from the field, 33.8% from the three-point line and 80.8% on his free throws.
Raptors however got swept in the first round.
They lost all 4 games to the Wizards and looky look who didn’t show up.
In 4 playoff games Lowry averaged only 12.3 points, 4.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds.
He also had more turnovers with 3 per game.
But what’s really alarming are his shooting percentages.
He shot only 31.6% from the field and an abysmal 21.7% from the three-point line.
Even his free-throw percentage sunk to 72.7% and Lowry is a good free throw shooter.
Sure a lot of others didn’t show up as well, but a fresh made all-star shouldn’t be giving
you such small contribution.
In the 2015-2016 season Toronto and Lowry himself had their best season yet.
Toronto won 56 games which was good enough for the 2nd places in the Eastern Conference
and Lowry averaged at the moment a career high 21.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
He also turned the ball over at a career high rate with 2.9 per game.
Lowry shot 42.7% from the field and a very good 38.8% from the three-point line.
He also converted 81.1% of his free throws and made his second consecutive All-Star appearance
in the process.
And then came the playoffs.
By this time people already were doubting Lowry and rightfully so.
In the first round series they had to face Indiana Pacers and to the surprise of many
it was a grueling 7-game series.
Toronto managed to squeeze by the Pacers barely in Game 7 with an 89 to 84 win.
If you look at the series stats, you don’t see any surprises.
Kyle Lowry - 7 games played and averages of 13.9 points, 7.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
Shooting splits: 31.6% from the field, 16.3% from the three and 71.8% from the free throw
line.
Much worse than during regular season, but what else is new.
Here’s something new.
In the second round Kyle Lowry actually did show up.
They went through another 7 game series against the Miami Heat, but Kyle Lowry sure did his
part by averaging 23.4 points, 5.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.6 steals.
He even came close to his regular season shooting percentages - 40.1% from the field, 38.8%
from the three-point line and 79.5% on his free throws.
In the Eastern conference finals, the Raptors fell to the eventual champions - Cleveland
Cavaliers in 6 games.
Lowry was good, but definitely not spectacular.
20.2 points, 4.2 assists and 4.5 rebounds.
47.4% from the field, 34.8% from the three and 71.4% from the free-throw line.
For the whole playoffs in 20 games Kyle Lowry had a statline of 19.1 points, 6 assists,
4.7 rebounds.
He shot 39.7% from the field, 30.4% from the three and 75% from the free throw line.
Another small drop-off.
In 2016-2017 Lowry had his best scoring season averaging 22.4 points per game.
He also averaged 7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.9 turnovers.
He had a great shooting season - 46.4% from the field which was a career best by a big
margin, 41.2% from three which also was a career best and 81.9% from the free throw
line.
In the playoffs though, another drop.
He averaged just 15.8 points, 5.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds ands shot 46.2 % from the field
and just 34.2% from the three point line.
Toronto got swept by the Cavaliers in the second round.
Last year, Lowry actually improved in the playoffs, which was a surprise.
He had a good regular season, made the All-Star team but his numbers weren’t that impressive.
16.2 points, 6.9 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 turnovers.
He shot 42.7% from the field and 39.9% from the three-point line.
In the playoffs Toronto once again got swept by the Cavaliers in the second round.
For the whole 10 games of the playoffs Lowry averaged 17.4 points, 8.5 assists and 4.3
rebounds.
Shot 50.8% from the field and 44.4% from the three.
A good improvement oevr the regular season.
He wasn’t a reason they lost, but he also didn’t elevate his game to lift the Raptors.
And now we have this year.
Obviously the team is different.
He doesn’t have his best friend Demar Derozan on the team anymore.
But he has Kawhi Leonard - a superstar who obviously takes some shots away and is the
focal point on the offense.
Toronto also has other pieces like Ibaka, Pascal Siakam is emerging and Marc Gasol was
added as well.
This season, Kyle Lowry made his fifth consecutive all-star team.
He averaged the least amount of points in 7 years with just 14.2, but he was passing
the ball at a career high rate averaging 8.7 assists per game.
He didn’t shot particularly well - just 41.1% from the field and 34.7% from the three.
But you know what’s alarming?
Lowry once again has disappeared in the playoffs.
Toronto lost the very first playoff game to the Orlando Magic and Lowry had 0 points.
An NBA All-Star had 0 points.
They won the series pretty convincingly, but now they have their hands full with the Sixers.
Just tonight Toronto evened the series 2-2.
Lowry had 14 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
Kawhi has been playing his heart out.
For the whole playoffs Lowry is averaging just 11.
points 7.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds.
Like in most cases it’s another quiet playoffs for Lowry.
He’s shooting only 40% from the field and 25.6% from the three.
Even his usually good free-throw shooting is down at 71.4%.
And versus Philly it’s been even worse.
Tonight he was good, but we can’t count on that to repeat itself, can we?
Sure, other players need to step up as well, but What’s happening with Lowry in the playoffs?
It seems like 90% of the time he’s struggling.
He’s not shooting the ball, isn’t aggressive and when he is, he doesn’t make those shots.
Some analysts have already said that Lowry isn’t an All-Star but just a regular player
and it’s not that bad of a theory as you might think.
We know he’s not a superstar, but is he even an All-Star if he doesn’t show up when
they need him the most?
I guess not.
But the big question is WHY?
WHY he struggles so much when playoffs come?
Is it mental?
Physical?
Should they run the game through him more in the beginning to make him more comfortable?
What if they do that, he misses shots and they’re in a big hole early?
Do we expect more than he can really contribute?
I’ll leave this up to you guys.
Is Kyle Lowry the biggest choker in the NBA Playoffs history?
Why do you think he struggles so much.
Please leave a comment below and let’s discuss your theories.
As always, thanks for watching.
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Thanks.
This was PRPLPRNCH and I’m out!