Veteran guard Kyle Lowry has brought some valuable experience and production to the Miami Heat this season.
While Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is surely happy to have Lowry on his roster, he recently admitted that there were “many years” in which he was not a fan of the star guard.
Spoelstra admitted as much while crediting Lowry’s impact performance in the Heat’s massive win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
“Look, we’ve been on the other side of it,” Spoelstra said. “There were many years that I just really did not like Kyle Lowry, because he was such a thorn in our side.”
Spoelstra specifically referenced a seven-game series in the 2016 NBA Playoffs in which Lowry’s Toronto Raptors defeated Spoelstra’s Heat.
“As that series got deeper, the better he played in clutch moments,” Spoelstra said. “You can’t define it by an analytic or a number or a playcall…he just knows how to make winning plays.”
In Miami’s win over the Celtics on Wednesday, Lowry did it all. He finished the game with 23 points and eight assists on the offensive side and remained a pesky and effective defender on the other side of the ball in 36 minutes of play.
“That’s just a great luxury to have a Hall of Fame point guard who can choreograph your offense but also take on big challenges defensively on the other end,” Spoelstra said of Lowry.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching for the Heat, it is great to see that Lowry is playing arguably some of his best basketball of the season right now. After losing four games straight recently, the Heat have managed to turn things around. They have won their last two contests.
The Heat have five games remaining on their schedule in the regular season.
Without a doubt, Lowry, Spoelstra and the rest of the Heat will look to keep things rolling so that they can head into the playoffs with loads of positive momentum.
The Heat currently have a one-game lead for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
