In stature, 6-foot, 205-pound Kyle Lowry doesn’t quite look like a physically imposing source of nightmares. But his toughness, his leadership fuels the Toronto Raptors. And so he has played with a bull’s-eye as big as the whole borough of Brooklyn on his back in the first-round playoff series with the Nets.
“They’re blitzing him. When he comes off pick and rolls, he’s got two guys there,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey whose team faces an intriguing Game 4 Sunday at Barclays Center: Win and reclaim homecourt advantage; lose and fall into a 3-1 ditch.
“We have to give him outlets, he may have to sacrifice and create some shots for someone else, get his in transition and other ways,”
“They’re trying to take he and DeMar [DeRozan] out, we’re ready for that and we have to make sure we make ’em pay for that and not let them get away with it,” said Casey, noting the doubling is “no surprise whatsoever. We’ve worked on it. We’ve just got to make them pay.”
But in the playoffs, that’s sort of like saying, “We’ve got to win PowerBall.” Easier said than done.
Lowry essentially was checked Friday in Game 3 when he still managed 15 points and four assists — along with a fat lip that needed a stitch and a banged right knee that left him limping and requiring day-long treatment. Chances of him sitting Sunday? You have better odds with that PowerBall thing.
“I’m going to get treatment around the clock to get healthy,” Lowry said after a basic film session, walkthrough Saturday at Pace University downtown. “Right now it’s very sore but I have no doubt that I’m going to play.”
That means he will lead his call for more toughness from the Raptors who were out-muscled Friday.
“We’ve got to adjust to the way the game is being called,” Casey said diplomatically.
And the Raptors have to adjust to the Nets approach of cutting off the head of the snake by stonewalling Lowry.
“It just makes the other people have to be more responsible. That’s why DeMar is handling the ball a little more in the pick and roll. They’re paying so much attention to me,” said Lowry, who renewed his call for the Raptors minimizing turnovers (59 in three games).
“It’s one of those things where we as a team make an adjustment but personally I got to find a way to get the ball and get more aggressive,” Lowry said.
“A lot of [what] I do is off pick and rolls so they’re bringing defenders up but we’re making adjustments to figure how to beat the double team quicker by pass.”