Kyle Lowry‘s numbers are down this season, but Sunday afternoon he reminded the Heat how valuable he can be in clutch situations, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The veteran guard scored nine points in the final 3:03 as Miami pulled out a tight game against the Pelicans.
It was a welcome breakthrough for Lowry, who had been sidelined with discomfort in his left knee and had scored just 12 total points on eight shots in his first two games since returning. The 36-year-old is in the midst of his worst season in a decade, but he’s still capable of taking over a game.
“We had some really good execution down the stretch and Kyle was a major part of that,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They were bottling up some other stuff and he just kind of went vintage there and made a lot of big plays going down the stretch.”
There’s more from Miami:
- Tyler Herro is still one of the Heat’s youngest players at age 23, even though he’s in his fourth season with the team, Chiang notes in a separate story. Herro is now a mainstay in Miami after signing a four-year extension in the offseason, and he’s formed a pick-and-roll combination with Bam Adebayo that’s among the league’s best. “I think just being cool off the court plays a big role into that,” Herro said. “Having that connection and communicating with each other away from basketball helps when you get out here on the court. It makes it that much easier.”
- Even though they won on Sunday, the game showcased the Heat’s lack of three-point shooting, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Miami was just 8-of-34 (23.6%) from beyond the arc , and Winderman states that the Pelicans focused on double teaming Jimmy Butler while daring the Heat to shoot threes.
- Due to a rule preventing teams below the standard roster limit from using two-way players for more than 90 combined game nights, the Heat are down to 23 two-way days remaining in the season and will face difficult decisions soon regarding Orlando Robinson and Jamal Cain, Winderman adds in a separate story. Robinson, who has been seeing time at backup center, received a pro-rated deal after being signed on December 11 and only has 13 days remaining, while Cain has 28 games left. Once their two-way days expire, the Heat would have to sign Robinson or Cain to standard contracts to keep them active or waive them and hope to re-sign them to 10-day deals.