Miami Heat: Kyle Lowry Doesn’t Have To Score To Be Impactful

On opening night, the Miami Heat delivered a strong message to the Milwaukee Bucks and most certainly, the entire NBA spectrum. Trampling over the defending NBA champions, an area that stood out most for Miami was a 75-42 advantage in bench production.

After an offseason of heavy criticism regarding their depth, that potential weakness appeared to be a strength in the Heat’s 2021-22 season-opener.

In Thursday’s 137-95 blowout win over Milwaukee, several Heat players contributed on the offensive end. Leading all scorers with 27 points, Tyler Herro showed, yet another, dazzling performance, as he steers away doubts of a fluke preseason.

Bam Adebayo was persistent, yet unstoppable from the mid-post, and Jimmy Butler was unaffected by the NBA’s recent rule-changes regarding shooting fouls.

Scoring wasn’t difficult to come by for the Heat, as they ran away with a 42-point win at home. Although that wasn’t necessarily the case for Kyle Lowry, as Miami’s top free-agent signing and veteran point guard has continued to struggle in his first few games in a Heat uniform, it still wasn’t that big of an issue for me.

But first, let’s look at the scenario in totality.

Miami Heat: Kyle Lowry Doesn’t Have To Score To Be Impactful

With five points on 1/8 shooting against Milwaukee, Lowry has totaled a 9/34 field goal (26 percent) and 6/21 (28 percent) totals from beyond the arc overall thus far — which includes his four Heat preseason outings.

One shot that Lowry has looked very comfortable with though, is with his left-wing threes, where a few of his made attempts were well beyond 23-feet.

To put it mildly, one thing stands true about Lowry at this current moment.

The shot may not be there, but Kyle Lowry continues to do other important things really well for the Miami Heat. That’s an, absolute, fact.

With his elite ball-handing ability, Lowry creates separation and scores in transition as good as any NBA point guard — all while being an above average outside shooter (37 percent) for his career.

Although Lowry wasn’t always a high-volume scorer, he’s since established a reputation as a prominent NBA floor-general. That’s also in combination with being one of the most lethal three-level scorers the league can offer when he gets going.

Miami Heat: Kyle Lowry Will Find His O, But Until Then, He’ll Help Others Find It

To combine his play-style with Miami’s reconstructed roster, the Heat shouldn’t expect the 35 year-old to have a complete scorer’s mentality going forward, but more of a facilitator’s mindset. So far, Lowry has already deferred to the latter, in which he’s patented since his mid-2010’s run in Toronto.

Vowing to instill confidence into his top options, Lowry’s now in complete control of initiating Miami’s half-court and transition offense, in addition to defending at an extremely high level.

Miami will need Lowry‘s unselfish and uncanny abilities of putting his teammates in better positions to score. As mentioned earlier, Lowry has available options with Herro on the cusp of a third-season breakout, Adebayo finding his confidence, and Jimmy Butler simply being Jimmy Butler.

However, it’s also important for Kyle to be that safety valve during critical moments — that mainly being when the Heat’s other top options are having rough shooting nights. The earlier he can become acclimated to his new system and surroundings as an offensive threat, the greater Miami improves their chances, as they hope to push themselves into title contention.

After signing a three-year deal to join Miami in August, there are adjustments that, both, Lowry and the Heat need to make, such as limiting their turnovers and ultimately adjusting to Kyle’s pace. It’s a long season though and there’s plenty of time to find the right balance.

Through it all, Lowry’s effectiveness begins with putting others before himself and his on-court presence magnifies it. All in all, he hasn’t shot the ball well… yet, but his impact has already been massive and greatly felt.