A 22-point fourth quarter took place for Miami Heat guard, Kyle Lowry, during Thursday’s, 109-112, loss against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The likelihood of moving to 1-2 on an underwhelming road trip, thus far, was right there to grasp, but the Heat’s newest floor general’s late game heroics were too little and far too late.
With Jimmy Butler sidelined due to an ankle injury, Erik Spoelstra went forward with Lowry down the stretch in Thursday’s game.
Previously, the 15-year NBA veteran had converted on just one of six attempts in the first half, but the entourage began after converting an 18-foot pull-up jumper over Isaiah Hartenstein two minutes into the fourth.
This would be one of several mismatch opportunities that he would exploit, most specifically against the opposing Clipper big men. Just minutes later, Lowry would hit a spinning turnaround fadeaway to pull Miami to 90-97 and from that point, the turbines would kick on for the former Raptors star.
Miami Heat: Kyle Lowry Reminds Everyone Of His Pure ‘Clutch Ability’
Dominating the fourth, Lowry scored on multiple And One opportunities, as Miami cut the Clippers’ lead to three with five minutes remaining. One came from a four-point play and another was a made layup attempt, as he was hammered by Ivica Zubac.
With Miami trailing 107-108, Lowry created a steal from Reggie Jackson with less than 20 seconds remaining, However, Miami would fall short after Duncan Robinson couldn’t capitalize on a transition three opportunity to put the Heat ahead.
The question stands for whether the Heat could have gone to other options, as Bam Adebayo scored 19 of his 30 points in the first quarter and eventually 30 on the night, while Tyler Herro added in his own 23 points.
The only late-game field goal between the two of them, though, came from a put-back layup from Adebayo at the three-minute mark.
Nonetheless, there’s a safety net with Kyle, who came from a winning organization and is three games shy of 100 playoff appearances. Those are qualities that, quite simply, can never be forsaken in a player.
Miami Heat: Kyle Lowry Has Better Dictate When’s Time To Pass & Time To Score
Prior to Thursday’s matchup, Lowry was shooting just 38 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc. He also currently has his lowest True Shooting output of the last five seasons (54.3 percent).
However, if there was ever a night where the Heat needed their starting point guard to shoot efficiently, that night came during their encore appearance at Staples Center. Despite the loss, Kyle had an inspiring performance during the final game of a back to back.
He proved that he’s still consistently reliable in closing moments and that this particular intangible will never ever leave him.
- In the 2020-21 season, Lowry shot 47 percent in fourth quarters (66 total minutes) with under five minutes remaining. This was a higher percentage than other star guards, such as Stephen Curry, Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum, and Trae Young.
With Lowry available, he’s been the bridge for all of the Heat’s top scorers. It goes much further than his playmaking ability, as very few point guards can control an offense late in games like he can.
In the wake of a long season, Spoelstra will need to defer to some of his younger players to finish games but in games where it calls for veterans (like Lowry) to come through, he won’t run away from that option either.
Back on November 2nd against Dallas, Lowry led all Heat players in fourth quarter scoring and sank a pair of step-back three pointers in the final six minutes. He currently leads Miami in fourth quarter minutes (10.7) and is second in scoring during in the final frames.
As mentioned before, Lowry doesn’t always need to score to be effective. As he’s done his due diligence to consolidate and enhance his teammates’ scoring abilities, games like Thursday show that it might still be a challenge for him to determine when to facilitate or score.
Whether Miami is missing one or several key players, his on-court presence in the fourth, alone, makes him extremely valuable in any setting. The Heat will need much more of that in the future.