Kyle Lowry was everywhere for the Miami Heat in Game 1 against the Knicks
The Miami Heat stole Game 1 from the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden thanks in large part to Kyle Lowry's 18 points and 100s of little things.
Kyle Lowry came up huge for the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their second-round series against the New York Knicks. He put up a nice stat line of 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. But he also made a bunch of winning plays that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. I put together a video of those plays for the Ball and Order YouTube channel, so let’s go through some of the biggest plays Lowry made that were not made shots.
Swiper, yes swiping
Lowry recorded a career-high 4 blocks in Game 1. At a listed height of 6’0”, he’s the shortest player since at least 2005 to register 4 blocks in a playoff game.1 Gary Payton II (6’2”) also blocked 4 shots in Game 7 of Golden State’s first-round series. GP2 did it with long arms and athleticism. Lowry has neither of those attributes. He managed his feat with knowledge and quick hands.
On the first play, Lowry sags off his assignment to help on the driving Jalen Brunson. He positions himself on the mid-block to prioritize the dump-off to Isaiah Hartenstein at the rim over a potential open three from Quentin Grimes. The Heat were getting killed in the paint during the first quarter of this game, so the team was focused on stopping preventing paint opportunities as further evidenced by Duncan Robinson’s nail help. Sure enough, Brunson went for the dump off and Lowry slapped it away.
On the break with Josh Hart barreling down on him, Lowry likely knew that Hart would expect him to take a charge. Instead of stopping above the restricted area, he let Hart get close enough to the rim that he would have gone up with the layup and then swiped at it. He punished Mitchell Robinson for the cardinal sin of bringing the ball below his chin on the rebound by slithering under his hands to pop the ball up. The steal led to the biggest three of the game for Miami.
The final two blocks helped Miami put the Knicks away. On both plays, Lowry again beat his assignment to the spot and allowed the ball handler to get into his body. Rather than falling for a charge, he just went right for the ball. I’m sure some of this boils down to luck of the draw. But Lowry pulled out his luck when Miami needed it the most. Also I love how Doris Burke went nuts every time it happened with her effusive praise. She’s a real one.
Just Helping Out The Officials
This is a little thing and it probably had no effect on the game. But I love Lowry yelling at the refs as soon as RJ Barrett leaves his man to help on Bam Adebayo in the paint. Barrett had to get out of the paint in 2.9 seconds to avoid the defensive three-seconds call and he got out just in time. Lowry’s yelling shows how he’s always paying attention and looking for advantages. Also it may have helped Bam time his drive as Barrett cleared the paint. But mainly, Lowry just proved yet again how much he wants to assist the officials in their duties.
Big Foul
I’ll be honest: a lot of the great stuff that Lowry does involves fouls and/or the refs. He drew one of his wild shooting fouls by going up with a funky shot after Grimes grazed his hip. He sealed the game by tripping over Mitchell Robinson’s leg on a drive. 5 of his 18 points came from free throw line.
My favorite Lowry foul-related moment in Game 1 came with a minute and half left. Immanuel Quickley drives to the rim and beats Lowry’s dig. Lowry follows the play until an offensive rebound pops off the rim right toward Robinson. Lowry jumped as high as he could to slap Robinson’s elbow and jar the ball loose. The effort to continue the play after getting beat and knowing how to foul hard enough without going overboard are uncommon.
The Heat dropped Game 2 against the Knicks. But Lowry’s first healthy run of the season has played a huge role in their playoff success so far. He’s put together some good games including a +18 outing in Miami’s five-point Game 4 win against Milwaukee. But he really seemed at his most active and healthiest in this opener against the Knicks. Hopefully, he can continue to impact the game at this level for the rest of the offseason.
Other shorter players with 4+ blocks: Dwyane Wade (6’4”, 3 times), Gary Payton II (6’2”, 2023), JJ Redick (6’3”, 2015)