Playoffs! Round 1, Game 1: Washington Wizards 106 - Toronto Raptors 114 (TOR 1-0)

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Yes he had a great defensive game (particularly in the 2nd half), but his game on offense was just ok if not worse than that. I'm not sure how that qualifies as an "amazing game". Maybe for a role player but not for your best player who's getting paid $30M a year.

What standard are we using here?

[Truth Teller]

Amazing for Lowry who is an all-star would be 20 and 10, while playing great defense and shooting above 50%.

[The Great One]

You've got to be kidding me man.

He was awful. DeRozan was a lil better but that's not really saying much.

[octothorp]

To me Lowry gave a big psychological lift to the team in the second half (DeRozan really did too to start the 3rd q, but Lowry had more of a sustained impact). He really led with his hustle, and with no FVV, I think that was really crucial to provide that leadership especially when he was on there with a primarily bench unit.

Yeah, he needs to be more consistent with his shot, especially against tougher opposition. Still, in the 2nd half this was exactly the style of game he needs to play.

[A.I]

Lowry's defense was terrific. Offensively, he struggled on his 3s, but finished 4/9 and had 9 assists. He had a good game, not amazing, but good.

[inthepaint]

Lowry was decent. He could have played better, sure, but he could also have played much worse, as we've seen in prior post-seasons. Had 9 dimes, involved other players, and played energetic defence. The beauty here as that this team is more well rounded and it doesn't rely as heavy on him anymore to win. He didn't have to force his game. He clearly has another gear he can go to though (and that's actually a good thing).

[DanH]

Yes he had a great defensive game (particularly in the 2nd half), but his game on offense was just ok if not worse than that. I'm not sure how that qualifies as an "amazing game". Maybe for a role player but not for your best player who's getting paid $30M a year.

What standard are we using here?

Lowry powered the team to the win. Not sure what else really matters. Key role players definitely stepped up (Ibaka, Delon, OG, Siakam, Bebe, even JV at times) but the plays that swung the game had Lowry's stamp all over them. Throw in him running the offence pretty smoothly all game long and not forcing shots and I got what I wanted from him.

I don't really care if he's scoring so long as the team is. The team was scoring fine (+121 ORTG with Lowry on the court). If they were struggling then yeah, I'd expect him to step up beyond the playmaking he was doing. But the area they needed help with was defence in this one, and he was the backbone of that across several units, from the starters where he and OG wreaked havoc on Wall and Beal, to the closing units beside Delon.

[LJ2]

Just finished watching the game on league pass. The starters played really well in this one. OG and Lowry were excellent in defending Beal, took him out of the game pretty much. Scott and Morris were the only reason the game was even competitive, so that's a good sign. Felt like Ibaka played his best game of the season, and Wright as well. Poeltl looked jittery out there, JV was steady and Lucas was great in his minutes. Casey did a good job of throwing different looks out there and keeping the guys fresh to close the game out. DD was smart not to force things and picked his spots nicely.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Amazing for Lowry who is an all-star would be 20 and 10, while playing great defense and shooting above 50%.

This is what I'm saying. He's supposed to be a near All-NBA caliber player. Scoring 11 and 9 while playing great D is not an amazing game for a player of that level.

[G__Deane]

"Kyle Lowry, who was battling a virus and coughed throughout the post-game press conference, finished with 11 points and nine assists for the Raptors."

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Lowry powered the team to the win. Not sure what else really matters. Key role players definitely stepped up (Ibaka, Delon, OG, Siakam, Bebe, even JV at times) but the plays that swung the game had Lowry's stamp all over them. Throw in him running the offence pretty smoothly all game long and not forcing shots and I got what I wanted from him.

I don't really care if he's scoring so long as the team is. The team was scoring fine (+121 ORTG with Lowry on the court). If they were struggling then yeah, I'd expect him to step up beyond the playmaking he was doing. But the area they needed help with was defence in this one, and he was the backbone of that across several units, from the starters where he and OG wreaked havoc on Wall and Beal, to the closing units beside Delon.

The Raptors were also +13 netRTG with DeRozan on the floor, did he play amazing?

Come on man you know that is way too high praise for what he did. He had a really good defensive game and was ok on offense. That's not amazing. We've seen Lowry ACTUALLY have amazing games in the playoffs like game 7 against the Heat 2 years ago. We don't need to exaggerate to create a narrative.

[Scraptor]

I'd give Kyle a B and DeMar a C. Not an A and a D (amazing vs bad). Kyle was practically invisible in the first half.

Serge was an A. If not for him we wouldn't have even been in this game.

[consmap]

I'm happy to see that RR still finds something to argue about even after winning our first Game 1 in a hell of a long time

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Yeah Serge is the one guy I'd say played "amazing" relative to his actual ability.

[DanH]

The Raptors were also +13 netRTG with DeRozan on the floor, did he play amazing?

Come on man you know that is way too high praise for what he did. He had a really good defensive game and was ok on offense. That's not amazing. We've seen Lowry ACTUALLY have amazing games in the playoffs like game 7 against the Heat 2 years ago. We don't need to exaggerate to create a narrative.

I thought his play was amazing down the stretch when it mattered. Fair enough I may have exaggerated his overall amazingness.

But anyone disappointed in his performance tonight or who would describe it as "OK" (or worse, somehow?) needs to watch that game again. He was really good overall and amazing down the stretch. Reminds me of the moronic takes in 15-16 about Lowry being terrible since he couldn't hit a shot, despite every iota of success the Raptors had leading straight back to him even with the poor shooting.

Don't be daft pointing at single game net rating and pretending that's what I was doing. I was commenting on Lowry providing what the team needed on both ends based on how the Wizards were playing.