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Kyle Lowry has returned for the Toronto Raptors and looked good in his first game back.
Wednesday night was a sight for sore eyes for the Toronto Raptors. Kyle Lowry made his return to the lineup and the team needed every bit of his production for their comeback win over the Detroit Pistons.
Lowry played 42 minutes in the win, scoring 27 points to go along with 10 assists on the night. Efficiency wasn't an issue either, as he went 9-of-16 from the floor and 7-for-7 from the line.
The outing represented a truly best-case scenario for the Raptors. After having loose bodies removed from his shooting hand, Lowry's form did not appear to suffer from the operation.
The fact he was able to log the minutes he played without wearing down also speaks to the work Lowry put in to stay in shape during his time off.
Of course the team isn't out of the woods yet when it comes to Lowry. While Wednesday was an encouraging first step, it still may take some time before he finds consistency.
Lowry is a very active player, so it is essential that he feels confident going after loose balls and getting his hand in passing lanes. The hurdles when coming back from a surgery are both mental and physical. But in terms of best case scenarios, Wednesday was certainly that.
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With Lowry back in the fold, the Raptors now have time to gear up for what they hope will be a long playoff run. There is likely going to be some adjustment period, as the team had learned how to function without their high usage point guard.
In Lowry's absence, playmaking became a team effort. There was far less isolation basketball than in the past as everybody looked to make the right play. Now, the offense was only ranked 13th since the All-Star break. But that was enough to get by with their much-improved defense.
If the team wants to be successful, both Lowry and the rest of the team will need to adjust. Lowry's ability to space the floor and create for others will be a massive asset to the Raptors.
But Toronto can benefit from allowing DeMar DeRozan and the rest of the roster to pitch in some playmaking.
By having a more balanced attack offensively, the Raptors can become less predictable come playoffs. When the opposition has time to scheme against the Raptors, the solution has been to force players not named Lowry to make decisions with the ball.
With the Raptors now more comfortable in those situations, Lowry's absence may end up benefiting them long-term.
Perhaps nobody will benefit more from Lowry's return than DeRozan. DeRozan has shown significant strides in his vision, decision-making and defense over the last month.
With added spacing and less of an offensive burden, he can now allocate extra effort to those facets of the game. If DeRozan takes this approach with Lowry back, he can help shatter the narrative that he's a one-dimensional player.
The player that will have to adjust the most with Lowry's return will be Serge Ibaka. His nine shots against the Pistons were his second-lowest total as a Raptor, only trailing his 0-for-4 showing against the Mavericks in March.
This can be attributed to both Lowry's return and his current shooting slump. Ibaka is 1-for-14 from three over the last three games and is shooting 41 percent from the floor.
While Ibaka will likely see improved shot quality, his touches will inevitably decline with Lowry back in the lineup. In the past, Ibaka has shown a tendency to get discouraged if he is not receiving enough touches.
This can have an effect of the amount of effort he puts towards the defensive end of the floor.
Lowry has drawn comparisons to Chauncey Billups–a late blooming, scoring point guard who is adept at getting his teammates going. One of the best traits that Billups possessed was his awareness of how many touches each teammate has had throughout a game.
He would make sure everybody was kept involved to ensure they were ready when the team needed them.
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This is something Lowry will need to emulate if the Raptors are going to make the Finals. Like those Pistons teams, the Raptors lack a true superstar. But they have three All-Star caliber talents and plenty of depth.
If they want to beat the league's elite, they will need to fully maximize their current talent, a responsibility that now falls on the shoulders of Lowry.
With only three games remaining, the Raptors will need to adjust in a hurry, not only to get Lowry comfortable, but to adjust to a rotation that inevitably will be in flux. While there may be benefits to some time without Lowry, the task ahead of them now will not be easy.
But this is a team that has shown resilience in the past.
Even if Lowry struggles with his offense, that wouldn't be too different from their last three playoff appearances. Lowry found ways to be productive even without his shot in last year's playoffs, before finding his rhythm late in the second round.
With an improved roster and that experience, the Raptors should be poised for another deep playoff run.
