‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ Those were the words Kyle Lowry was mouthing over and over again as he walked slowly to the center-court logo he defended with a singular pride in his nine years wearing it.
No one could hear him, of course. The wall of sound had been building since the Raptors legend and current Miami Heat star took the floor for his own warm-ups well before the Heat took the floor as a group roughly twenty minutes before game time.
By the time long-time Scotiabank in-arena announcer Herbie Kuhn began his trademark Lowry wind-up — ‘from North Philly, to your city’ — not heard in Toronto since February of 2020, the crowd was on its feet, in full roar and stayed that way for more than 90 seconds until Lowry himself made his way back to Heat bench with his arms raised, acknowledging all sides of the building he helped put on the NBA map.
He achieved one goal: he was able to keep the waterworks at bay even as he stood under the spotlight with his growing boys, Karter and Kameron.
“I ain’t gonna let you all see me cry, just because y’all here and I’m like, nah. I know if I cry, DeMar [DeRozan] will make fun of me and it’s gonna go viral,” said Lowry, who arrived at his pre-game press conference with his championship ring, a diamond-encrusted watch on his left wrist, a heavily jewelled band on his right wrist and new suit for the occasion.
“So no, I won’t do that. But that being said, my kids are gonna be with me … the video, I’m sure it’s gonna be crazy, it’s gonna be good, one thing is I’ll see how I am. But I’m gonna hold back as much as I can.”
The video was great – it touched every side of Lowry’s Toronto legacy — and he held back just enough.
But when the lights came up and the sound came down — if slightly — it was time to go to work, and the team Lowry left behind with an eye on winning a title in Miami set out to prove Lowry’s legacy lives on.
The Raptors — like their former leader — live to compete.
“I hope to God we ruin his night,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse had said before the game. “We love him, there’s no doubt about that. But you know what my job is now is to kick his ass. We’ll see what happens.”
What happened was a story the Raptors fans are familiar enough this season — at least when they’ve been on the losing end of games they otherwise played well enough to win.
In crunch time of a well-played game either team could have come out ahead on, the Heat had more shot makers — or more guys making shots — than the Raptors did as Miami and Lowry left town with a 114-109 win.
Even on a night without star Jimmy Butler and three rotation players, the ultra-deep Heat got some torrid late-game shooting from the likes of Max Strus and a revitalized Victor Oladipo to keep the Raptors from spoiling Lowry’s homecoming as they were so determined to do.
The pair combined for four triples on four attempts as part of a 14-1 run that broke open a tie game with 5:51 to play and put Miami up 10 with 2:22 on the clock. A Pascal Siakam triple, a driving lay-up and couple of trips to the line weren’t enough to make up any ground, though VanVleet did have a good look at three that would have pulled Toronto within one with 9.9 seconds left that fell short.
The loss snapped the Raptors five-game winning streak as they fell to 45-33 on the season as back into sixth-place in the East, two games up on seventh-place Cleveland with four games left to play. The Heat improved to 51-28 and two games up on Boston for first place in the East.
The energy the Raptors showed up with was no surprise to Lowry. He knows the script when former Raptors return to Toronto: nothing easy.
“Nick won’t let me score tonight,” Lowry predicted. “… Has anybody that Nick plays here has come back and had a good game? [No one responds] Exactly. I know Nick’s not gonna let me have one of my nights, but we’ll see what happens. I’m up for the challenge.”
He was. Lowry didn’t go off by any stretch, but he finished with 16 points, 10 assists and six rebounds and sparked Miami’s comeback from down 10 to start the third quarter with his playmaking and his defence on VanVleet, who finished with 29 points and seven assists after scoring 21 points in the first half. Siakam finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but the pair also counted nine of the Raptors’ 14 turnovers.
Three-point shooting was the difference. Miami was 18-of-38 and Toronto was 12-of-39.
The Raptors were more than up to the challenge of spoiling Lowry’s big night and knocking off the East’s best team for the third time in four tries this season.
No one more game than Lowry’s protégé as VanVleet came out determined to make Sunday a night Lowry wouldn’t forget, for better or worse. The Raptors point guard gained notice as an undrafted rookie when he picked up Lowry full court on his first day of training camp and refused to back down until he’d made the team and earned Lowry’s respect.
Neither took long — VanVleet was playing a role he was born for, but with Lowry in town for his victory lap, he figured it was time for a re-enactment. VanVleet refused to give Lowry an inch, very nearly picking Lowry’s pocket at mid-court on one possession in the first quarter and generally doing everything in his power to make the 36-year-old veteran’s life difficult.
At the other end VanVleet’s legs showed the most life since before the all-star break after weeks of struggling to play through a bruised knee. He took and made two triples before the game was four minutes old and added a steal and a lay-up to put Toronto up 12-7. When he hit his third triple of the quarter VanVleet broke Lowry’s Raptors franchise record for made threes in a season with 239 and Toronto was up 23-12 as they led by as much as 13 in the period.
VanVleet was relishing it. Late in the second quarter he broke down the defence again and collided with Lowry in mid-air at the basket with VanVleet bouncing off his mentor and finishing easily. When Barnes gave “The Hulk” pose in recognition, VanVleet could only laugh as he made his way back up the floor.
The Raptors kept hounding Lowry. Even as the Heat’s bench, led by Tyler Herro, kept Miami in touch with Toronto, there was no moment that Lowry was welcomed. On the Heat’s last possession of the first half, the Raptors put some size on Lowry in the form of 6-foot-9 Siakam and then, when Lowry tried to force a switch, over came 6-foot-8 Barnes to string him out and eventually force Miami’s 12th turnover of the half.
Toronto led 55-45 heading into the half with VanVleet looking every inch the best point guard on the floor with 21 points while shooting 3-of-6 from deep on his way to taking his friend’s franchise record.
It was nothing Lowry hasn’t experienced before in Toronto, just never as a visitor.
But Lowry wasn’t going to go out that way. Not without a fight. Not in this building. Lowry had four quick assists coming out halftime including a quick hitter to Max Struss for a corner three as part of a 24-13 surge that gave Miami its first lead since the second minute of the game. He also helped keep VanVleet in check, but only for so long. VanVleet shook loose for a triple – his seventh of the game – and then got fouled in the act and made all of his free throws to briefly tie the score before Miami took a 79-78 lead into the fourth.
His old team fought hard from there, and his new team did too.
There was good reason Lowry was celebrated at centre court before the ball went up, a moment a long time coming that few will forget.
Lowry has done something of everything to deserve the love that showered down on him and that he so sincerely tried to give back with effort night in and night out for so long.
“When we look back over the hard play that this team has exhibited over the year, he certainly got a lot of credit for it and deserves a lot of credit for it, that’s for sure,” said Nurse.
Lowry made his name in the NBA by playing hard and demanding everyone around him do the same.
It’s a trait that lives on in Toronto even now that he’s gone.
So no Kyle, thank you.
