PHILADELPHIA — Everyone at the Wells Fargo Center saw Monday night Kyle Lowry — the 18-year NBA veteran playing against his former team, the Miami heatfor the first time since he was traded to the Heat two months ago, fly headlong over the goal table and into the stands.
Everyone except his coach, Nick Nurse.
“I totally missed it,” Nurse said afterward with a laugh. “I just heard the reaction from the crowd, so I thought it must be good.
“I saw him dive into the crowd…you know he’s playing if he ends up in the crowd.”
Lowry, however, had another explanation for this.
“When you get to a certain age,” Lowry said with a smile, “you don’t have any brakes, so I couldn’t stop.”
Lowry’s dive into the stands was just one of many highlights of the night for the 38-year-old future guard, who finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds and an assist in 35 minutes as Philadelphia won a aim. victory 98-91 against Miami in front of a sold-out crowd here in South Philadelphia – a victory that, at least for one night, put the 76ers ahead of both the Heat and Indiana Pacers and move to sixth place in the busy Eastern Conference standings.
“No,” Lowry said when asked if he had extra juice for this game against his former team. “I think the most important thing is that we understood that this was an important match for the ranking. We needed this win for the ranking. I love and admire these guys so much, and I always support them except when I play against But there was no juice added. Just go out there and try to win a game for our team through ranking.
“It’s going to be a close race and we’ve got to do what we can and stay the course as long as we can and then try to take advantage of the opportunities that come our way and win as many games as possible.”
For Philadelphia, led by 30 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists Tyrese Maxey, it was a vital victory on many levels. The Sixers – already without Joel Embiidwho will reach the six-week mark of recovery after meniscus surgery on Tuesday – were also missing Tobias Harris for a second straight game, and will now embark on a four-game West Coast swing to face the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers And Kings of Sacramento before returning home next Wednesday to face the Clippers James Hardenback in Philadelphia for the first time since being traded in November.
But none of that was on anyone’s mind during the fourth quarter of this chaotic affair, which saw Miami go into it without Jimmy Butler (foot), Tyler Herro (foot), Kevin Love (heel) Nikola Jovic (hamstrings) and Josh Richardson (shoulder) before also losing Duncan Robinson (back) during the game itself, then came back strong with a 20-6 run to open the fourth quarter and erase what had been a 14-point Philadelphia lead.
However, that only set the stage for Lowry to make two of the game’s biggest plays: a 3-pointer with 3:09 left, making it a two-possession game — and he didn’t never again became a one-possession game. — followed by a circus layup in traffic with 1:36 left that gave Philadelphia a 95-89 lead and enough room to hang on.
“Yeah, I mean, it definitely helps a lot,” said Nurse, who coached Lowry for several seasons in Toronto, when asked about the veteran guard’s leadership. “I think he sees a lot of things and positions people a lot. But actually, he likes to make more plays than that. This was another game where he made two huge shots in a matter of minutes…so he plays games, with his leadership and organization.”
For Lowry and the 76ers, who are now 12-22 this season when Embiid doesn’t play compared to 26-8 when the league’s MVP is in uniform, the goal now is to try to hold on until he is able to return. Nurse said before Monday’s game that Embiid continued to practice, but there was no timetable for his return.
After the game, when Lowry was asked what this group was missing right now, he didn’t hesitate in his answer.
“A 7-foot-2 guy,” he said with a laugh. “This will help.”
He then added that he continues to think about the possibility of playing with Embiid and that he has already liked the way the superstar center views the game.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to play with Big Fella and I’m looking forward to it,” Lowry said. “I’ve seen him, of course, but in person it’s very different. The only thing I’ve learned so far is that his basketball mind is very sharp. A very , very intelligent, an intelligent individual. So we just found out. be patient until he returns.”
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