Kyle Lowry has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, the NBA announced Monday.
That’s a bit of a surprise considering he sat out Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, but even without that game, he had a pretty great week. He led the Raptors to three victories, averaging 28.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 8.7 assists while shooting 59.6 percent from the field and 41.2 percent on threes. He also added nine free-throw attempts and 1.7 steals per-game, just to make life a little more difficult on New York, Minnesota, and Cleveland.
Oh, Cleveland. Yeah. So, Lowry probably won this award on Friday when he dropped a career-high 43 points against the Cavaliers. Not only did he do that, he hit the game-winning shot on a night when he had little support from his teammates, giving the Raptors the season series and potential tie-breaker against the Cavs and moving them within two games of the top spot in the East.
This is Lowry’s third Player of the Week award, ranking him third in franchise history behind Chris Bosh and Vince Carter (seven each). He’s also one of two players in franchise history to win Player of the Month twice, along with DeMar DeRozan, and Lowry could soon be the lone Raptor to do so three times, as he has a good chance at being named the East’s Player of the Month for February later this week. Lowry shared the award with teammate DeMar DeRozan in Janaury and stacks up well against LeBron James, Paul George, and Kemba Walker.
Kyle Lowry has one more shot at making Player of the Month case for February tonight. pic.twitter.com/BF4RSju5qp
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) February 28, 2016
Whether he wins it or not, his candidacy serves as an unnecessary reminder that he’s been phenomenal this season. In 57 games, Lowry is averaging a career-high 21.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 2.2 steals with a 58.9 true-shooting percentage and a 23.6 player efficiency rating, both career-best marks. The Raptors have been 8.3 points per-100 possessions better with him on the floor, and he’s helped prop up one of the best lineups in basketball, bucking the usual result of having four bench players on the court at a time. He ranks eight in the NBA and second in the East in ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus and fifth (and second) in RPM-Based Wins, while Nylon Calculus’ DRE ranks him sixth in the NBA and tops in the East, and Basketball Reference’s Win Shares ranks him the same.
The Raptors, meanwhile, are second in the East with a 39-19 record, two games back of Cleveland and five games clear of the three-seed. They’ve given themselves enough of a cushion that they can now focus some on getting Lowry, who ranks fourth in the NBA in minutes played, the necessary rest to insure he’s on this level entering the playoffs.
So, yeah, Kyle Lowry Over Everything, as always.
