With 4:13 to play in the second quarter, Kyle Lowry checked out of Thursday’s game and headed to the Toronto Raptors’ locker room. He did not return before the end of the half.
He was the first man out of the tunnel to warm up for the third quarter, and the Raptors are saying Lowry just went to the back to stretch out.
Lowry went early to locker room before half to stretch with training staff. Good for second half. #rtz
— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) March 11, 2016
Prior to checking out, Lowry had 12 points and four assists in 17 minutes, and the Raptors had outscored the Atlanta Hawks by three in those minutes. They managed to hold their lead at 52-48 at the half even without their leader for the closing minutes (they were up six with the Hawks at the line when he checked out).
The Raptors have been talking openly about getting Lowry more rest, so it would stand to reason that they’d play it cautious in this case. At the same time, Lowry and head coach Dwane Casey have always kind of been of the “all or nothing” mentality when it comes to the point guard’s workload.
If his minutes are limited in the second half, that would mean more time for Cory Joseph, who isn’t having his best defensive outing, and Delon Wright, who’s struggled to guard in the pick-and-roll. Those are concerns against a screen-heavy Hawks outfit that forces a lot of tough decisions, but both are also steady enough offensively to (hopefully) make up for some of that. It also means a heavier scoring load on DeMar DeRozan, who is 7-of-12 from the floor for 16 points at the half.
