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Lowry explains leaving bench, Valanciunas doubtful, and other practice notes

Quick notes from a practice I didn't attend.

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Some abbreviated notes from Friday’s practice for you. Sorry for the lateness/shortness, but sometimes life happens on a long weekend down 2-0 in a series.

Lowry explains leaving bench

Kyle Lowry left the Raptors’ bench late in the second quarter of Game 2 on Thursday, and it raised some eyebrows when he said after the game it wasn’t for treatment but to “decompress.” Lowry opened up more about his quick reprieve on Friday. Foremost, he had to pee.


As someone who pees more than almost anyone else on the planet (your boy’s got the healthiest organs), this resonates with me. If it’s the case, though, Lowry maybe shouldn’t have said he had to decompress and he should have said he had to…whatever the polite way of saying pee is.

It’s also not a big deal, at least to Lowry and teammates.


This, however, is a bit of a bigger deal, though it’s also a testament to Lowry and the other Raptors that they’re still here despite this.


By the way, I don’t have a big issue with Lowry leaving the bench to clear his head or his bladder or whatever. I can’t imagine the mental toll a shooting slump on this big a stage would have on me, and I doubt I’m nearly as mentally tough as professional athletes who live under the microscope. I do think Lowry should have expected a reaction like this, but so long as his team is fine with it, I’m not too bothered. He’s still playing his ass off, it’s just not working.

Raptors look tired, overmatched

In searching for answers with the 2-0 hole, Occam’s razor suggests the Raptors just aren’t as good as the Cavaliers. Which is true. They’re also exhausted, having worked hard all year long to secure the No. 2 seed (and after), tasking their stars with top-10 workloads, and then failing to take care of business quickly in the first two rounds, loading up their own schedule.


Despite how bad the first two games have gone, the Raptors are at least trying to keep the faith. Which, yeah, they have no choice.


In terms of what they can do differently, the Raptors are thinking specifically in terms of when LeBron James is at the four.


Here’s a suggestion I’ve written many times: Put Bismack Biyombo on James in those scenarios, since Biyombo’s being pulled away from the rim by Channing Frye or Kevin Love, otherwise, rendered unable to help on James. James will have trouble posting Biyombo, and the face-up approach against a long, game defender might at least eat clock and get the ball out of his hands without having to abandon shooters. Alternatively, keep Patterson/Johnson on James and shift Biyombo to Shumpert, letting him play safety. I wrote about this more in this morning’s mailbag, so check that out.

Or, just get the fight in your pants.


Valanciunas doubtful

In your latest non-update on Jonas Valanciunas, he remains doubtful for Game 3 on Saturday. Consider him out until he’s not, basically.

Assorted

*A reason for optimism? The Spurs lost this series 4-2.


*The NBA rescinded a technical foul on Casey from Game 2.
*Pretty good summation of the day right here.


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