All those present at Wells Fargo Center The 18-year NBA veteran Kyle Lowry, who was moved away from the Miami Heat two months ago, was playing against his old team on Monday night when he launched himself over the scorer’s table and into the fans.
That is, everyone but his coach, Nick Nurse.
“I totally missed it,” Nurse chuckled afterward. “I just heard the crowd react, so I assumed it had to be good.
“I’ve seen him dive into the crowd … you know he’s playing if he’s ending up in the crowd.”
However, Lowry offered an alternative interpretation.
“When you get to a certain age,” “you ain’t got no brakes, so I couldn’t stop myself.” remarked Lowry, grinning.
In front of a sold-out crowd here in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia defeated Miami 98-91. The win, at least for one night, allowed the 76ers to move up to sixth place in the very competitive Eastern Conference standings, surpassing both the Heat and Indiana Pacers. Lowry’s dive into the stands was just one of several highlight plays for the soon-to-be 38-year-old guard on the night.
“No,” Lowry responded when asked if he was feeling particularly motivated for this matchup with his old squad. “I think the juice was that we understood that was a big game for the standings. We needed that win for the standing purposes. I love and admire those guys so much, and I still root for them except for when I’m playing against them. But there was no added juice. Just go out there and try to win a game for our team because of the standings.
“It’s going to be a tight race and we got to do what we can do and hold it down while we can, and then try to take advantage of the opportunities that we have and just win as many games as we possibly can.”
It was an important victory for Philadelphia on several fronts, which was spearheaded by Tyrese Maxey’s 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists. The Sixers, already without Joel Embiid, who will begin his recuperation from meniscus surgery on Tuesday, will also be without Tobias Harris for a second straight game. They will now go on a four-game West Coast swing, playing the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, and Sacramento Kings before coming home on Wednesday to play the Clippers in James Harden’s first return to Philadelphia since being traded in November.
However, none of that was on anyone’s mind during the fourth quarter of this wild match, which saw Miami come back into the game with a 20-6 run to start the fourth quarter and erase a 14-point Philadelphia lead after Miami entered it without Josh Richardson (shoulder), Jimmy Butler (foot), Tyler Herro (foot), Kevin Love (heel), and Nikola Jovic (hamstring).
That only served to set the stage for two of Lowry’s greatest plays of the game: a 3-pointer with 3:09 left that turned the game into a two-possession contest (it never returned to that), and a circus layup in traffic with 1:36 left that gave Philadelphia a 95-89 lead and enough cushion to hang on.
Nurse responded, “Yeah, I mean it certainly helps a lot,” when questioned about the seasoned guard’s leadership after coaching Lowry for several seasons in Toronto. “I think he sees a lot and positions people a lot. But he’s actually like making more plays than doing that. This is another game where he’s hit a two huge shots with a couple minutes … so he’s making plays, along with his leadership and organization.”
The objective now is to attempt to hold on for Lowry and the 76ers, who are currently 12-22 this season when Embiid isn’t playing, as opposed to 26-8 when the league’s current Most Valuable Player is wearing a uniform. Prior to Monday’s game, Nurse stated that Embiid was still working out, but there was still no timeline for his return.
When asked what this bunch is now lacking after the game, Lowry answered without hesitation.
“A 7-foot-2 guy,” he chuckled to himself. “That’ll help.”
He continued, saying that he has been considering the prospect of playing alongside Embiid and that he has already grown to respect the way the all-star center approaches the game.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to play with Big Fella, and I’m looking forward to that,” Lowry stated. “I’ve seen it, of course, but in person it’s a lot different. The one thing that I’ve learned so far, his basketball mind is very sharp. Very, very smart basketball player, smart individual. So we just got to be patient until he gets back.”