With Lowry in the fold, the Heat looks like a better three-point shooting team this year
Duncan Robinson learned quickly that as a shooter playing with Kyle Lowry, the first rule is always to be ready.
It’s a lesson he has figured out already, even though they have only been practicing together for a little more than a week. Robinson is the Miami Heat’s best three-point shooter, and it means Lowry is always on the lookout to him a look from deep. There have been moments, Robinson said, when a Lowry pass would hit him when he wasn’t quite ready to make a play with it.
“Don’t be surprised,” the wing said. “He’s super unselfish and willing to give up the ball, so you’ve always got to have your head on a swivel, be ready to catch and shoot.”
Lowry has been playing with the Heat for less than two weeks and the ways Miami promised he would make the team better have started to manifest. He hit pull-up threes in an intrasquad scrimmage Friday. He got star post player Bam Adebayo a pair of transition buckets in a preseason-opening win against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday at FTX Arena. His Heat operated at a pace of 116.7 possessions per 48 minutes while he was on the court after Miami played at the NBA’s second-slowest pace last season.
He also got the Heat to bomb threes on the Hawks to get a blowout win in Miami. The Heat attempted 41 and made 21.
Last year, Miami attempted just 36.2 threes per game and made 35.8 percent of them — placing them near the middle of the pack in both categories — and only had 14 games with 41 attempts. It’s another way the Heat expects Lowry to reshape the team this season.
“He’s just super heady,” Robinson said, “and if someone’s not looking, a defender or whatever, he’ll just knock that pass, just make the simple play.”
Offensively, three-point shooting was the most obvious difference between an underwhelming 2020-21 NBA season for the Heat and its NBA Finals team from the year before.
Two years ago, Miami ranked ninth with 35.4 three-point attempts per game, sixth with 13.4 makes and second at 37.9 percent, and it led to the league’s seventh-best offense, in terms of points per 100 possessions. Last season, the Heat dipped to 11th, 14th and 19th in those three categories, respectively, and plummeted all the way to 18th in points per 100 possessions. Miami’s hope is Lowry will help Robinson’s percentage jump from 40.8 back closer to 44.6, help point guard Tyler Herro climb from 36.0 back toward 38.9 and get the most out of other capable shooters such as shooting guard Max Strus and post player Markieff Morris.
There’s one even simpler way Lowry can elevate the Heat’s three-point ability: He can make some himself.
Lowry shot 39.8 percent from three-point range last season on 7.2 attempts per game. Star forward Jimmy Butler, who often served as Miami’s de facto point guard last year, shot just 24.5 percent on 2.0 attempts per game.
In the modern NBA, Butler was a rarity as a nonshooting primary ballhandler. Lowry will point the Heat back toward the norm, and it should be good for everyone.
“With all the shooters we have, I think it’s good for our spacing, for our playmakers who get down the lane and open elbows, and stuff like that,” Herro said. “Kyle and me, and Duncan and the rest of our shooters are able to really space the floor for everyone who’s trying to get to the rim.”
P.J. Tucker practices after injury
P.J. Tucker was back at practice Wednesday at FTX Arena in Miami ahead of the Heat’s upcoming two-game road trip. The post player missed the second half of Miami’s preseason opener Monday with a strained groin, but didn’t miss a single practice after the Heat took Tuesday off.
He was not listed on the injury report for the Heat’s next preseason game Thursday against the Houston Rockets at 10 p.m.
Guards Marcus Garrett, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent are all questionable.
Miami will wrap up its preseason back-to-back set against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Players will only play in one of the two games.
“Guys are not going to play both games,” Spoelstra said, “which should give us an opportunity to get a look at everybody.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 3:17 PM.
