Every day during the 2017 NBA Playoffs, we’ll be taking a look at the action, highlights and prevailing storylines with an NBA roundup session. Here’s Day 4.
The 2017 NBA Playoffs are off to a rip-roaring start, and even if we end up with the Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers Finals matchup everyone’s predicted since the preseason, would anyone be mad as long as the playoffs remain this enthralling?
The first three games have been filled with surprising upsets, big-time performances and unexpected role players stepping to the forefront of the playoff conversation. Day 4 of the playoffs on Tuesday was no different.
As we advance through the postseason, we’ll be taking a look at what stood out from each day of playoff action. Here’s what we took away the Chicago Bulls taking a 2-0 lead on the Boston Celtics, the Toronto Raptors coming to life against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Los Angeles Clippers saving their season against the shorthanded Utah Jazz.
Lowry Lives
Thank you, Kyle Lowry. Thank you for saving not only the Toronto Raptors from an increasingly inevitable first round defeat, but also yourself from an unrelenting wave of ridicule that was sure to drown us all if not for your Game 2 performance.
Entering Tuesday night’s must-win affair, Lowry had the worst playoff field goal percentage among active NBA players, with DeMar DeRozan not far behind in fourth. He had laid a four-point, 2-for-11 egg in the Game 1 loss, and after watching him take 10 playoff games to figure it out last year, it seemed like certain doom for the Raptors when those demons were not permanently exorcised.
It took Jesus three days to rise, and maybe an Easter miracle was all that was needed here. Because after Game 1, on the third day, Kyle Lowry was alive again.
Even at 1. #NBAPlayoffs
— NBA (@NBA) April 19, 2017
Lowry's heroics clinch it for the @Raptors. TOR defeats the @Bucks 106-100.
Giannis: 24 PTS, 15 REB & 7 AST. pic.twitter.com/lqcpq5vUhW
Finishing the game with 22 points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals and one block, Lowry may have figured out how to bury those playoff problems much quicker than last year’s postseason run. He shot 6-for-12 from the field in Game 2, made two of his five three-pointers and when his team needed him most, he drilled the dagger to tie the series up.
The Raptors probably shouldn’t feel good about getting great games from both Lowry and DeRozan and still barely squeaking out the win at home, but if Lowry has truly risen, first round salvation could be at hand.