Miami Heat: Why Kyle Lowry is being underutilized by his new team

There is a perception around the league that point guard, Kyle Lowry, is responsible for getting the Miami Heat to play faster this season. Dan Devine of The Ringer stated on October 29th that Lowry has “already provided a vital injection of velocity and opportunism” into the team early on this season.

Devine’s comments are correct, as Lowry likes to get the ball into the frontcourt before the defense gets set. For instance, Lowry received the ball after PJ Tucker caused a steal late in the second quarter of a road game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He proceeded to launch the ball up the court, with a chest pass, in hopes of getting the ball to Jimmy Butler, who was already near the 3-point line.

Butler received the ball with nobody in front of him and ended the possession with a dunk. Lowry’s passing ability led to the team seeing an increase in their transition possessions as they are averaging 22 per game – a 39.2 percent increase from last season.

Let’s take a look at how Miami Heat point guard Kyle Lowry is being underutilized by the team so far in the 2021-22 season.

Despite Lowry’s influence on the Miami Heat’s style of play, the team isn’t getting the most out of him. When he is not launching the ball up the court, Lowry usually is off the ball. For instance, in the same game against the Memphis Grizzlies, he was standing near the free-throw line as Butler had the ball at the top of the key. Lowry came up to set the screen for Butler to initiate the pick and roll.

Butler went over the screen and began to attack the basket. After taking a couple of steps towards the basket, Butler realized that he wouldn’t get an open look because Steven Adams was standing in between him and the basket.

Therefore, he turned around and passed the ball to Lowry, who had moved to the top of the key. He shot and made a three to end the possession. The Miami Heat’s usage of Lowry has led him to take 57.8 percent of his shots from behind the arc in the first five games, averaging 5.2 per game.

Threes have represented a more significant percentage of his shots than the first five games of the previous six seasons, where they accounted for only 50.9 percent of his shots as he averaged 6.9 per game. Miami’s decision to use Lowry off the ball when he isn’t throwing the ball up the court has reduced the spotlight on some of his other strengths.

Before arriving in Miami, Lowry excelled in transition and the pick and roll. Lowry spent 21.4 percent of his possessions in transition, averaging 3.9 per game, shooting 49.4 percent from the field on 2.7 shots per game. He was able to average 4.2 points in this offensive set: 23 percent of his scoring output.

Lowry complemented his transition possessions with pick and rolls as they accounted for 30.4 percent of his possessions, averaging 5.6 per game. He shot 42.3 percent on 4 shots a game, creating 5.3 points.

Unfortunately, Lowry has seen a significant decline in both of those areas early on in the season. He has been in transition for 23.3 percent of his possessions, averaging 2.8 per game. Lowry is currently shooting 40 percent on 2 attempts per game.

Transition is not the only area in which Lowry has seen a decline, as he has the same experience with pick-and-roll possessions. Lowry has only been in the pick and roll 25 percent of the time this season, averaging 3 per game. He shot 18.2 percent over the first five games on 2.2 shots per game.

Lowry’s reduced offensive role has been the catalyst behind him shooting 33.3 percent on 9 shots per game. He is currently averaging 8.4 points per game.

Although Lowry’s effect on the team’s tempo has been tremendous, the Miami Heat are leaving some things on the table by not accentuating all of his strengths.