NEW YORK — Kyle Lowry has been immediately impactful for the Philadelphia 76ers. His ability to set the table on offense, make the right pass and just compete hard gives the Sixers a competitive edge that they sorely need, especially with Joel Embiid still out.
Although Lowry has been great, Nick Nurse doesn’t want to overwork him. The former All-Star will turn 38 years old at the end of the month and has taken on a big role with his new team. With Tyrese Maxey ruled out hours ahead of the 76ers’ matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, Nurse pointed to Lowry as someone who would have to take on a bigger responsibility.
“Kyle’s been playing whatever role we can use him in right now but this is obviously gonna thrust him into the starting point-guard role with heavy minutes, so we’ll see where he is at with all that,” Nurse said before the game. “He’s played some pretty heavy minutes in the last couple games, probably a little more than we probably imagined at this point. But hopefully, it‘s conditioned him to play heavy minutes tonight ’cause he’ll probably need to be out there.”
Following the 76ers’ loss to the Nets — in which they blew a sizable first-half lead and Lowry recorded 14 points and five assists on 5-9 field-goal shooting in 36 minutes — Nurse said that Lowry played well but that he wanted to get him fewer minutes.
Not only was Maxey ruled out and later diagnosed with a mild concussion but Cam Payne was still fighting through the flu. Nurse turned to Jeff Dowtin Jr., who signed a two-way deal with the 76ers just a few days ago, just to have another point guard ready in case Payne needed to be sidelined mid-game. That didn’t happen but his stints were cut shorter because of illness-induced conditioning problems, Nurse said.
Kyle Lowry always plays hard and does the dirty work the 76ers need from him — the dude needed stitches in his head during his team debut and still returned to play despite not playing for a month, for crying out loud. Beyond the example he sets, he can make heads-up plays, shoot the ball well and control the tempo. Always looking to attack in transition before defenses catch up, Lowry plays at a speed that the rest of the team is still trying to get used to.
“We’d always like to get up the floor quickly and try to see if there’s a chance to crack the defense before we get going or before they get totally locked in and set and get into their standard shell or whatever,” Nurse said.
Nurse said that the 76ers are working “pretty hard” at trying to push the pace effectively, with players filling lanes and the ball getting up the court quickly. “We could certainly use a little bit more of that, for sure,” he admitted. The fact that the oldest player on the team is leading the charge speaks to both the wonky nature of the Embiid-less Sixers and Lowry’s ceaseless competitiveness, even as his athleticism starts to fade.
The 76ers have asked a lot from Kyle Lowry amid the absences of their stars. While he’s certainly not going to say no to the challenge, Nurse has to be cognizant of his workload and his younger teammates have to step up for him.
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