Toronto's ice and snow greeted and sent, flying Vince Carter, roaring Chris Bosh, retro DeRozan, quiet Leonard, the king flag of the North was passed on from generation to generation. Lowry has never been king, he is just a guardian here, from 2012 to the present, eight years like a day.
Last season, the Raptors established Siakam as the new core after Leonard left, and Lowry was fully assisted by everything that needed him to appear. He began to retreat from the team's façade, ceded the ball, re-adapted to the Nas system and Siakam's side, and many other statistics such as scoring, usage, per, etc., once fell to the level of the Raptors when they first arrived at the Raptors eight years ago, some even lower than in Houston. It seems that the 33-year-old "little steel cannon" is really old.
But when the wave of injuries hit, Siakam, VanVleet, Powell, etc. were absent one after another, Lowry stood up again, he organized, attacked and defended a grasp, led the Raptors not to fall behind at the most difficult time, and proved that he was still not old. Before the All-Star, Lowry averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.2 steals in his 43 games, and he was once again selected for the All-Star team, which many people did not expect before the season. Not only that, after the All-Star and qualifying, Lowry also played better and better, and the final regular season data was fixed at averaging 19.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, of which the scoring was the third highest in his career, and the rebounds and assists were the second highest.
Entering the playoffs, Lowry's important role is more obvious and irreplaceable, especially when Siakam proves that he is really far from the superstar, and this contrast is even more stark. In the divisional semifinals against the Celtics, Lowry carried the Green Shirts hard and performed extremely hardcore. He assisted Anunoby on a three-pointer in Game 3 of the series, 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in Game 4, and played more than 53 minutes in Game 6, where he hit a winning mid-time shot in the second overtime. After the shot was made, Lowry put his hands on his knees on the sidelines and gasped for breath, and his spirit represented the Raptors' team spirit.
In the new season, Lowry's role should not change much, he will continue to play more of a commander who assists Anunoby to shoot into the dead, but when he needs to stand up for himself, he can also hammer out like the Celtics g6. That's what Lowry is worth, and it's reassuring to think back last summer when Ugery gave him a $31 million early contract extension for a single season, leaving the greatest player in team history. Lowry became the second player to play in Toronto for nine years, and now he is already the regular season assist king, steal king and three-point king in raptors history, and many team records in the playoffs have been engraved with Lowry's name.
This is the power of perseverance, with Lori in it, the soul of the Raptors is there, and he will continue to write his legendary story in a low-key manner in the ordinary until the next King of the North arrives. (Sycamore)