As Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra makes his decision about the starting point, one thing that won’t be a factor is a minutes restriction for Kyle Lowry.
According to Lowry and Spoelstra, there is no longer a concern about monitoring Lowry’s minutes in the wake of last season’s knee injury. Lowry, 37, averaged more than 33 minutes per game as a starter last season before missing 15 games in February and March. When he returned, the Heat opted to start Gabe Vincent and bring Lowry off the bench under a minutes restriction. Lowry played about 25 minutes a night in the regular season and playoffs as the Heat made their push to the Finals.
But Lowry and Spoelstra said Tuesday that Lowry’s knee is no longer a concern and there’s no need to put a cap on his minutes.
“No maintenance,” Lowry said. “My body feels great.”
Spoelstra agreed.
“He’s healthy,” Spoelstra said. “We will figure out the rotation when we get there. He’s in great shape and a great place.”
Still, the team will have to be cognizant of the wear and tear on Lowry’s body as the season goes on. Lowry entered last season healthy but a heavy workload and early-season injury affected him as the season went on.
“I was hurt early in the season and kept playing and didn’t give myself a fair amount of [time to heal] because I wanted to help my team,” Lowry said. “That kind of hurt me long-term.
“It’s not a sprint,” he said. “It’s a marathon.
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