It was a shot that has become second nature to Kyle Lowry, an in-rhythm three-pointer from the top of the arc that got nothing but net.
It was the 802nd he’d made as a Toronto Raptor, moving him past Morris Peterson into first on the all-time list, a shot that validated all the time he has spent working on the shot.
“The hard work really pays off: to get in the gym after hours and before hours,” Lowry said before the second-quarter basket that came in Toronto’s thorough 118-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Air Canada Centre.
“When the cameras aren’t there is when it’s most important. I’ve always worked that way. I don’t care about people seeing me work; I don’t want anybody to see me work out. I just want to come and do my job.
“No matter what people say or think, I know what I’m doing. I’m doing my job.”
Lowry established the record in his 346th game and just over five seasons with the Raptors and it took Peterson 542 games over to set it.
“The game is different, the game is completely different,” Lowry said. “I guess if Mo Pete played the game (today), he would have done more, made more threes.”
Lowry has certainly adjusted with the times, morphing from a point guard teams left alone on the perimeter to one of the top three-point shooters in the game. He began last night shooting a career-best 41 per cent from three-point range, the first time in his 11 NBA seasons that he’s been above 40 per cent. He made 5-of-8 on Monday.
“It’s just the game has changed so much, the evolution of the game,” he said. “But the game has gotten, I guess, better. Or it’s been more offensive-minded. And I’ve been able to see the change in the game and I’m happy that I’ve been able to be a part of it.”
Lowry was part of a highly efficient Raptors offence made whole on Monday by the return of DeMar DeRozan from an ankle injury that had sidelined him for Toronto’s last four games.
The all-star backcourt didn’t seem to miss a beat with DeRozan pouring in 31 points and Lowry adding 24 as Toronto rang up a 70-point first half and was barely challenged in the second.
“On the court he’s almost like an anchor for us,” coach Dwane Casey said of DeRozan before the game. “It’s harder for teams to double up on Kyle when you have that other anchor out there.”
Jonas Valanciunas had one of his best all-around games with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Cory Joseph returned from two games on the bench to add 12 points.
Joseph, who had seen his minutes disappear in favour of rookie Fred VanVleet, played better defence, which was the message Casey was delivering with the nights off.
“I think it’s something where Fred has done an excellent job but Cory is our energy backbone, plug him in and he’s ready to go,” Casey said before the game. “He just has to get back to his pick-and-roll defence that he had last year. His offence has improved, but we need that toughness from him.”
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