Heat star Kyle Lowry will miss Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against the Hawks on Sunday due to his left hamstring strain, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Lowry suffered the injury in Game 3 on Friday and was ruled out for the rest of the game entering the fourth quarter.
“The training staff determined he wasn’t going to be able to play tonight,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said, as relayed by Winderman.
Lowry received around-the-clock treatment and had hoped to play. His status for Game 5 on Tuesday is still unclear.
Without Lowry, the Heat lost the fourth quarter 34-25 in Game 3. His defense and passing have been important for the team, though his scoring production has been modest through three games. He’s averaged 8.3 points in 29.7 minutes, shooting 35% overall.
Miami is shallow at point guard, meaning Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo will likely take on more ball-handling and play-making responsibilities. The team also has backup point guard Gabe Vincent available and could turn to Victor Oladipo, who only appeared in eight games during the regular season and has yet to play in the postseason.
Young hurt them in 4Q. That’s with no Lowry. Heat need to put them away. This could be Oladipo big chance.
Seriously? His offensive production hasn’t been modest… 8.3 PPG with a 35% shooting is just plain & simply horrible, it seems to me that MIA will be better off without him!