Toronto Raptors: Kyle Lowry earns Player of the week

Every Sunday we bring you the Toronto Raptors player of the week. This week belongs to Kyle Lowry, who has been impressive during the last two games.

After a much needed all-star break, the Toronto Raptors aimed to continue their winning ways. So far the month of February had been all Raptors as they pushed their way to a 7-0 month before running into the Orlando Magic.

The Raptors were led by All-Star guard Kyle Lowry, who had a strong week and acted as the much-needed steadying presence. Lowry utilized his two-way play to keep the team organized when things became hectic.

Kyle Lowry’s week

The Raptors went from relaxing during the All-Star week to the most anticipated Raptors regular season game of the year. The return of DeMar DeRozan to Toronto was marked on just about every fan’s calendar. Along with DeRozan came a playoff style intensity, the San Antonio Spurs were clearly desperate to win this for their guy.

The game proved to be a good measuring stick for the Raptors as they were able to match the intensity throughout the contest (a sign of good things to come). The outcome of the game was ultimately decided in the final seconds as Kawhi Leonard, aided by Lowry, managed to strip the ball from DeRozan and dunk it for the go-ahead points. The game finished 120-117 with the last shot going to Marco Belinelli who missed a tying 3-pointer.

This was Lowry’s best game of the week as he battled on both ends, even sometimes finding himself guarding his best-friend throughout the game. Lowry was solid defensively as he scrapped his way to a pair of steals and a block. He made his impact offensively hitting 50% of his shots, good for 17 points, while also handing out five assists.

The Raptors winning ways came to an end at the hands of the Orlando Magic. With Leonard resting the Raptors were hopeful that they would still be able to sneak one by the surging Magic. But, that idea was stopped in its track thanks to the performance of past-Raptor Terrence Ross who scored 28 points.

The Raptors got out to yet another flat start which proved to be an issue yet again. From that point on the teams never really seemed to be able to get a handle on the game (barring the second quarter). Lowry did his best, adding 19 points, four steals and ten assists to the effort.

The Raptors will aim to restart their winning streak while also sending a notice to the East when they face off against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

Who missed the cut?

All three new-comers in Marc Gasol, Jeremy Lin, and Jodie Meeks deserve shoutouts for their play this week. All three had at least one standout performance/moment which left great impressions on fans.

Gasol used the week to show off his passing touch, earning 11 assists over the two games. As for Lin and Meeks, both players had noteworthy offensive performances, Lin coming against the Spurs and Meeks against the Magic.

Serge Ibaka also deserves a shoutout because of his elite level of consistency as he extended his streak of consecutive games with at least ten points to 22 games (a career-best).

Make sure to check out the Raptors Player of the Week every Sunday at RaptorsRapture.com