Kyle Lowry's Playing Status vs. Sixers on Saturday

The Philadelphia 76ers closed out a short home-stand on Friday night with a tough matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a rough first-half showing, the

Justin Grasso | Mar 5, 2022

Kyle Lowry's Playing Status vs. Sixers on Saturday /

The Philadelphia 76ers closed out a short home-stand on Friday night with a tough matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After a rough first-half showing, the Sixers scratched and clawed their way back to a 125-119 victory over a young Cleveland team.

Now, the road doesn't get any easier for the Sixers. Right after the 76ers wrapped up their game in Philly on Friday, they boarded a plane to head to Miami. Less than 24 hours after wrapping up their matchup against Cleveland, the Sixers will face the Heat for the third time this year.

Unfortunately for Miami, they will be without a few key players. One of them is the standout point guard, Kyle Lowry.

Lately, Lowry's been off the floor for the Heat. For the matchups against the Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Brooklyn Nets, the Heat star has been inactive. When Miami hosts the Sixers on Saturday night, the situation won't be any different.

Due to personal reasons, Lowry won't get the green light to go against Philly. That's a tough blow for Miami, considering they had Lowry healthy and available for the other two matchups against the Sixers earlier this season.

Back on December 15, Lowry checked in for nearly 40 minutes against the Sixers in South Philly. He scored 14 points while producing six rebounds and five assists. One month later, the Heat hosted the Sixers. During that mid-January matchup, Lowry posted eight points with two rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes.

While Lowry's absence should be significant for the Heat, the Sixers will be in a similar position as their star guard James Harden has been ruled out for Saturday's game. Harden, who's been battling hamstring tightness since before getting traded to Philly, will take the second night of the back to back off as he's on a treatment plan.

The Lowry-less Heat and the Harden-less Sixers are set to tip-off at 8 PM ET. on Saturday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

Published Mar 5, 2022

JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA