Lowry a One-of-a-Kind Player For Raptors

Raptors' guard Kyle Lowry can control his body and score in traffic like few other players his size in the NBA

Kyle Lowry isn't supposed to be on an NBA basketball court.

Just looking at him there's nothing particularly impressive about the Toronto Raptors' 6-foot-nothing lead guard. He's well below the NBA's 6-foot-6 average height and while his weight — 196 pounds — suggests he's strong, but it's not eye-popping in a league full of athletic freaks.

Frankly, had he been born a little further south, he'd probably have ended up playing football. He does, after all, have the body of an NFL running back, as one scout pointed out back in 2009.

And yet, Lowry is able to make it work because of his brilliant ability to control his body, bouncing between bigger defenders like bumper cars as he drives to the hoop.

"I think that when you’re a little smaller and going up against guys that are centres or that are 6-10 and up you’ve got to be able to use different ways and tools and skills to be able to get the shot off," Raptors guard Norman Powell said of Lowry. "I think him and Fred [VanVleet] do a great job of that by negating [opposing bigs'] length by making contact and making it hard for them to jump and block their shots."

On Thursday, Lowry scored 20 points in the paint, the most of his career, according to NBA.com's John Schuhmann.

In the second quarter, Lowry jumped into the 6-foot-8, 237-pound Robert Williams III, creating just enough space to go up for the layup between Williams and the 6-foot-8 Jayson Tatum.

A quarter later, he did it again, using his quickness to beat Kemba Walker and his strength to drive right into the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Daniel Theis.

It's that ability to fearlessly pinball through the lane that allows Lowry to score in the paint over much taller defenders. And when you play 46 minutes in what was essentially a must-win game for Toronto, and you're 34 years old, nobody can question your toughness.

"You have heard me say many times, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anybody play the game harder, any place I’ve ever coached or watched a game or anything," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of Lowry. "I don’t know of any higher compliment I can give the guy than that."