Kyle Lowry appreciating smooth transition with his hometown Sixers: ‘They kind of let me be me’

With about two minutes remaining in the 76ers’ tight game against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, Kyle Lowry tipped a pass in the lane to Kelly Oubre Jr., who darted the opposite way for the finish through contact to push their team’s lead to six points.

On the Sixers’ next possession, Lowry dished a pass to Nico Batum for the corner three-pointer that extended the Sixers’ lead to double digits. Then Lowry hit two free throws. Then he grabbed a defensive rebound that all but closed out the win.

» READ MORE: Sixers-Hornets takeaways: Tyrese Maxey’s toughness; Buddy’s Hield’s solid second half

That finished off a night when Lowry made up for a 1-of-5 shooting performance by stuffing the rest of the box score with seven assists, six rebounds, and three steals in his team’s much-needed 109-98 victory. The veteran guard epitomized coach Nick Nurse’s mantra that a player can have a bad shooting night and still play well. And it was a continuation of what Lowry called a “smooth transition” to the Sixers since the former All-Star joined his hometown team off the buyout market last month.

“They’ve kind of let me be me,” Lowry told The Inquirer earlier this week. “And they want me to be me, and help them as much as I possibly can. It’s one of those things where I don’t want to talk too much. I don’t want to be that guy. But I’m going to try to do the best I can to try to help everyone else as much as I can, and tell them what I see.

“Because if I don’t, I’m not able to be myself.”

Saturday was Lowry’s 11th game with the Sixers, with whom he is averaging 7.9 points on 41.2% shooting, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. He said after the win over the 17-51 Hornets that he has been “playing like crap offensively” after connecting on only 16 of 47 field-goal attempts during his last seven games.

Long before the winning plays down the stretch Saturday, Lowry totaled three rebounds and three assists in the first quarter, including a zip pass to Oubre for an authoritative dunk that ignited his 11-point frame. Early in the third quarter, Lowry found Tyrese Maxey for two three-pointers. Lowry’s only bucket came later in that period, a three-pointer that gave the Sixers a 66-62 lead and halted a Hornets surge.

In between those plays, Lowry barked out when he would guard the ball, or called for center Mo Bamba to come up and set a screen at the top of the key. Following one first-half defensive possession, Lowry quickly gathered the ball from the official to deliver a swift inbound pass. During one stretch in the second half, Lowry talked with assistant coach Bobby Jackson on the bench, then stood up to direct teammates during an offensive possession, then called out defensive plans as they headed the opposite way.

» READ MORE: What’s the current state of these Philadelphia 76ers? Tenuous.

Oubre calls that Lowry’s “championship leadership,” after the 37-year-old won a title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and blossomed into a six-time All-Star.

That quality has been present since Lowry’s first practice, when Oubre said Lowry “kind of just made everybody wait a second before rushing” while running a play. Ricky Council IV, an undrafted rookie, has observed how Lowry interacts with officials, clearly a result of years of relationship-building. Maxey quipped that Lowry’s influence caused him to take a charge in Thursday’s loss at the Milwaukee Bucks, although he sincerely added that their “relationship has grown very, very fast.”

“Him just telling me to be myself, no matter what,” Maxey said following Saturday’s game. “… I think that’s helped me a lot, and it’s helped me just get guys in the right spots.”

Lowry made his Sixers debut following the All-Star break, then quickly moved into the starting lineup. He has primarily been tasked with helping organize an offense still trying to establish a consistent identity without the injured Joel Embiid, while also taking some of the on-ball pressure off the All-Star Maxey. Lowry’s defensive versatility, screening ability, and overall tenacity are additional pluses. Oubre also called Lowry an extension of Nurse, the coach with whom he has reunited with after their wildly successful partnership in Toronto.

And that vocal style? The rest of the Sixers can take it, Bamba half-joked, because “we had [Patrick Beverley] first.”

“He’s a wizard for a reason,” Oubre added of Lowry. “He’s very smart within the game of basketball. … He’s kind of like that sense of peace, in a sense, because he’s been at the highest level. He’s done it.”

When asked if he has been able to enjoy being back in his home city, Lowry gave an emphatic “nope.” There has been very little downtime since the All-Star break, and with the Sixers playing 11 of 17 games on the road in March.

» READ MORE: Nick Nurse ‘pretty confident’ Joel Embiid will return to Sixers before end of season

Yet Lowry will get a dose of basketball familiarity Monday, while matching up against his former team, the Miami Heat. That game has significant Eastern Conference playoff stakes, with the 37-30 Sixers entering Sunday a half-game up on the 36-30 Heat for seventh place.

Lowry, though, said he is looking forward to seeing his former Heat teammates, coaches, and colleagues.

Then, when he hits the floor, he will continue to bring himself to his new squad.

“These guys respect me and what I’ve done,” Lowry said of the Sixers. “So it’s kind of an easy transition, where I just go out there and speak honestly and openly about what I see and what I think. And [they’ve] been very receptive.

“We understand our situation, without the big fella right now. And we’re just trying to continue to get better as a group. I feel like we’ve made some small strides, but that’s all you can ask for.”