Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic played 16 minutes together last night. In that time, the Rockets shot 56% from the floor (14/25), dished out 7 assists, and were a +4. They had an offensive rating of 112.6 and a defensive rating of 99.7 (the number of points the team would have scored and given up if extrapolated per 100 possessions.) During that same span, the Blazers shot 38% from the floor but grabbed 7 offensive rebounds.
The Rockets looked absolutely masterful in that fourth quarter with the two point guards playing in tandem. I’m becoming convinced that the lineups which see Dragic and Lowry sharing the backcourt are the team’s best. They were relentless defensively and a blur on the break.
One particular play stood out, lending towards an idea: Jamal Crawford danced, spun, drove into the lane, only to have the ball stripped by Lowry, leading to a fastbreak. While Crawford isn’t particularly large, he is regarded as one of the game’s shiftiest players. All along, in the panic to keep Dragic, the popular sentiment among many has been to move him to the ‘2’, next season. The idea made more sense, in theory, than the proposition of playing Lowry at the ‘2’, due to the players’ respective heights. But is that the proper way to think about the matter?
Offense isn’t an issue – they can be interchangeable and sort things out. Lowry can’t guard point guards (see Parker, Paul, Westbrook destructions of Lowry earlier this year) and Goran can. We’ve asked whether Dragic could guard shooting guards. It’s time to ask whether Lowry can, full-time.
I point to former Rocket David Wesley as a historical archetype who at barely 6’0 and a similar build as Lowry, was regarded as one of the game’s best defensive shooting guards. With the Hornets, Wesley was that team’s most effective defender against 6’9 Magic forward Tracy McGrady, using his low center of gravity to bother him in the blocks. I also point to Derek Fisher who, while with the Jazz, gave McGrady fits on the defensive end, similarly using his bulk to his advantage.
The 7 offensive rebounds are alarming, but might have been resultant of poor boxouts from the frontcourt rather than some effect of an undersized backcourt. We’ll need to dig deeper when we have more data at season’s end, on this, and on the overall production of the Lowry-Dragic combo when sharing the court. For now, perhaps there is hope to retain both. Can Lowry guard shooting guards over the course of an 82 game season?
A final note: Patrick Patterson was instrumental in helping the team pull away by frustrating Lamarcus Aldridge inside. It was good to see him do well after a difficult stretch in March.