I remember Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan being extreme bricklayers during last year's NBA Playoffs, although I do give them credit for getting it together and giving the Cleveland Cavaliers some legit competition in the Eastern Conference Finals.
This season may be a different story. Lowry shot 2-of-11 in the team's Game 1 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. DeRozan managed to score 27 points, but he shot 7-of-21 from the field.
Among players with at least 500 field goal attempts in the NBA Playoffs, Lowry is tied for No. 1 with Jamal Crawford, while DeRozan is not far behind at No. 4.
I guess you could use Lowry's injury as a reason, but we have to remember this isn't the first time he's shot bad in the playoffs.
For a guy who plays so well in the regular season and always is ranked ahead of guys like Kyrie Irving among the league's best point guards by pundits, he definitely doesn't show it when it comes to the postseason.
I can't give DeRozan as much slack, because he's been a scoring machine this season and did what he can against the Bucks in Game 1. However, I don't know how long it's going to last seeing how much of an impact Giannis Antetokounmpo is making at both ends of the floor.
These stats could be misleading, though. Obviously, they don't tell the whole story, but it's pretty telling especially after seeing the overall shooting performances from these two in the past few postseasons.
Don't be surprised to see the Bucks pull off the first round upset. If the Raptors backcourt's shooting continues to brick, this series may end a lot sooner than we thought.
-- Josh Dhani
