Raptors resting Lowry for playoff stretch run

THE LAST time the Toronto Raptors and Kyle Lowry came to town, it was one of Lowry's most memorable couple of days. The day before facing the 76ers, and while surrounded by his family and teammates at his Philadelphia home, the Cardinal Dougherty and Villanova product learned that he was going to be a starter in the All-Star Game. He then went out the next night and scored 17 fourth-quarter points to lead the Raptors to a comeback win.

Last night, in his return to his hometown, Lowry was on the bench in a red shirt and sport jacket, sitting out his second straight game. Lowry isn't resting a specific injury, just getting some general maintenance rest.

Since the All-Star Game, Lowry and his teammates have been struggling, losing five straight before last night's 114-103 win. In his five games since the the All-Star appearance, Lowry has shot 29.7 percent from the floor, including 4-for-28 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc. He had a seven-turnover game in there and scored only four points in a blowout loss to Golden State.

"Going down the stretch we're going to need him," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said of Lowry, who is averaging a career-high 18 points a game. "He's going to play big minutes going down the stretch.

The Raptors are 38-22 and in first place in the Atlantic Division.

"A couple of years ago, it would have been hard to pull the plug. Right now, it's for our future. He's such a competitor, but now he's older, wiser. He understands. I think it's the right thing, especially the way the schedule is right now."

Sitting Lowry last night was a tough sell for Casey, though.

"It's tough because it's home and he loves playing here, he loves the fans here and he loves playing in front of friends and family," said Casey. "That was difficult but he understands it."

Forward Furkan Aldemir had played in only four of the past 13 games for Brett Brown, and sparingly in those appearances. And when the team took forward Thomas Robinson off waivers last week, Aldemir sat. Brown said before last night's loss to Toronto that getting Aldemir more minutes was a priority. He had that opportunity last night with only 10 players available because of injuries to Robert Covington (elbow) and Jason Richardson (wrist).

"I ask myself this all the time. 'If the season ended today, what would you regret?' If that were true, one of my main regrets would be not playing him more, or not playing him ," Brown said. "He is learning, but there's nothing like playing to learn and I have to start giving him some minutes and find a way to getting on an NBA court."

He did last night as Aldemir had two points, three assists and two rebounds in 14 minutes.

"It's not that I say he has to go work on his jump shot or work on his rebounding, he just has to play," Brown said. "We want to see Furkan, he's earned the right to play. I think that he has some unique skills in his rebounding and his screen-setting, especially. We want to see what we've got and help him move into next year."

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