Kyle Lowry will get ovation, calls Sixers debut ‘nice second’

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Lowry might not have dreamed of enjoying for his hometown Philadelphia 76ers, however he admitted that stepping onto the court docket for the primary time in a Sixers uniform and receiving a standing ovation Thursday night time was a “nice second” in what finally was a 110-96 loss to the New York Knicks.

“It was nice,” Lowry stated after ending with 11 factors, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 25 minutes off the bench. “Sadly, we did not play in addition to I feel we will.

“Nevertheless it was a tremendous environment and the ovation that I bought was superior. I used to be joyful. I used to be pissed that we misplaced and we had been in that state of affairs, nevertheless it was an excellent second. Now for me it is about successful basketball video games.”

There hasn’t been lots of that in current weeks for Philadelphia (32-23), which is now 6-15 this season with out reigning MVP Joel Embiid and has misplaced six of its final eight video games total. However the hope right here is that with Lowry now on the court docket, together with Nicolas Batum (hamstring) and De’Anthony Melton, who will return Friday in opposition to Cleveland after lacking a number of weeks with a again harm, the 76ers will be capable of begin stabilizing themselves as they anticipate Embiid to probably return from a knee harm.

Lowry’s influence was instantly evident, as he was flying across the court docket making one play after one other in his first sport since Jan. 18, when he was enjoying for the Miami Warmth earlier than being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in a deal for Terry Rozier, all whereas attempting to claw Philadelphia out of a double-digit gap the 76ers had been in from just about the opening moments of the sport.

“He was actually good,” stated 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who spent virtually a decade with Lowry in Toronto as each an assistant and head coach. “He fought exhausting. He made performs.

“He performed actually good for not enjoying for a month, particularly, and being in a tricky state of affairs. He type of got here in and the sport was already, he was in combat again mode virtually the entire time he was on the market and he was doing all the things he might to get us again in it.”

It initially appeared as if Lowry’s homecoming can be short-lived, as he took an elbow to the pinnacle from Jericho Sims within the first half that left him with a big gash on his brow that required six stitches.

However Philadelphia introduced at halftime Lowry would return for the second half, and he performed a key function within the 76ers almost pulling off what would’ve been a wild comeback, slicing the deficit all the best way to 6 factors earlier than the Knicks (34-22) ultimately pulled away once more within the closing minutes.

“I’m going on the market and do my job,” Lowry stated. “We receives a commission an terrible lot of cash to go on the market and play basketball and be professionals and given the chance to play basketball. I have been doing this for 18 years now and these video games are necessary to play. Simply being on the market and enjoying basketball, doing a job that you just like to do, particularly doing it in entrance of some nice followers and for an excellent group and in opposition to nice competitors.

“We had 4 Villanova guys on the market tonight (Lowry and Knicks guards Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo) and it is all the time nice to be enjoying in opposition to these guys and all the time the competitors that you just love for the sport.”

For New York, Thursday’s sport noticed its personal sequence of returns to the court docket, as DiVincenzo (hamstring), Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) and Isaiah Hartenstein (Achilles) all performed for the Knicks, who snapped a four-game shedding streak. Earlier than the sport, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau stated Hartenstein would play in shorter stints in his first sport again, and he finally simply performed the primary couple of minutes of every half earlier than being subbed out.

Bogdanovic, in the meantime, went 6-for-6 from 3-point vary and led New York with 22 factors in his greatest efficiency since arriving in a cope with the Detroit Pistons earlier this month.