The NBA announced Monday that guard Kyle Lowry has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played March 14-20. Lowry, a two-time All-Star, earns the honour for the fourth time as a member of the Raptors and the fifth time in his career. He becomes the first player since Chris Bosh in 2009-10 to win the award multiple times in the same season after being named player of the week for games February 22-28.
Lowry ranked fourth in East scoring last week averaging 27.2 points and led the NBA in fourth quarter scoring at 10.8 points. He also posted 6.8 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals and shot .471 (16-for-34) from three-point range while helping Toronto post a 4-1 record.
Lowry recorded double-doubles on consecutive nights March 14 vs. Chicago (33 points, 11 rebounds) and March 15 at Milwaukee (25 points, 11 assists) to start the week. He followed up by scoring eight of the team’s 16 points in overtime March 17 at Indiana and then 13 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter March 18 versus Boston.
With victories against Indiana and Boston the Raptors improved to 12-4 versus the top-7 teams in the Eastern Conference, 11-1 against Atlantic Division opponents and 3-1 in overtime games. Toronto also holds the second-best road record in the conference with a 20-13 mark.
Lowry currently leads the NBA averaging 2.16 steals per game and helped Toronto’s defense rank fourth in the NBA last week holding opponents to 96.6 points. He is tied for the most games in the NBA with three or more steals, including three games last week.
Toronto begins a three-game road trip Wednesday at Boston (TSN / TSN Radio 1050). The Raptors can secure their third straight playoff berth with a loss by Indiana, Chicago or Detroit tonight.