UPDATE: Kyle Lowry expected to make return for tonight’s game in Orlando

Lowry has missed the last 15 straight games with a knee injury.

It has been well over a month since the last time Kyle Lowry has played for the Miami Heat. He has had an interesting season to say the least. The veteran PG started off the season pretty solid actually, he was available every game in the midst of an early injury plagued schedule for the team. His numbers during the time were impressive too, having some vintage performances in the process.

Since then he’s missed a few games due to knee troubles and struggled to find consistency in his game. His numbers have all went down significantly, with the efficiency being the most notable drop. It was clear for a while something was off with Lowry. He wasn’t making nearly as much an impact as fans are accustomed to seeing.

A lot of people started to wonder if his age, at now 36 years old, was the reason for this. Coach Erik Spoelstra neglected to use Lowry in the 4th quarter completely for a large stretch of games. That was right before the Heat shut him down indefinitely for that same lingering knee injury.

Lowry was in trade rumors leading up to the deadline but ultimately remained on the team. He was listed on the injury report as questionable for a game in Philadelphia last week, just to be downgraded to OUT at the last minute. He deemed that he just wasn’t quite there yet, and wanted to be absolutely 100% to be back playing and making as strong an impact as he can.

Now, after missing the last 15 straight games, QB1 is expected to be back for tonight’s game in Orlando.

With Lowry’s up and down season and recent struggles, Gabe Vincent had a perfect opportunity to fill in as the team’s starting PG in Lowry’s absence. Vincent’s performance would be the deciding factor on if he could possibly remain a starter, but he has failed to make the most of his starts as of late. Vincent has really struggled to shoot the ball, and although he’s held it down as much as he could, it’s clear he just isn’t ready for a permanent starting role like that. He plays best in relief of Lowry off the bench, and his stretch of starts has validated that note even more.

The assumption has to be that Lowry will immediately get his starting spot back. A fully healthy and engaged Kyle Lowry can still really help this team, and Heat Nation should all be looking forward to see that. For the first time this year Lowry will get to play with a real natural starting PF in Kevin Love as well.

Miami is getting fully healthy at the best time possible in these final stretch of regular season games and into playoffs.