No ease in Kyle Lowry’s return as Heat’s pain continues to linger

Erik Spoelstra and Kyle Lowry had a plan, weeks in the making, regarding how the Miami Heat coach would ease his 36-year-old point guard back into the mix after a month away due to knee pain.

“We’ve had great talks,” Lowry said. ”He wants to make sure I’m healthy, not to have a setback and have to change the lineup again and change the rotation again.

“It’s the great communicator that he is, great coach he is. He said, ‘I want you to make sure you’re healthy and be successful and be smart about it.’ “

Then came Saturday night’s game in Orlando, when the rotation again was thrown out of whack, with Tyler Herro being limited by food poisoning.

And so the best-laid plans turned into . . . Lowry playing 36:09 in the 126-114 overtime loss at Amway Center.

“That definitely wasn’t the plan,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat turning their attention to Monday night’s visit to Miami-Dade Arena by the Utah Jazz. “But he’s prepared himself.”

Now the question is whether caution simply gets thrown to the wind, with Lowry previously last having played Feb. 2, missing the next 15 games.

With Lowry returning in a reserve role Saturday, it ended his streak of starting 677 consecutive appearances, the first time he had played and not started since Jan. 26, 2013, in his first season with the Toronto Raptors.

If the prime consideration was ramping up Lowry to minutes closer to starting range, that element of the equation already has been addressed – and answered. Lowry was at his best during the Heat’s fourth-quarter rally from 15 down in the period, scoring eight of his 12 points and converting a pair of 3-pointers in playing all 12 minutes.

“At this point, right now, I know in my heart I’m a starter,” he said after Saturday night’s game, with Gabe Vincent again taking that role against the Magic. “But right now we have to figure out things.”

Mostly, the Heat have to figure out winning, at 4-6 since the All-Star break, with just 13 games remaining and still mired in a play-in seed at No. 7 in the Eastern Conference.

“Me and coach had a couple of meetings and whatever it takes to get us wins and get this to a situation where we can try to compete at the highest level, whatever that takes, I’m all in,” Lowry said. “If that’s 15 minutes, 36 minutes, 20 minutes, off the bench, on the bench, we’ve got to figure it out, do whatever it takes for us to win basketball games right now.”

That, Lowry said, is what made the waiting the hardest part.

“It was great to be back with the guys,” he said. “It’s a long process and I appreciate the guys and the organization being patient with this. And I appreciate myself being patient, because I wanted to play. But it’s kind of one of these things where you want to make sure you come back and play and not have any setbacks.

“And that’s what the staff and myself and my team, we just worked together to make sure I could get back and play and not have any setbacks and go through everything that I’ve gone through and try to help this team as best as I can.”

The goal now is to provide continuity that can lead to consistency.

“I always believe in our team and what we can do,” said Lowry, who has one more season on the three-year, $85 million contract he signed to join the Heat in 2021. “And when you win two, lose two, win one, lose one, it’s tough. And then not being able to be able to physically be out there and help.

“It’s frustrating to see wins and losses when seeing games are so close and guys are fighting their butts off and all I can do is say, ‘Good game and let’s get back at it.’ “

Now that can come back in uniform, while also contributing.

“I think we’re tough-minded, we’re resilient,” he said.

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