Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were All-Stars this year and carried the Toronto Raptors to the number two seed in the Eastern Conference with a team record 56 wins. The Raptors still had one thing to overcome going into the playoffs this year, and that was getting passed the first round for the first time in 15 years. They did that by beating the Indiana Pacers in a seven game series. They did enough to beat a Pacers team that’s stuck in-between rebuilding and trying to be a contender.

The Raptors biggest problems in the playoffs so far have been their All-Stars who carried them the whole season. Lowry and DeRozan are shooting 31.8 percent from the floor combined and 16.3 percent from behind the arc! For the season Lowry averaged 21.2 points per game shooting 42.7 from the floor and 38 percent from the three-point line. DeRozan averaged a career high 23.5 points per game while shooting 44 percent from the floor, and 33 percent from behind the arc. Those are career bests for DeRozan as well.

In Tuesday night’s game Lowry was 3-13 from the floor and 1 of 7 from the three. While DeRozan fared better by shooting 9 of 22 good for 40 percent in the Raptors game 1 lost to the Miami Heat.

Most NBA fans probably saw the video of Lowry in the empty arena after Game 1, just shooting. I liked seeing that he knows that he has to do better. Hopefully the poor shooting night, and the late night empty arena shooting can spark a fire in Lowry, because the Raptors need him if they want to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.