Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry Proving That Last Season's Career Year Was No Fluke

Heading into the 2014-15 season, one of the biggest questions the Toronto Raptors were facing from critics was whether point guard Kyle Lowry would be able to repeat his career-best performance from the previous season.

Lowry had averaged 17.9 points, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds during what was a contract year last season. The point guard was rewarded for his performance with a four-year, $48 million extension with the Raptors this past summer.

It’s not uncommon to see athletes excel during a contract year and then drop off the following season once they land a lucrative deal.

Fortunately, Lowry is quickly proving that his career year last season was no fluke by arguably putting up even better numbers this season on a surging Raptors team.

Entering play on Thursday, Toronto is at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 13-2 record. The team is also tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the best record in the NBA.

Lowry has played all 15 games this season and is averaging 18.1 points, 6.6 assists and 5.1 rebounds. Keep in mind that the 28-year-old is putting up similar numbers to last season despite only averaging 33.5 minutes per game compared to the 36.2 minutes per game that he averaged last year.

Production numbers aside, Lowry has also improved his game from last year when it comes to doing the little things that often go unnoticed. For example, he has averaged just 1.6 turnovers per game compared to 2.5 turnovers from last season.

Taking a page out of teammate DeMar DeRozan’s book, Lowry has also drawn more fouls and attempted 5.9 free throws per game compared to 4.9 attempts per game last year.

The one major change in Lowry’s game from last season to this season has been his reliance on the three-point shot. Last season, Lowry averaged 6.3 three-point field-goal attempts per game and hit 38 percent of his shots from downtown. This season, the Villanova product has attempted just 4.6 three-point field goals per game and is shooting just 31.9 percent from beyond the arc.

On the other hand, Lowry’s overall field-goal percentage this season is up to 45.5 percent compared to 42.3 percent from last year. This shows that he’s still finding ways to be an effective scorer despite not having as many of his three-pointers falling.

Again, it’s worth noting that we’re just 15 games into the season here. From 2011-2014, Lowry shot 37.4 percent from beyond the arc, so it’s very reasonable to assume that his effectiveness from long range will eventually go back to what it has been in the past.

Overall, though, it’s safe to conclude that Lowry simply hasn’t taken it easy after signing a multiyear deal over the summer. He’s still the same impact player that Raptors fans got used to seeing last year.

If Lowry keeps playing at this pace throughout the season, a selection to the Eastern Conference All-Star team shouldn’t be out of the question.

All stats are from Basketball-Reference.com.