Lowry flashes aggressiveness with Butler out. Heat will also be short-handed vs. Pacers

Kyle Lowry has averaged 14 or more field-goal attempts per game in three seasons during his NBA career. So when the Miami Heat’s veteran point guard took 14 shots in Wednesday’s win over the Sacramento Kings at FTX Arena, it shouldn’t have stood out.

But it did.

Not only did Lowry’s 14 shots represent his new season-high, but it also marked just the 12th time that he has attempted 14 or more field goals in a game since joining the Heat in the 2021 offseason. Wednesday’s performance came with the Heat missing star Jimmy Butler, who did not play against the Kings because of left hip tightness and will also miss Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers (7 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

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“Without Jimmy, I knew I had to step it up and I’m always going to play more aggressive whenever guys are out,” Lowry said. “But it’s just one of those games that I felt it early and I just had to go and our pace was great and just got to my spots and got some easy, open looks.”

Lowry, 36, closed Wednesday’s victory with a season-high 22 points to go with five rebounds and seven assists in a season-high 38 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back after playing 37 minutes in Tuesday’s home win over the Golden State Warriors.

“It shows you his mental toughness,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He had as much of a burst and his mental next-play speed was at its best on the second night of a back-to-back after a very competitive game [on Tuesday]. Young players should really study guys like Kyle or even Jimmy. It’s a case study of mental toughness.

“I don’t even know how he felt or whatever, but he’s bringing his best because probably he invented some challenge in his own mind of like, ‘I’m going to really bring it tonight on the second night, play big minutes and Jimmy being out.’ I thought he really kept us afloat and really put some pressure on the defense.”

Lowry was assertive from the start, scoring 10 of the Heat’s first 18 points.

At the end of the first quarter, Lowry already had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, 1-of-2 shooting from three-point range and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line. It marked the most points Lowry has scored in a first quarter since joining the Heat in the 2021 offseason.

“I feel like we’re in good shape when K-Low is scoring and running the offense, getting guys in position and also doing what he does,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “When you add that K-Low, the scorer, it just makes our team a better team as a whole.”

One of the most impressive aspects of Lowry’s season-best performance was his ability to consistently get into the paint. He entered Wednesday averaging 2.7 shots per game from inside the paint, but finished 6 of 7 from inside the paint against the Kings.

In general, Wednesday represented a mentality shift for Lowry. He entered the Heat’s win over the Kings averaging just 9.4 field-goal attempts per game this season.

Even after Lowry’s 14 shots on Wednesday, he’s still averaging just 9.9 field-goal attempts per game through the first nine games, which would be his lowest for a single season since his first season with the Toronto Raptors in 2012-13.

Lowry’s more passive approach on the offensive end through the first two weeks of the season has come during an adjustment period as part of a new Heat starting lineup that now includes guard Tyler Herro and forward Caleb Martin. Adebayo, the Heat’s starting center, is also working to take on a bigger scoring role this season.

“We’re trying to figure some things out and develop a continuity and a flow with that starting unit, and he’s really sacrificed to try to help the other guys really step up and establish themselves,” Spoelstra said of Lowry. “Sometimes you can get lost in the sauce as Chris Bosh used to say. But when you need him to make plays, he’s still every bit of who he’s been over the course of his Hall of Fame career. We saw that in the last 48 hours and he knows how to read different moments of games and what’s needed.”

Lowry has recorded a usage rate of (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court) of just 17.1 percent so far this season, which would be his lowest single-season usage rate since his rookie campaign in 2006-07 when he played in just 10 games with the Memphis Grizzlies.

But with Butler out on Wednesday, Lowry posted a season-high single-game usage rate of 23.2 percent in the Heat’s win over the Kings. He won’t hit that threshold every game, especially when Butler returns, but it’s encouraging for Miami that Lowry can still do it if he’s needed to.

“I think we got such young really good basketball players in Tyler and Bam,” Lowry said of allowing others around him to play bigger roles within the Heat’s offense. “They’re going to continue to be our big guns and Jimmy. So for me, it’s just about finding a way to be productive but also helping those guys get better and get good looks and become All-Stars and All-NBA guys.

“So it’s kind of, you got to find your balance. Sometimes it just takes time, it takes energy and effort to figure it out. But we got a great staff, a great group to just continue to try to chip away at it.”

INJURY REPORT

The Heat traveled to Indianapolis without Butler (hip), Victor Oladipo (left knee tendinosis) and Nikola Jovic (nasal contusion).

Along with missing Butler, Oladipo and Jovic, the Heat will also remain without center Omer Yurtseven (left ankle impingement) on Friday. Yurtseven traveled with the team on Thursday, but he will not play against the Pacers.

That leaves the Heat on track to have just 12 available players for Friday’s game. But that list could shrink to 11 available players if Adebayo can’t play, as he’s listed as questionable with a right knee contusion.

Two-way contract forward Jamal Cain, who was with the organization’s G League affiliate in South Dakota, joined the Heat in Indianapolis for Friday’s game amid the team’s injury issues.

Oladipo and Yurtseven have yet to play this regular season because of their injuries.