Should Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra Go Back To Kyle Lowry As The Starter?

The biggest reason the Miami Heat removed Kyle Lowry from the starting lineup was because they wanted him healthy for the playoffs.

Even though Lowry is listed as questionable on the injury report for tonight's game against the Chicago Bulls, he showed he was close to 100 percent earlier this week versus the Atlanta Hawks.

Which begs to the question: Is it time to put Lowry back in the starting lineup?

It makes sense because the stakes of the game. The Heat need a win to earn a date with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Lowry is coming off a 33-point performance in the loss to the Hawks.

He's readier than ever.

"There's no doubt about it, he's an incredible competitor," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think this has been a very intelligent, reasonable plan the last six weeks. It's really allowed him to be healthy to be able to move in a way like this for these kind of moments. He can move. He's a competitor. He's had so many monster moments over the course of his career. It's really about his health and being able to move."

If the Heat are serious about making the playoffs, why not go with the $28-million player in the biggest game thus far this season? They traded away one of the most beloved players in Heat history (Goran Dragic) to get Lowry. Why not put the ball in his hand tonight?

Spoelstra hinted he is open to making rotation changes, which likely includes more minutes for Caleb Martin because of the Bulls' tandem of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

It could also mean a bigger role for Lowry and a chance to show he's not done yet.

“This is going to have a different feel than Atlanta, for sure,” Spoelstra said. “I wouldn’t even just say the starters, but who we bring in off the bench might be a little bit different than what we used against Atlanta.”

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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