Must See: Johnson & Lowry Surprise 76ers at the Free-Throw Line

Late in Toronto Raptors' 100-93 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, there was a play that stuck out as being particularly unusual.

With Alex Len — a career 69% free throw shooter at the line — Kyle Lowry and Stanley Johnson seemed to have a conversation, trying to come up with a plan to steal an easy bucket.

It was as if the Raptors knew what was coming. When Len missed his free throw, Johnson came flying in, scooping up the rebound and slamming it down before the 76ers knew what hit them.

Here's Kyle Lowry telling Stanley to go dunk the hell out of Len's free-throw miss pic.twitter.com/hbgRpeRM7l
— Faizal Khamisa (@FaizalKhamisa) December 30, 2020

The idea came from Johnson, who said he realized the 76ers were playing out of the paint and decided to quietly point it out to his veteran teammate, Lowry.

"He told me to be quiet and he went to the free-throw line, and we kind of did some, they thought I wasn't going, and then I went," Johnson said. "A lot of guys don't pay attention to stuff like that, but it's always available."

Lowry said he didn't deserve any credit for the play. When Johnson told him he thought there was an opportunity to be had, he just ran with it.

"It was all Stanley, to be honest with you," Lowry said. "He felt something and when my teammates feel something I said 'OK, cool.' I was about to put him on the line and he was like, ‘that’s OK,’ simple as that. When my teammates feel something I’m going to go with it. I try not to question my teammates and he made an incredible play."

Even if it wasn't the savvy veteran who came up with the play, it was a brilliant decision by the 24-year-old Johnson and great leadership from Lowry to trust his young teammate when the Raptors needed a bucket.