Kyle Lowry and Ben Simmons have had an interesting first couple years in the league together. The veteran and the Australian sophomore seem to know how to push each other’s buttons, and there have been a couple instances in which it has boiled over.
The first incident was the unforgettable dust-up the two got into in January of last season. After getting into it on the court, resulting in the ejection of each player, Simmons appeared to challenge Lowry to a fight outside the locker rooms. Though Lowry claims that he went to meet Simmons, although not outright saying it was to fight, the Toronto Raptors point guard said Simmons never showed.
It was downplayed by both players, but this feud was certainly one of the intriguing story lines heading into the Raps round two matchup against Simmons’ Philadelphia 76ers. It didn’t take long for the sparks to fly between the two yet again.
The questionable play came after Simmons took a tumble over Lowry, ending up on the hardwood. He appears to then elbow Lowry in the groin area, sending Lowry crumpling to the court.
There was no call on the play, which was certainly met with a lot of backlash, but after the game Lowry downplayed the shot.
“Nothing happened,” he said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “ It was an elbow. Refs didn’t call it. It was nothing. He said he didn’t mean to do it. I’m not going to dwell on something that wasn’t called. It is what it is. It’s not a big deal.”
Overall, Lowry seemed more concerned about the Raps’ performance on the floor beyond the elbow. The team lost Game 3 by a wide margin, putting them down 2-1 in the series.
“We got our ass kicked. It didn’t matter.”
Apparently Simmons also offered up an apology at halftime, telling Lowry that he didn’t mean to do it.
Regardless, a fine was handed down on Friday and Simmons is out $20K as a result. It will be interesting to see how this particular matchup plays out when the two teams take the court again for Game 4 on Sunday.
It's getting tense out there…
(H/T Philadelphia Inquirer, ESPN)
