Heat Rule Out Kyle Lowry For Game 1 Of Eastern Conference Finals Vs. Celtics

While the Boston Celtics try to get to full strength for the upcoming Eastern Conference finals, the Miami Heat certainly won’t be for Game 1 of the series.

On Monday, the Heat ruled out Kyle Lowry for the opening game against the Celtics due to a lingering hamstring issue that has plagued the veteran guard during the NBA playoffs. Lowry missed the final two games of Miami’s latest series with the Philadelphia 76ers and has sat out six games total in the postseason due to the ailment.

Without Lowry not in the lineup to close out the series against the 76ers, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opted to use second-year point guard Gabe Vincent in the starting lineup alongside Max Strus, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker.

Lowry, who has a championship pedigree after helping lead the Toronto Raptors to the NBA title in 2019, has struggled in the five games he has played in this postseason, averaging 6.2 points, 5.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.

The Heat also listed Caleb Martin (ankle), Strus (hamstring), Tucker (calf) and Vincent (hamstring) as all questionable for Game 1.

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka shared Monday that Marcus Smart would be questionable while Robert Williams is available.

The Celtics and Heat begin the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday with tipoff coming at 8:30 p.m. ET from FTX Arena.