It’s on these two. It’s always been that way.

At some point it the struggles have to be getting to him.

Right after the final buzzer sounded on a 102–96 loss in Game 1, Kyle Lowry headed upstairs to the practice courts to get shots up. His struggles from the field haven’t been for a lack of practice — Lowry showed up three hours early before Game 7 as well.

Reporters eventually caught up with Lowry, who admitted that he’s lost his touch before before heading back to the court for a second session.

“It’s definitely a feel, just trying to get the touch back. I don’t know where it’s at. It’s kind of mindboggling right now. It’s frustrating,” Lowry said.

Everyone, including Lowry is perplexed. He shot 3–13 from the field for seven points in 43 minutes in Game 1. Two of his three makes shouldn’t even have counted. Lowry double-dribbled on a layup in the fourth and he stepped out of bounds on the buzzer-beater.

It didn’t help that Lowry’s shot went in every which way. He missed left, right, long, drew glass, and on one hideous possession late in the fourth, Lowry caught a pass from 32-feet out and left the shot about three feet short.

After Tuesday, Lowry is now shooting 30.6 percent from the field and 16.0 percent from deep.

More garish than a Russell Westbrook outfit

It’s one thing for Lowry to struggle, it’s another for him to lose confidence. That has me worried the most.

Lowry insists that he’s healthy, but that can’t be true — not after he shot 2–11 on uncontested field goals in Game 1. Reporters spotted Lowry with a lump on his elbow last week, Lowry took some really hard spills in Game 7, and he‘s primarily dribbling with his left hand. Something’s not right with that right elbow. A healthy Lowry wouldn’t miss so many point-blank shots.

What’s more concerning is Lowry’s waning confidence. Lowry is always playing at 100 percent, so in the rare moments where he’s passive, it’s really apparent.

He was passive in Game 1. In the first half, Lowry hardly ever looked to score, passing up chances for layups to set up drive-and-kick looks for teammates. That was a fine strategy until the Heat realized he wasn’t a threat, and opted to not sent help in the second quarter. Without the will to shoot or an open target to hit, stagnation set into the Raptors’ attack.

Without the jumpshot, Lowry is stuck in a predicament. He can’t score at the rim when Hassan Whiteside has 14 inches on him, and Goran Dragic is fairly big for a point guard so post-ups won’t go anywhere. His only option is to rekindle the jumper.

Knowing that his shot wasn’t falling, Lowry deferred to DeRozan, who had a fine game with 22 points on 10–22 shooting. But that presents a problem: DeRozan can’t beat the Heat on his own. It’s ridiculous to expect DeRozan to win four of the next six games by getting hot on midrange jumpers.

The dirty secret over the last three years has been that the Raptors are only good when Lowry is playing at an all-NBA level. And while they brought in additions to bolster the supporting cast, it’s still up to Lowry to make that all go.

So Lowry can shoot 3–13 again, and given how his shot looks, he probably will. But the Raptors don’t have any chance in this series if he doesn’t attack — and he understands that.

“I’m going to continue to be aggressive, shoot shots and take the onus. I know I’m not shooting the ball well. But we’ve got to get out of this next series. I have to play better, shoot the ball better, score the ball better,” Lowry said.

10 things I saw from Game 1

Raptors well represented on this list