Patience with purpose: Kyle Lowry’s Heat maintenance program all about this moment

Patience in a playoff race can test the limits of both coach and player.

It was a lesson learned by Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra immediately upon Kyle Lowry’s return from a month out of action due to knee pain.

So, no, the plan on March 11 was not to play the 37-year-old veteran point guard 36:09 in his first game back in that overtime road loss to the Orlando Magic.

“I felt we were very disciplined, except for the head coach the first game he came back,” Spoelstra said Monday with a smile.

Since then, a slow build back to speed toward this play-in round, including Tuesday night’s win-and-in game against the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center, the new name of the Heat’s arena.

Utilized only in reserve.

Held out for one of the two games in back-to-back sets.

No more than 27 minutes after the initial misstep by Spoelstra.

And now, the ability to play more minutes, with comfort about that element of the equation from both coach and player.

“Yes,” Lowry said when asked if he would be comfortable playing more minutes. “Very. Very, very comfortable.”

As is Spoelstra.

“It’s played out so far as good as we could have planned,” Spoelstra said in advance of Tuesday night’s game. “When we were starting this process two months ago, you just don’t know how it’s going to end up. but I felt we were very disciplined.”

So Spoelstra had his misstep, then made sure Lowry was on the clock. And now, the most meaningful moments of the season.

“Once we got past that and we settled into a routine and we all felt good about it, the communication was great,” Spoelstra said. “He was able to play really effectively and the most important thing, feel really good the next day. And we were able to build on that. That is a great piece of news that he’ll be able to play more minutes.”

But that doesn’t mean that the process is over.

Asked if a procedure on his left knee eventually could be required, Lowry said, “I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll get to that point when it’s there.”

But concern in that regard by the Heat would be justified, considering Lowry is under contract for $29.7 million next season on the final year of the three-year, $85 million contract he signed in 2021 free agency.

Lowry said his turnaround after his month out of action was the product of that month away.

“I was hurt,” he said. “I was playing on one leg, and I’m still not fully healthy like I want to be. But when you play through an NBA season, it looks bad when you don’t make excuses. And I don’t make excuses. So I was playing on a really hurt leg. And I’ve had time to recover and get to a spot where I was very comfortable and playing, and that helps.”

Lowry emphasized that he did not want to step away in February, with the Heat positioned precariously in the standings almost the entire season, including their seventh-place finish that landed them in the play-in tournament.

“It took a lot,” he said of stepping aside. “I pushed through it for three months and it was a lot. And I know numbers say this, that and the other. But in our league, you can’t play against the best players in the world not healthy, both offensively and defensively. To me, it’s just like, ‘I got to get right to help this team long term.’ "

So now a postseason as a reserve for the first time since his third season, as a member of the Houston Rockets in 2009.

“I mean I’m playing the position that I’m trying to help our team,” he said. “So in the sense of I’m doing whatever it helps my team to win, that’s all that really matters in that situation.

“I mean, I don’t really feel like anything but trying to help the team win. Honestly, at this point of the season, it really doesn’t matter. I am what I am and we are what we are.”