Miami Heat’s Kyle Lowry will protect, intends to play in Game Three, coach Eric Spoelstra says

Boston – Miami Heat goalkeeper Kyle Lowry Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said he will start the warm-up “with intent to play” in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

Lowry has not played since re-injuring his left hamstring in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Lowry initially struggled with the injury in Game Three of his first-round series in Miami against the Atlanta Hawks. He missed the last two games of that series and the first two games of the Sixers series before attempting a comeback.

Lowry’s potential return will provide a huge emotional boost to the Heat who come into Game 3 and drew 1 with the Celtics – but after the Celtics overpowered them in a 127-102 loss in Game Two in Miami. Heat players and coaches have mentioned multiple times how beneficial Lowry’s presence on and off the field is – and his potential return is gaining interest from a strong Celtics side as well.

“Kyle brings the shooting, he brings the power when it comes to the defensive end,” the Celtics striker Grant Williams He said after the shooting on Saturday. “He’s using his body in a great position; you don’t necessarily want to publish it, he’s doing a great job taking the charges, sort of, getting the umpires into the game.

“He’s a vet that you have to take out of the game because it gives them a scoring boost as well, and they play a lot in transition when he plays. He’s kicking the ball forward, and he’s ready to pull off in 3 seconds, kicking off the moves. So it gives them a different dynamic. It’s going to be fun to get him back. Because you want every team to be healthy so you can compete at the highest level, and hopefully PJ’s knee is good too, so we can kind of everyone just go out there and play our best basketball game.”

heat guard PJ Tucker He is also expected to play in Game 3 after leaving Game 2 with a knee bruise.

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report