Where Lowry ranks among the best in the league in the past month. And Heat draft fallout

For all of the disappointment of the past month, at least one positive has emerged for the Heat: Kyle Lowry has proven he can still play.

Lowry, who ranked among the league’s statistically worst shooting backcourt players this season before missing 15 games with knee soreness, has returned rejuvenated, ranking among the league’s best distance shooters during the past month.

Lowry shot 11 for 16 —including 6 for 9 on threes — in his 33-point, five-assist, no-turnover gem in 33 minutes off the bench in Tuesday’s 116-105 play-in loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

The 33 points were the most in his Heat tenure and marked the 22nd 30-point game of his career.

“We did a good job of kind of managing the minutes over the last month,” said Lowry, who sat out from Feb. 3 to March 10 in order to rest the knee, which had sidelined him for four games in January.

“We understood what time of the year [it is]. I wanted to be ready and going and firing.”

The disparity in shooting before his hiatus, and after, is pretty staggering.

Before his extended absence, Lowry shot 39.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three pointers.

Since returning, he’s shooting 51.4 percent overall (38 for 74) and 46.9 percent on threes (23 for 49).

That 46.9 is the ninth-best three-point shooting percentage among all NBA players since the All-Star break, minimum 20 makes.

What’s more, Lowry has 54 assists compared with just 16 turnovers since returning.

Since his return, Miami is scoring 122.7 points per 100 possessions with Lowry on the floor — best on the team among rotation players and 17th best among all NBA players since the All-Star break.

Upon his return last month, the Heat ended his 10-year streak of starting and has continued to play him off the bench partly to monitor his minutes.

Tuesday’s game marked the second time Lowry has played more than 30 minutes in his 12 games since returning.

“I think this has been a very intelligent, reasonable plan the last six weeks,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“And it’s really allowed him to be healthy and to be able to move in a way like this for these kinds of moments. He can move, he’s a competitor, he’s had so many monster moments over the course of his career. It’s really about his health and being able to move.”

Lowry might be needed for 30-plus minutes on Friday. After taking a knee to his back, starting point guard Gabe Vincent limped off to the locker room in the fourth quarter on Tuesday and did not return. His status for Friday is in question.

The Heat did not practice Wednesday and isn’t required to release an injury report until Thursday afternoon.

Per Hoophabit’s Simon Smith and Stathead, Lowry and LeBron James are the only players in NBA history to produce at least 30 points, five assists and six threes, with no turnovers in a playoff game, at the age of 37 or older.

Lowry is owed $29.7 million next season in the final year of a three-year contract.

THIS AND THAT

If the Heat loses Friday, Miami would participate in the May 16 draft lottery but would have just a 0.5 chance to secure the No. 1 pick (generational talent Victor Wembanyama), a 0.56 chance for the second pick and a 2.41 percent chance for a top-four pick.

The second and third picks are expected to be Scoot Henderson (a dynamic 6-2 guard from the G League Ignite) and Alabama forward Brandon Miller.

The Heat would pick 14th if it loses Friday but doesn’t move up in the draft lottery.

If the Heat wins Friday and advances to the playoffs, Miami would have no chance of moving up for a top 14 pick and would select 18th, 19th or 20th in the first round of the June 22 NBA Draft, pending results of a coin flip that would also involve Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers.

▪ Hawks guard Trae Young ended his postgame news conference Tuesday by saying “I know Jimmy [Butler] guaranteed a dub, so I was really focused on making sure that didn’t happen.”

Butler never guaranteed a win publicly.

“We were the more physical team, played faster, never let them set up on defense,” Young said. “We were playing more in attack mode and transition.”

▪ Seventh-seeded teams are 5-1 in the history of the play-in, with the Heat the only team that lost.

▪ Pundit reaction: TNT’s Kenny Smith said the Hawks are simply more talented than the Heat, noting Miami “has a small little team out there.”

Charles Barkley lost his “$1 billion” bet to Shaquille O’Neal after assuring the Heat would beat Atlanta.

“Remember last week we had this conversation,” Barkley said. “I said neither one of these teams is any good. I thought Miami was good enough to beat the Hawks… Very disappointed in Miami. Miami played awful.”

▪ TNT will have exclusivity for Friday’s Heat play-in game at 7.

If the Heat wins Friday, Miami would open the playoffs at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Milwaukee, on TNT and Bally Sports Sun. If the Heat plays the Bucks, Game 2 would be relegated to NBA TV next Wednesday at 9 p.m., with Bally Sun televising locally.

The Heat would host Game 3 next Saturday night (April 22) at 7:30 on ESPN and Bally Sun and Game 4 the following Monday, with the time to be determined.

If needed, Game 5 would be Wednesday, April 26 in Milwaukee, Game 6 on Friday, April 28 in Miami, and Game 7 on Sunday, April 30 in Milwaukee. The times and national TV information haven’t been announced for those games.