Raptors Hold Off Late Heat Comeback

Raptors came into this game sporting a 5-game winning streak and the Heat were coming in with having lost 5 of their last 6 games. Both teams were looking to go as hard as possible before entering the All-Star break. The last time these teams met the Heat won on a game-winning Wayne Ellington layup. Both teams got into fights in the game and after the game. Serge Ibaka and James Johnson were both ejected. DeMar DeRozan and Goran Dragic got into a pushing match where Dragic spit towards DeRozan and DeRozan threw a hand towards Dragic’s face. Both players fined in the aftermath. This was going to be a testy, physical and long 48-minute battle as the Raptors were seeking revenge.

Miami made it tough for the Toronto Raptors all night long as the two teams battled on a Tuesday evening.

Keys to the Game:

Offensive Toughness

• The Miami Heat are tough-nosed, well coached and physical team. They have the athleticism and numerous amount of bodies they can throw at you to wear you down in the inside and outside. The Raptors must be tough-minded on the offensive end and shy away from bad shot selection.

Stay Strong on the Glass

• The Raptors were completely dominated in the last meeting between the two teams on the glass. The Heat won the rebounding battle by 24 rebounds the last time and that's too many extra possessions to give to a good Miami Heat team.

Push the Pace

• The Raptors have a top 5 ranking offense in the NBA and scoring on the fast break is one of the main ways they have been blowing out teams. The Toronto guards must push the pace and score before Whiteside and Miami get their half court defense set up.

Both teams came out with high energy and were going blow for blow for the first 24 minutes of the game. The Raptors bench who have been great in the past few games were almost on their way to blowing this lead wide open in the 2nd quarter, but a timeout from Erik Spolestra and the Heat responding with their own bench run kept this game close. The addition of Dwayne Wade brings about a calmness and poise in their second unit. He leads their bench squad and did an excellent job of both scoring, rebounding and play-making. He finished the game with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench. Kyle Lowry hit a miraculous two-handed circus shot three at the halftime buzzer to give Toronto a two-point lead at halftime, 57-55.

The third quarter was filled with multiple momentum shifts. Goran Dragic was scoring at will and DeMar DeRozan was countering every punch Goran threw. Both players scored most of their points in the quarter. DeRozan with 19 in the quarter and Goran with 16 in the quarter. The Raptors were defending strong and were moving the ball well as they won the quarter 41-26. Toronto pushed the pace and scored in transition which created the big lead. Lowry imposed his will on the game as he was aggressive early and often. Heading into the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead, the Bench Mob had a good cushion to work with to finish off the game. But this team was not going to go down that easily.

DeRozan finished the game with 27 points and went off for 16 points in the third quarter.

The Bench Mob came in and were playing well, but the lead kept hovering around the 13-point mark. The game gave off an uneasy feeling as the Miami Heat kept fighting and were not going down without a fight. Dwane Casey had to get his starters back into the game to close out this one. The starters haven't played in the fourth quarter in the past four games and this one was not going to be an easy team to blowout. Casey was mixing and matching lineups to keep Goran Dragic from getting into the lane and scoring in the paint as he went with OG, Norman, VanVleet, and Wright to guard him using different looks on defense.

The Raptors through their offensive toughness managed to reel off a 16-point lead with 4:27 to go in the game. This is where the wheels of the Toronto Raptors fell off as they managed to score only 3 points for the rest of the quarter. The Miami Heat were aggressively showing on the pick-and-rolls and stifled the Raptors ball movement. Toronto resorted back to the isolation basketball that they played last year and were failing miserably. The Heat came back to cut the lead down to 10 points with 3:20 to go and were relentless. The score was now 112-109 with 56.7 seconds to go.

Dwane Casey saw his team unraveling before his eyes. He drew a couple offensive sets for the Raptors to get to the rim. The Raptors were fouled, but could not convert on their free throws as they went 3/6 from the line in the deciding moments of the game. DeMar DeRozan, CJ Miles and Kyle Lowry all split their free throws which gave the Heat a chance to send this game to overtime in the dying moments. The Raptors finally came up with a stop after Josh Richardson barely misses the three-pointer to tie the game. The Raptors escape this game by the skin of their teeth and were walking away from this one with their hands on their knees and gasping for breath as they had to fight it out until the clock ran zero.

Toronto Raptors Miami Heat

115 112

Player of the Game:

Kyle Lowry

22 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 8-17 shooting, 4-8 3PT, 4-6 FT, 1 turnover

His impact on the game was felt from the beginning of the game and lasted until the end of the game. The floor general sets the tone every game and was pushing the pace on every possession. The Raptors needed to speed up the pace to win this one and Lowry did exactly that. His defense on Dragic was okay, but he needs his help defenders to be more aware and communicate on the pick-and-rolls. Kyle must work on his free throw shooting as his missed free throw in dying minutes of the game kept the Heat’s hopes alive.

Kyle Lowry led the team to the win over the Miami Heat.

Things to Take Away from this Game:

ISO Ball

• The Raptors went back into their old isolation plays from last year in crunch time and it was inefficient to say the least. DeRozan and Lowry could not buy a basket in the last few moments of the game which allowed Miami to get stops and cut down the double-digit lead the Raptors had with 4 minutes to go. Dwane Casey and staff need to be more efficient when the pace gets slowed down and maybe throw it into the post and give JV a high percentage shot.

Jonas Valanciunas

• JV’s 10 rebounds were tied for a team-high with Ibaka and were very important as without him the rebound battle could have been a lot worse. But more importantly, JV attempted only 4 shots in this game. The Raptors looked for him early in the game but did not go down to the big man in the second half. Every time he got the ball, he was passing it out, but a re-post would allow him to gain more confidence and hurt the Heat down low. The Miami Heat were going small in the second half where Bam Adebayo was guarding JV which was a favorable match-up that JV could have taken advantage of.

Jonas was passive on the offensive end and the team did not find him often in this game.

Substitutions

• It was strange to see Casey roll with Siakam over Ibaka in this one. As Ibaka was great on the boards and offensively tonight. Siakam struggled on the offensive end but Casey may have gone with Siakam due to his ability to switch and defend the guards.

• Another substitution that could be considered is utilizing Norman Powell for the Goran Dragic defensive assignment. He was guarding him well in the limited amount of time he was on the floor. OG was a step slow tonight which might be due to the ankle injury he suffered in the previous game. In my opinion, Norman with his quickness may have done a better job and might be an option to explore in the next meeting.

Playoff Preview

• Right now, as the seeding as it is now, the Raptors would be matched-up with the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. This would be one of the tougher match-ups for the Toronto Raptors. One thing to focus on would be stopping or containing Goran Dragic who went crazy on the Raptors in this game especially in the 3rd quarter where he dropped 16 of his 28 points on the game. The Raptors need to do a better job and staying in front of Goran and not allowing him to dribble through the baseline and get inside the paint.

Pictures courtesy of: http://www.nba.com/raptors/gallery/rapsheat-021318