GAME #43 - Miami Heat 81 - Toronto Raptors 101

[Joey]

vs.

Projected Starters

Miami	Toronto
PG - Tyler Johnson	PG - Kyle Lowry
SG - Dwyane Wade	SG - Demar Derozan
SF - Luol Deng	SF - James Johnson
PF - Chris Bosh	PF - Luis Scola
C - Hassan Whiteside	C - Jonas Valanciunas

Last Meeting
DECEMBER 18, 2015 TORONTO 108, MIAMI 94
DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Kyle Lowry added 21 and the Raptors erased an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Miami Heat 108-94.

Luis Scola scored 20, Terrence Ross finished with 17 and James Johnson added 13 for the Raptors, who outscored Miami 58-39 after halftime ... The Heat had been 12-0 when facing Toronto with Chris Bosh in the lineup against his former team ... Dwyane Wade scored 21 points, Gerald Green had 20 and Goran Dragic scored 18 for the Heat ...
Hassan Whiteside had 13 rebounds and Bosh finished with 11 points.


Noteworthy
• The Toronto Raptors continue a seven game home stand (Jan. 18-30) Friday night against the Miami Heat. The home stand equals the franchise high set last season (Nov. 7-21) and in 2012 (Mar. 21 – Apr. 3) and 1999 (Nov. 30 – Dec. 14). The Raptors will also have another stretch of seven consecutive home games later in the season (Mar 2 -14).

• Toronto is 7-1 this season when playing on Friday nights, including a 108-94 win at Miami on Dec. 18.

• With a 115-109 win Jan. 20 vs. Boston the Raptors earned their season-high sixth straight win.

• The last time Toronto won seven consecutive games was Mar. 22-Apr. 9, 2002 as part of a franchise-record nine game winning streak.

• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, DeMar DeRozan is averaging 28.1 points over the last 10 home games, joining Vince Carter and Chris Bosh as the only players in team history to average 28+ points over a 10 game stretch at Air Canada Centre.

• Kyle Lowry recorded a team-high eight assists Jan. 20 vs. Boston to pass Damon Stoudamire for third place on team’s all-time assists list.

• In four seasons with Toronto, Lowry has recorded 1,765 assists in 259 games. He needs 26 assists to pass fellow Villanova alum Alvin Williams (1,791) for second on the team’s all-time list.

• Jonas Valanciunas shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the field during Toronto’s 115-109 win Jan. 20 vs. Boston. He became the fourth player in franchise history to complete a perfect shooting game with at least nine shot attempts. Amir Johnson shot 10-for-10 in a game Mar. 4, 2013 at Golden State, while Chris Bosh (Nov. 6, 2009) and Keon Clark (Apr. 12, 2002) both shot 9-for-9 in games. In 11 games since returning from a left hand fracture injury (Dec. 28-Jan. 20), Valanciunas is shooting .553 (52-for-94) from the field.

• Toronto has won 17 straight games when holding opponents to less than 100 points, the second-longest streak in team history.

• Friday’s game vs. Miami will mark the first time Air Canada Centre has been sold-out for the first 20 home games to start a season. The Raptors have sold out 58 consecutive games overall (including playoffs) since Nov. 11, 2014 – the longest streak of consecutive sell outs in team history.



WELCOME BACK BOSH....?

GO RAPS!!

[planetmars]

Miami might not have enough bodies to put together a roster.

Dragic is definitely out with a calf injury.
Whiteside has a strained left oblique and will probably not play.
Wade hasn't played in his last two games due to a shoulder injury (which has sucked for fantasy).
Deng was poked in the eye and left the last game early and is questionable.
Green has a knee issue and is questionable.
Andersen is out and is not with the team (knee).
Udrigh has a neck injury and is questionable to play.

If this turns into a laugher, Casey really needs to give DD and KL some rest.

[thead]

Bosh looks like Maz Kanata

[rocwell]

Whiteside will not play tonight.

[hotfuzz]

Is it just me or is Whiteside a little overrated?

[rocwell]

Miami might not have enough bodies to put together a roster.

Dragic is definitely out with a calf injury.
Whiteside has a strained left oblique and will probably not play.
Wade hasn't played in his last two games due to a shoulder injury (which has sucked for fantasy).
Deng was poked in the eye and left the last game early and is questionable.
Green has a knee issue and is questionable.
Andersen is out and is not with the team (knee).
Udrigh has a neck injury and is questionable to play.

If this turns into a laugher, Casey really needs to give DD and KL some rest.

NBA's short-handed teams are dangerous. We better win this.

[Jclaw]

Well done Joey. It was getting late in the morning to start talking about an espn game against the Heat. I assume there's no direct way to get the espn feed in TO, right?

[DanH]

Calling a win here. Time to show these guys we are the superior team, hands down.

Trick will be defence on Bosh. Stretch 4/5's give us issues. Outside of that this one should be a very winnable game.

[Barolt]

Chris Bosh goes for 81 to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Kobe going for 81 when he was a Raptor.

[Jclaw]

Btw, a win against the Heat tonight would be a nice distraction from remembering any random event from 10 years ago

[Chr1s1anL]

Is it just me or is Whiteside a little overrated?

He is. He puts good individual numbers but, the D is better when he is off the floor. Doesn't follow the scheme the team wants to play. He just goes for blocks.

[Barolt]

He is. He puts good individual numbers but, the D is better when he is off the floor. Does follow the scheme the team wants to play. He just goes for blocks.

I really believe blocks are a overrated defensive stat. They're flashy, but playing good straight up defense and getting a miss is often times a better defensive play.

[Chr1s1anL]

This game is nationally televised in the states. If Whiteside isn't playing that bad news for JV. They'll going to play Bosh at the 5.

[Chr1s1anL]

Bosh will go for 40 but we will win. If Wade isn't playing Heir Canada will also go off.

[hotfuzz]

He is. He puts good individual numbers but, the D is better when he is off the floor. Doesn't follow the scheme the team wants to play. He just goes for blocks.

Yea I've seen that he jumps at EVERYTHING. I mean, don't get me wrong, he has the tools to be a defensive monster, but just seems to go for the flashier play.