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Starting Lineup:
RAPTORS:
PG: Kyle Lowry
SG: DeMar DeRozan
SF: OG Anunoby
PF: Serge Ibaka
C: Jonas Valanciunas
HEAT
PG: Goran Dragic
SG: Josh Richardson
SF: Derrick Jones Jr.
PF: Kelly Olynyk
C: Hassan Whiteside
Last Meeting
January 9, 2018
HEAT 90 RAPTORS 89
The story will be the poor execution on the final play of the game. It was how the Raptors played the bulk of the night that put them in that position, though, conceding 20 offensive rebounds, failing to share the ball to the tune of 15 assists, and proving unable to take advantage of a big edge in the turnover department and an uncharacteristically cold shooting night from a 3-point heavy Heat outfit. The all-bench group had their usual near-scoreless stretch with an opponent until, mercifully, aC.J. Miles hit the team’s lone three of the half. They held even over three-plus minutes until DeRozan returned, apparently frustrated at his first quarter since he immediately scored on a tough take, blocked a shot (although the Heat scored off the deflection), and found Jakob Poeltl through a trap for a dunk. With Lowry out, DeRozan not at anything close to his best, and the rotation largely devoid of knock-down shooters, the scoring just wasn’t there for extended stretches against an aggressive defense, the buckets they did manage difficult and late in the clock. To their credit, they defended initial half-court possessions well enough, only to bleed on their own glass to the tune of 13 first-half offensive rebounds. All told, it felt like a minor miracle they were only down 10 at the half, and it’s not as if they could have expected to stumble into extra energy in their fourth half in 27 hours. Even with all of the rebounds conceded, the Raptors held the Heat to 97.3 points per-100 possessions, a good mark. The problems here were largely on the offensive end, with poor shooting leveraged up by Miami packing the paint, the whistle playing conservative both ways, DeRozan only finding his groove late, and secondary scoring at a premium.
And because the game couldn’t end without more drama, DeRozan and Dragic then got into it after the buzzer.
Keys To The Game:
1) Get to the line! Miami fouls a lot and DeRozan being one of the best in the league at getting to the free-throw line, the Raptors can take full advantage of this.
2) Blow 'em away! Miami is actually pretty good in clutch situations than their record may indicate.
3) Lowry > Dragic. Make a statement!!
4) Just keep winning, baby!
Let's Go Raptors!!!
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