In a seldom occurrence, the Toronto Raptors were home on a Saturday night playing at the Air Canada Centre hosting the Miami Heat. Most Saturday nights the Air Canada Centre serves as home to the Raptors’ MLSE sibling, the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, but on this night it was ‘Basketball Night In Canada’.
The Raptors certainly aren’t the only NBA team who tries to find rest for their stars and key players. The Miami Heat opted to rest their NBA All-Star, Dwyane Wade, for the match up against Toronto.
The Miami Heat’s latest acquisition, Joe Johnson, displayed how effective he can be with his new team, while giving Raptors fans a reminder of how dangerous he is as a player. (Raptors fans reading this are undoubtedly cringing from memories of the 2014 NBA first round playoffs series between the Raptors and Joe Johnson’s former team, the Brooklyn Nets). Joe Johnson filled it up, scoring 28 points (including four of seven from three-point range) and added five assists and four rebounds.
James Johnson who was back in the starting lineup for Toronto at small forward, after receiving some rest and losing his starting spot in a couple of recent games due to match ups strategies employed by the Raptors coaching staff, was back with a vengeance. James Johnson was hot early, and led the Raptors offensively in the first quarter, scoring eight points on three of three from the field, and two of two from the line. He was aggressive, looking for his shot, while using his size with maximum effectiveness.
NBA veteran and Heat center, Amare Stoudemire started the game for Miami, but the extremely talented young center, Hassan Whiteside played the majority of the minutes at the 5-spot off the bench. Whiteside, who leads the NBA in blocks per game at a clip of just under four per game, scored 13 points, hauled in 11 rebounds, and collected three blocked shots, establishing his presence defensively.
Toronto led 28-24 after the first quarter, and extended their lead to seven points at half, with a 53-46 lead. Miami re-grouped in the third quarter and limited the Raptors to just 17 points on 33% shooting (7 of 21 in the quarter). The Heat erased the Raptors lead completely and took a 71-70 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Miami’s Luol Deng hits a corner three to tie the game at 97 with 3.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Deng finished with 20 points, five rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan attempted a 20-foot turnaround jumper as time expired, but it missed the mark; sending the game to overtime for an extra five minute frame. In overtime the Raptors kept the pressure on, outscoring the Heat 15-7, going on to win the game, 112-104.
DeMar DeRozan tied his season high scoring mark with 38 points. DeRozan was a major catalyst in the game, making an impact in every possible way. In addition to his scoring, he filled up the stat sheet with ten rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a block to go along with his points. The double-double was DeRozan’s third of the season.
Jonas Valanciunas had one of his best overall games of the season, scoring 20 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Marking his 17th double-double of the season. He played 33 minutes in the game (and 30 minutes through regulation). It’s the most minutes Valanciunas has logged in his last 10 games (even when excluding his overtime minutes played in this game). JV was effective on both ends of the floor, and Coach Casey rewarded him by keeping him on the floor during key stretches of the game. Valanciunas has now recorded a double-double in back to back games, and it is his fourth in his last five games.
Kyle Lowry led the Raptors in minutes played again in this game, amassing 45 minutes of the overtime game’s 53 minute total (48 + 5). Lowry posted 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Patrick Patterson continued to provide the Raptors with great energy and savvy basketball play on the court. Patterson, once again, led all players in the game with a +14 plus/minus rating, and also contributed 9 points (all from very timely three-point field goals) and six rebounds.
The Raptors have improved to 44-20 on the season, and are 5-1 on their current seven game homestand. Additionally, Toronto is 12-5 since their 11 game win streak was snapped on February 1st, but they have a 9-2 record over their last 11 games.
The Raptors will host the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, and the Bulls are expected to have both Derrick Rose AND Jimmy Butler back in their line up for the game. Despite the Bulls’ recent struggles, this will be a big test for the Raptors given their own struggles when facing Chicago over the past two seasons.
Postgame Reactions:
Kyle Lowry
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdt0jhp04dM]Dwane Casey
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZZ4sqT7J88]DeMar DeRozan
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