Florida is the Sunshine State, but it wasn’t a sunny & bright visit for the Toronto Raptors this time around. Having lost to the Orlando Magic on Friday night, the Raptors were looking to rebound on Sunday night in Miami against the Heat and their stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The latter, whom, was the former face of the Raptors franchise.
Having left the Toronto Raptors for the Miami Heat as a free agent in the Summer of 2010, Chris Bosh has never lost to the Toronto Raptors when he’s played in the game against his former team (11-0).
Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll has been dealing with plantar fasciitis for the past 10 days, and the only real remedy is rest. As a result he was out of the line up for this game, and will likely miss more going forward. In Carroll’s absence, James Johnson got the start, and had a solid game – specifically in the first half. (In the way only James Johnson can, he delivered another classic post-game quote. Watch the video at the bottom of this game recap to see & hear it)
At halftime the Raptors were leading by 3 points, 47-44, and shot 53.8% from the field in the first half. For both teams, the difference in the game was the second half. The Heat came out aggressive in the 3rd quarter scoring 30 points as a team, comparatively the Raptors only managed to score 16 points in 3rd quarter, and only scored a combined total of 29 points in the second half. In the end the Raptors lost the game by 20 points; 96-76 final.
Jonas Valanciunas, DeMar DeRozan, and Kyle Lowry were the only Raptors who scored double digits, with 17, 16, and 15 points respectively. For the game, Toronto only shot 39.4% from the field (28 of 71), and just 3 of 19 from three point range. Toronto didn’t take care of the ball in this game giving up 18 turnovers, which in turn led to 23 points for Miami.
Center Hassan Whiteside set the tone defensively for the Miami Heat, collecting 11 rebounds and six blocks to go along with 20 points. Chris Bosh had a game high 23 points, including 4 three pointers, and he added 8 rebounds.
The Raptors will be back on home court at the Air Canada Centre to face the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
(TV: Sportsnet One – Canada, MSG – USA, NBA League Pass)
Jonas Valanciunas:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILuryHmcVbQ]James Johnson:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1QP0DUsw9A]DeMar DeRozan:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bNY1cMp8xw]Kyle Lowry:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDKMmLHUV8c]Dwane Casey:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlR9KPK0nZA]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
