But immediately following his team’s 102-96 loss to the Miami Heat, Lowry was on the practice court attached to Air Canada Centre trying to fix his broken jump shot.
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In the regular season, Lowry shot 38.4% from 20 feet out and longer.
In the opener against Miami, Lowry only took four first-half shots, missed all four of them, three of them jumpers, and Lowry finished the half with no points and just one assist. He had just six assists.
And moments after Lowry scored on a key jump shot with 15 seconds left in regulation, Carroll pulled the point guard aside and said “I told you so”. I’m going to continue to be aggressive and shoot shots and take the onus.
Wade led Miami’s overtime scorers, masterful with seven points and two steals, as the Heat commanded the extra frame.
The game between the No. 2 and 3 seeds was tightly matched from the opening tipoff.
Unfortunately for Toronto, Lowry went right back to being ice cold, if not outright hesitant to shoot, in overtime, taking just one shot which was a three-pointer that missed. The Toronto Raptors are averaging 92.8 points on 40.1 percent shooting and allowing 94.8 points on 44.2 percent shooting. Terrence Ross had 19 for the Raptors. “Because I know I’m way better than this”.
Wade went down clutching his right knee after the botched inbounds play that put Ross on the line, but stayed in. It’s just like a hitter, hitters go through slumps.
Miami squanders late lead, Wade ensures victory with timely steal in overtime. I thought his bulldog tenacity set the tone for us defensively.
“It started with how focused we were in that fourth, ” Thompson said. Part of the reason why Toronto lost this game was Lowry’s inability to get anything going on offense.
On paper, the Raptors are favoured, winners of five of their last six meetings with Miami.
The Heat and Bosh announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t play again this season, ending speculation in recent days that the All-Star forward would try to return during the playoffs. Toronto entered this series having won three out of four games against the HEAT during the regular season.
His redemption shot tied the game at 90-90.
The Raptors are used to playing from behind. Fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan has partially picked up the slack, but they need each other to stretch the floor and keep driving lanes open for one another.
“It’s basketball. A series is a series”. “We just didn’t get it done”. There’s a few things that we made a mistake on and still had a couple chances to win this game.
With the Warriors up 2-0, despite playing both games without injured star Stephen Curry, the best-of-seven series moves to Portland for Game 3 on Saturday.
Wade saw the lighter side of Lowry’s 8-for-50 performance from 3-point range in the playoffs so far.
Before surviving overtime, the Heat blew another six-point lead with even less time left.
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The game was played against a Maple Leaf background of red and white-clad fans, including 17-year NFL veteran Tony Gonzalez, who chucked footballs high up into the crowd during a timeout.
