The Toronto Raptors started the game on a 9-0 run and led by as many as 20 in their wire-to-wire 99-91 win against the Miami Heat.
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The Heat have given Toronto trouble in third quarters of this series, but the Raptors reserves flipped the script in Game 4.
And, they came out of the first round after being down 3-2 to the Charlotte Hornets. The Raptors and Heat are already playing without their starting centers as both Hassan Whiteside (knee) and Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) are out.
Miami Heat forward Luol Deng is questionable for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals after an MRI showed he suffered a bruised left wrist, the team announced Thursday.
DeRozan led all scorers with 34 points. Although he recorded his lowest points-per-game average since his rookie season back in 2004-2005, he’s remained consistent in all other aspects of his game while adding another veteran presence to the team. He finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Wade ended the night with a team-high 20 points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out four assists. Had the Heat lost that game they would be in a seriously bad spot here, having to win out to advance to the conference finals.
The Heat are attempting to become the first team in National Basketball Association history to overcome two 3-2 deficits in the same postseason. Heat point guard Goran Dragic needed eight stitches when his teeth went through his bottom lip after a hard collision with DeMar DeRozan in Game 2. Heat rookie Josh Richardson also scored 13 but he was the lone player off Miami’s bench that made a tangible difference. Although Joe Johnson made some baskets in the fourth quarter, he shot just 5-of-13 from the field and 1-of-4 from downtown.
That’s tough news for Miami, which will be fighting to save its season after falling behind 3-2 with a Game 5 loss in Toronto. The game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TNT. We’re going at it, battling, just trying to get wins and tonight was a real good game. He makes winning plays and stays steady through all of it and understands each game is different, series are different.
In the first six minutes of the game, the Raptors jumped out to a 17-4 advantage and eventually led 26-10 with just over two minutes remaining in the period.
“Last year at this time we were all on vacation”, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. His defensive play on Miami star Dwyane Wade has been impressive. “We’ve been aggressive these past two series and shots just weren’t dropping for us”.
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The game was an otherwise ugly one, with a mish-mash of lineups, and looked like it might have turned into a blowout thanks to Toronto’s woeful 29 per cent first-half shooting.
