DeRozan left the game with an apparent finger injury with less than 8 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter but was able to come back with 4 minutes left.
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Toronto all-star Kyle Lowry is sporting new Band-Aids each game and is nursing a sore elbow.
“They’re going to be our guys because, at some point, they’re going to get their rhythm (and) their shot”, Casey said. Bismack Biyombo is grabbing eight rebounds and Cory Joseph is dishing 2.7 assists.
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 Heat came all the way back, but fell just short.
It was DeRozan’s franchise-best 13th 20-point game in the playoffs and his sixth this postseason.
DeRozan went 11-for-22 from the field and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. “He was locked in all night”. Guards Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson both scored 13.
The Raptors started quickly and led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter and were ahead by 20 in the second quarter before the Heat mounted their attack.
Said DeRozan: “It’s something I’ve got to deal with it. There’s no complaining or making excuses”. “Unfortunately, from there we couldn’t”.
Toronto has to play well tonight, they’re favored and will look to take advantage of Amare Stoudemire having to start at center for Miami. I get a little cranky when I see Lowry slow down to let his mates catch up following a Heat turnover. So it’s unfortunate, but we will continue to move on, get ready for Game 6 in Miami. He also added a pair of rebounds, an assist and a steal and Toronto held a 28-18 lead. “Lu had an opportunity in the Charlotte series with the way they were guarding him to have more opportunities than other guys, and this is a different series”.
But DeRozan scored 13 of the Raptors’ fourth-quarter points, while Lowry had seven, including a three-point dagger with 53 seconds left that he followed up with another long jumper that had the Air Canada Centre crowd roaring. “It’s been our biggest nemesis”. It seems that small forward DeMarre Carroll did not break his left wrist in Wednesday night’s Game 5 versus the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Heat said X-rays were inconclusive.
But the Heat missed five straight field goal attempts early in the fourth after cutting the deficit to seven.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Deng will have an MRI when the Heat return to Miami, but refused to blame injuries for the Heat’s struggles.
Hassan Whiteside won’t play in this game tonight, but Toronto is still without Jonas Valanciunas.
Carroll was in obvious pain, writhing on the floor before being taken directly to the locker room still holding the damaged left wrist. The team said that the X-ray results were negative.
DeMar DeRozan says his injured right thumb is improving every day.
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Here we are in a best-of-three series, with home court in Toronto’s favour. He missed Game 4 with a sprained MCL in his right knee.
