Next stop: Cleveland, where the Cavaliers will present the Raptors’ with a MUCH tougher challenge, especially defensively, where simply keeping the opponent out of the paint is only half the battle. Now they’ve won two of each and are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time ever.
Advertisement
Regardless of the outcome of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors series, no one’s beating the Golden State Warriors this season.
The Raptors won two of three against the Cavs this season, but James said “we’re a totally different team than the regular season”. “We’ve got to be very smart about that”. For general manager Masai Ujiri, coach Dwane Casey and players, from Kyle Lowry to DeMar DeRozan to Bismack Biyombo. “But I think this group is hungry and never say never”. “If you’re not focused now, hey, I don’t know if this is the right sport for you”.
There’s not a lot of time to enjoy it. The Cavaliers are unbeaten in the postseason, have played six fewer games than the Raptors and are rested and waiting.
“We know who we’re playing”, James said.
“We understood what was at stake”, DeRozan added. “If you want to go far in the playoffs, you need to be healthy”. “Hopefully, they can keep that momentum going on the offensive end and don’t forget about the defensive end”.
“What [Goran] shows is great emotional stability”, said Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. “It was a heck of a series to be involved with….It’s unfortunate that people thought that this was maybe not the most elegant series but it was one of the more competitive ones”. This time a 10-point lead about two minutes into the fourth quarter just continued to grow until the final whistle finally separated the two teams by 27. He finished the first half with 15 points at the half on 6-of-17 shooting, while going 3-of-6 from the line, but it was a stronger start than that.
‘We fought tooth and nail to try to get to that goal of getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, ‘ Wade said. We exhausted all possibilities. “And if you don’t, we got to get you out”. He was 11-for-20 from the field, but, more importantly, Lowry was guiding the the Raptors offense like the point guard he is supposed to be. Attention will often pull toward Lowry therein putting the Cavs defense in troubled positions when DeRozan gets the ball.
The Raptors poured on the points in a 12-2 burst, stretching their lead to 75-58. Lowry is the fourth player to score at least 35 points in Game 6 and 7 of a playoff series since 2000. A moment later it was a dunk from Biyombo as Lowry found him slicing to the rim and then a block on Johnson that led to a transition triple by Carroll.
Bismack Biyombo personifies the Raptors. “They wore us down”. Dwyane Wade took just 13 shots in 34 minutes, finishing with a quiet 16 points.
Even Terrence Ross got into the act.
Patterson hit two free throws with 7:30 to play and the lead increased to 20 points. If Luol Deng decides to leave in free agency the Heat should feel confident Winslow can step in and be the primary defender against opposing teams best players.
Faced with yet another game 7 series deciding game, the Toronto Raptors were once again able to pull through and deliver an exciting 116-89 victory over the Miami Heat Sunday in Toronto.
Advertisement
Instead, the Heat were left to wonder what might have been after losing Chris Bosh at the All-Star break for the second straight year, then losing center Hassan Whiteside to a sprained right knee in Game 3 against Toronto. The Raptors are dealing with injuries to Jonas Valanciunas (ankle), DeMarre Carroll (wrist), and Demar Derozan (thumb). The Raptors lost three games to both the limited Indiana Pacers and the injury-plagued Miami Heat. They pushed both their series to Game 7’s despite being under manned and in some cases under sized.
