“The only way to get out of the slump is to keep shooting”, Patrick Patterson said. We can question the health of Lowry all we want, the bottom line is he needs to shoot better.
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The loss drops to Toronto 1-9 in playoff series openers.
A mug shot of Kyle Lowry on a milk carton was making the rounds on social media on Wednesday. He led the team to the playoffs five times, including a first-round loss to the Toronto Raptors this season. With that said, now is not the time to panic for Toronto. He added 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”.
“It’s definitely a feel, just trying to get the touch back”.
The game between the No. 2 and 3 seeds was tightly matched from the opening tipoff. The Raptors turned it over 15 times, leading to 16 Miami points, while the Heat had 20 turnovers, leading to 22 Raptors points. The Raptors were up 43-41 after two quarters, but it felt like they should have been up by a lot more than just two points. Terrence Ross scored 19 points off the bench. The Heat managed just one free throw as Ross hit a free throw and Lowry sank the tying three from long distance. “I know I’m better than this, so I have to pick this s– up”.
“When it goes in you’re just crushed for a minute”, Miami’s Dwyane Wade said. It’s like a hitter – hitters go through slumps – and he’s there.
Even though the Raptors trailed for most of the second half, this game felt like a missed opportunity and was very winnable.
Miami squanders late lead, Wade ensures victory with timely steal in overtime.
The Heat took a narrow 68-63 lead into the fourth, but they’d stretched it to 10 points barely two minutes into the quarter. “Hopefully, we can move on past that”, he said.
Game 2 is Thursday in Toronto, then the series shifts to Miami for Games 3 and 4.
On paper, the Raptors are favoured, winners of five of their previous six meetings with Miami. Lowry must get over any mental anguish he’s now facing for the Raptors to have a shot at advancing past the Heat.
The Raptors are used to playing from behind.
The Toronto Raptors need a victory here if they have any real chance of winning this series.
“It’s basketball. A series is a series”. But we’ve got to get out of this next series.
He later admitted “it felt good to make it. But us losing the game kind of took a little bit of the dramatics away and the feel-goodness away from it”. But neither has been able to really get it going this postseason and it showed again on Tuesday night, as the difference in the game was guard play.
Kyle Lowry hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer 39-feet out to force overtime as the Raptors erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit. Dragic took the tooth and threw it toward Miami’s bench. The Raptors won 56 games this year and finished just one game behind the Cavaliers for the best record in the East because of Lowry. Maple Leaf Square outside drew a packed crowd of T-shirt waving fans.
Jonas Valanciunas paced the Raptors with 24 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. They went into the second tied 18-18.
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The Heat improved to 5-1 when Wade and Dragic combine to score at least 50 points.
