His shooting percentages have decreased across the board, naturally leading to a decline in points per game. Removing an All-Star from the starting lineup is never an easy decision to make, but in a hard fought playoff series with 3 of 4 games heading to overtime, all options need to be considered in pursuit of a series victory.
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Toronto big man Jonas Valanciunas (ankle) has been ruled out of the series.
Dwyane Wade is a legend in the eyes of many National Basketball Association fans in the United States and the world, but he may have soured his relations in the land of the 6 (Toronto, Canada) for a while. Toronto shot just 36.8 percent.
Coming into a game that could potentially see his team down 1-3 hole and facing elimination, Dwyane Wade turned in a vintage performance that harkened back to the days when he was on top his game physically.
Biyombo had eight points in the second, electrifying the crowd by sandwiching a pair of dunks around a huge block on Wade.
And by night’s end, the NBA’s Final Four may be in more focus. The player once known as Flash, is now aptly called “Father Prime”. They literally didn’t do anything other than have Joseph dribble the ball up the court and take a contested shot. His shots came in varying degrees, but can all be classified as aggressive.
“They enjoy when the other guy is able to be aggressive”. As a result, most of Miami’s initial offensive actions have started with just 10-12 seconds on the shot clock, despite boasting the personnel to effectively push the ball.
The Bosh-issue was later resolved by the player, the team and the doctors during a meeting.
DeRozan only returned at all in the fourth quarter because Lowry fouled out.
Haslem played a little better, but after playing more than 20 minutes the previous game didn’t have the energy to play more than 10 effective minutes.
Toronto led 28-18 after the first.
Wade scored seven in the third but DeRozan had 11 as the Raptors took a 75-62 lead into the fourth. The two teams would trade baskets once again to maintain Toronto’s 4-point advantage, courtesy of the Raptors Cory Joseph, who had 14 points off 7-for-17 shooting. They have the talent and the chemistry (yes, the Cavs and chemistry can now be said in the same sentence), to overcome both the Heat and Raptors. Let’s face it, no one expects either the Raptors or the Heat to dethrone the Cavs as Eastern Conference champs. Three of those four games have gone into OT.
Despite his uncharacteristically poor play in the post-season, the Raptors remarkably are still within striking distance of their first appearance in the Eastern Conference final. Now the series is tied 2-2 and both teams are hoping to seize control in Game 5.
Heat team-mates Goran Dragic and Joe Johnson provided good support with 15 points each. “I worked my tail off this summer to get to where I can still play at an elite level”, he explained.
“I’m not a disrespectful person”, Wade said. He played bad, I mean worse than Lowry in Game 4.
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Miami evened the series at two games apiece with an impressive comeback in Game 4 on Monday, overcoming a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to get past Toronto 94-87 in overtime, covering as 4 1/2-point chalk to improve to 5-1 against the spread in its past six games ahead of Wednesday night’s Heat vs. Raptors betting matchup at Air Canada Centre.
