Lowry’s shot was extra impressive because it appeared to be well short, but like a fly ball with the wind blowing out, it kept floating and floating until finally it fell through the net.
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Goran Dragic describes what he was thinking when Kyle Lowry sank the game-tying three pointer and talks about the calm mentality of the Heat after blowing a late lead. With the Raps trailing by four and 20.9 seconds to play, he was inserted back into the lineup. The scariest moment undoubtedly came early in the first quarter when Heat star center Hassan Whiteside went down with a frightening looking knee injury.
Valanciunas was a force for the Raptors all night.
In the opener against Miami, Lowry only took four first-half shots, missed all four of them, three of them jumpers, and Lowry finished the half with no points and just one assist.
Lowry’s 39-foot bomb to force overtime was the single highlight on another terrible night for Toronto’s all-star point guard. They shot 45 per cent in the first half and moved the ball well, with 10 assists.
Dwyane Wade came up with several huge plays for the HEAT in the second half. We got out of one series with me not playing well, shooting the ball well.
DeMarre Carroll scored 21 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 12 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan chipped in with 20 points, and Terrence Ross added 10. Against the Heat on Monday, he went 3-for-13 from the field, and 1-for-7 from beyond the arc. He went back onto the court after the game.
When Lowry goes, DeRozan goes.
Like in the first round series against the Indiana Pacers, the Raptors lost their homecourt advantage in the first game of the best-of-seven. He worked on his shot until after 1 a.m. following Game 1, first on the Raptors’ practice court and then on the main court, in an effort to rediscover a shot that’s missing. But aside from that prayer, the Raptors struggled mightily at both scoring and defending the perimeter.
It did not have a significant effect offensively, though, as Powell was bottled up and not left free for corner threes and Patterson was ineffective back with the second unit. That allowed Wade to hit an and-1 and ultimately ice it to escape with Game 1. The Heat and Raptors shot an identical 45 percent from the field.
He shot just 7-for-22 on the night, while DeRozan, his right thumb taped after his jammed it on the final play in Game 1, shot just 9-for-24, and made just two of his eight free throws. “To get knocked down to the canvas like that [to have] the air punctured out of your body and to have the resolve like that, take control in overtime – that’s a great mental toughness that I think we showed from there”. Lowry’s shooting has been so cockeyed this postseason, he was captured shooting on the Air Canada Centre court at 1 in the morning. It was an ordeal all night for the Toronto backcourt in trying to get to the foul line or trying to get their jumpers to fall-especially from the perimeter. The Raptors are younger and more athletic.
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“It definitely was a feel-out game”.
