Toronto Raptors guard Cory Joseph (6) rejects Indiana Pacers guard Monta Ellis (11) during Game 7 of round one NBA playoff basketball action in Toronto on Sunday, May 1, 2016.
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The Toronto Raptors are coming off a seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers.
“Honestly, before you come into a game like this you probably get hundreds of text messages of people telling you what happened in the past years”, said Bizmack Biyombo.
The message appears to have got through.
There is some personal history, with Raptors guard Kyle Lowry a former Houston Rockets teammate of Heat point guard Goran Dragic. In the seven games against IN, it was 31% and a ghastly 16%.
“It’s something that we did, it’s over with”.
“When you fall behind like that, you can’t hope to come all the way back and beg for calls, ” Solomon Hill said. Paul George is an absolute star, but he’s all that remains from a Pacers team that just a few years ago was among the conference elite. The Raptors was on top by 14 points after a jump shot by DeRozan. But D-Wade is just shifty. “(Wade) is back to being a young guy”. “PG might get there”. “I thought the Ian foul at the end was a blatant foul…” But D-Wade is a Hall of Famer. Toronto takes on Miami in round two in a matchup where DeRozan will go head-to-head with another mid-range and paint assassin in the 34-year-old Dwyane Wade. He set up back-to-back Powell threes from the corner, getting the rookie going as 10 of his 13 game in the quarter. “I’ve been watching him all my life so I’m looking forward for the challenge”, he said. Beyond that, it was just another example of a Raptors role player stepping up. Now that the team has moved past the ugly stigma of early playoff elimination, coach Dwane Casey says he expects a better version of his club against the Heat.
Coupled with the uncertainty surrounding Paul George’s recovery from a compound fracture in his right leg, in exceeded expectations by going 45-37 and taking the No. 2 seed to seven games. “I don’t care if he shot 40 times, he emptied the clip and we won, and that’s all that matters”.
It has all the makings of an even series, there are lots of similarities between the teams. “And that’s what driving me”. “I’m happy but I’m not satisfied”. He’s met the challenge. Nine players dressed for Miami and six were believed to be healthy, as the Heat suffered their eighth defeat in 10 games.
Moving forward, the Raptors will have little time to bask in the glow of victory, as they prepare to host the Miami Heat in round two on Tuesday night.
Miami remains without 11-time all-star – and former Raptor – Chris Bosh, who missed the final 29 games of the regular season after a blood clot was found in his left calf.
TORONTO (AP) – After a decade and a half of playoff disappointment, the Toronto Raptors finally got to enjoy a celebratory night of hugs, kisses and happy families.
This was the only game of the season series that featured the new-look Heat – with Joe Johnson and without Bosh. The Pacers outscored Toronto 20-11 in the fourth, but unlike their own loss in Game 5, their offensive output couldn’t overcome Toronto’s incompetence late in the game.
The Raptors committed a paltry nine turnovers, three of them in the final moments of the game, leading to just nine Pacers points.
Raptors rookie Norman Powell, a second-round pick last summer, scored 13 points in Game 7.
Charlotte had a chance to close out the Heat on its home floor in Game 6, wasting the opportunity.
Relying on a boisterous home crowd to serve as an advantage, the Raptors finished off the series much to the delight of rap sensation Drake, as well as Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and birthday boy Marcus Stroman of the Toronto Blue Jays who had flown directly to the Air Canada Centre following their 5-1 afternoon victory in Tampa Bay.
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With files from The Associated Press.
