He now leads all playoff players with a microscopic 89 Defensive Rating, a large jump of his already-impressive 95 Defensive Rating in the regular season.
Advertisement
The Miami Heat star was the subject of much scorn after video showed him taking a few extra warm-up shots as “O Canada” was performed before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
Relationship therapist Kimberly Moffit says in many ways you can draw parallels between a typical romantic relationship, and the fans’ bond with their favourite team.
If the Raptors fork over the dough, someone should be fired. “To me, it wasn’t an explosive game but we kept grinding it out a little bit”.
The blow of losing Valanciunas was lessened when the Heat lost their starting seven-foot centre Hassan Whiteside in Game 3.
The night will belong to Curry, announced Tuesday as the league’s first unanimous MVP. The Heat won in overtime 94-87.
He’s the key for the Raptors.
And what kind of noise he’ll hear every time he touches the ball.
“Hey Dwayne”, Toronto mayor John Tory, 61, tweeted at the Miami player after seeing video of the warmup.
During the overtime period, Heat kept Raptors to just 4 points to shut any hopes of a comeback. I’ve been through many, many years of different series.
In the postseason, Whiteside was averaging a double double, with 12 points and just under 11 rebounds in the 10 games he played in (including an average of three blocks a game). And without Jonas Valanciunas in the lineup, the Raptors couldn’t find a suitable backup for Bismack Biyombo down low.
Make Dwyane Wade Work.
He’s playing down hill, nearly like a running back running through a hole between the tackles, with no one putting a body on him.
How Toronto responds, how Casey and his staff adjust, personnel-wise and schematics, will determine Toronto’s fate.
Instead, it was Miami getting into the lane and dominating paint points. He shot 4-for-17 for the game, as well as a miserable 1-for-4 at the free throw line. On their all-stars’ scorecard it’s been a much bleaker story, and at just the time when reputations are redeemed or revoked – they defied history in beating in in the first round, but against a well-coached and (slightly) better opponent it’ll take some doing to keep it all going. It also helped that Wade keeps delivering magical moments, as I wrote in my column today.
“He’s redefining how this game is being played right now”.
“Two tough-minded teams”, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. Game 5 is in Toronto on Wednesday night.
Winslow finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in 31 energetic minutes.
And that’s where Dwyane Wade holds all the cards. Fueling the run was none other than Dwyane Wade who posted 30 points overall in the game.
Miami has scored a total of 379 points, five more than the Raptors heading into Game 5. DeRozan and Kyle Lowry did not have a good shooting night (again, but more on that later), but the Raptors as a group would storm back in the 3rd quarter to take a 2 point lead into the 4th quarter, led by a strong defensive effort by Cory Joseph, DeMarre Carroll, and Biyombo. Though, it was Dragic’s slashing and-1 bucket in the final minute that ultimately clinched the game for Miami. The Heat then had no assists for the next 18:26. In the end, Lowry’s 29 second-half points were too much for Miami.
Advertisement
It didn’t limit his overall assertiveness though, and he still managed a game-high nine assists, seven rebounds, and four steals.
