Last night, the Miami Heat played host to the Toronto Raptors in the American Airlines Arena as part of their HomeStrong promotion, which honors U.S. Veterans. The Heat steamrolled the Raptors in a 96-76 victory.
In the first quarter, Toronto seemed to have an early advantage over Miami, thanks in part to the backcourt duo of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, who had a combined 31 points and 11 assists throughout the game. In the second quarter, the Heat started to make a comeback, making only 22 points to Toronto’s 23 points.
By Halftime, the game was a three-point lead by Toronto but it was clearly anyone’s game and by the second half, the game belonged to Miami. Right from the start of the third quarter, Miami displayed their dominance on both ends of the floor as Dwyane Wade scored 12 points and passed Scottie Pippen on the all time scoring list. Another noteworthy moment during the game was how Miami’s bench dominated Toronto.
The combination Mario Chalmers, Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow, and Josh McRoberts scored 24 points. The bench played with a lot of energy and emotion as shown by the stellar plays from McRoberts’ dunk to Chalmers’ surprise block and many assists. While en route to a 96-76 victory, Hassan Whiteside had a double-double performance of 20 points and 11 rebounds, Chris Bosh with 23 points and eight rebounds for Miami. For the Toronto Raptors, Jonas Valancinuas had 17 points and five rebounds in his matchup with Hassan Whiteside, while Luis Scola and James Johnson each had seven points.
This was a big win for Miami as they displayed not only the gelling chemistry of their starting five of Whiteside, Bosh, Luol Deng, Wade, and Goran Dragic, but also the reliance of their bench. Speaking of the Heat’s bench, Chris Andersen and Amar’e Stoudemire did not play, plus Josh Richardson and Gerald Green were labelled inactive, the latter returning from the hospital after a health scare.
There’s no word when Gerald Green will return back to the Heat’s rotation, but hopefully he will back when Miami hosts the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow. That game starts at 7:30 and will be televised for NBA League Pass and on local regions for Fox Sports Sun in Miami and Time Warner Cable in the L.A. region.
The Heat Check Magazine 