[2] Toronto Raptors 116-89 [3] Miami Heat [Toronto win series 4-3]
In Game 6, the Miami Heat surprised the Toronto Raptors with their super small ball line-up and eventually came away with the win at home. In Game 7, the Raptors bounced back strong, courtesy of their big men, to win Game 7 and wrap up the series. En route to winning Game 7 by a dominating margin of 27 points, the Raptors punched their first ticket to the Conference Finals in franchise history.
Toronto is now set to face East’s top seed the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
It was a dominant fourth quarter display by the Raptors, outscoring the Heat 30-11 in the final period. The biggest takeaway from Toronto’s dominant Game 7 win is the return to form for their All-Star back court duo of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
Lowry had 35 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 4 steals on 11 of 20 shooting, and became the only Raptors player to have back to back 35 point Playoff games. He seemed to make smart decisions, knocked down his long range shot, dished out beautiful dimes and more importantly seemed like the leader the Raptors had in the regular season. DeRozan had 28 points and didn’t shoot the ball that well (12 of 29) but he looked in great flow and touch.
The difference makers in Game 7 were Patrick Patterson (11 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks) and Bismack Biyombo (17 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks), the Raptors’ starting big men. The duo together had 27 rebounds, 3 short of the Heat’s 30 rebounds. They duo took advantage of had 13 of the team’s 20 offensive rebounds, giving their team multiple second chance points.
Despite Toronto’s dominance on the glass, the Heat were able to stay in the game till the third quarter when they trailed by six. In the final period the Heat’s short rotation seemed to run out of gas, being completely outplayed by the home team on both ends of the floor.
All five starters scored in double figures for Miami, led by 16 points a piece from thier back court of Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic. Dragic also had six rebounds, seven assists and two turnovers. Being eliminated with a blowout in Game 7 can certainly be gut wrenching but the Heat should have no regrets.
They had a great season, finishing third despite not having Chris Bosh after the All-Star break. They pushed both their series to Game 7’s despite being under manned and in some cases under sized.
Here are some Lowry and DeRozan highlights from their crucial Game 7 win:
