[2] Toronto Raptors 96-92 [3] Miami Heat [OT] [Series tied 1-1]
With clutch three-pointers from Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic to tie the game in regulation, the Miami Heat sent the game to overtime only to lose in the extra session after the team went scoreless for the first 4:37 minutes of the five-minute added time.
The Toronto Raptors didn’t play great either but managed to score 10 points in overtime, enough to win the game and tie the series.
The whole game was a series of runs. Horrendous turnovers in the first quarter by the Heat allowed the Raptors to jump to an early lead then the Heat made a comeback on the back of a hot-shooting third quarter.
It was truly a great terrible game. It was only the third time in NBA Playoffs history that the first two games of a seven-game series have gone to overtime.
Miami shot 49.4% from the field, 35.7% from beyond the arc and 69.2% from the charity stripe. Much better than Toronto’s percentages – 41.9%, 22.2% and 53.8% respectively. It was the Heat’s 21 turnovers that helped their opponents stay in the game despite their bad shooting.
Here’s how the Heat’s turnovers helped the Raptors’:
With Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan having a bad shooting night, a common occurrence in the 2016 Playoffs, the Raptors needed more help than the Heat’s turnovers were giving them. That’s when center Jonas Valanciunas and Forward DeMarre Carroll stepped up.
Valanciunas had 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and a block on an efficient 7 of 9 (77.8%) shooting night in his 38 minutes. He had the highest +/- rating among players in the game with a +17. Carroll meanwhile had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals on 7 of 13 shooting (53.8%).
For the Heat, all five starters scored in double figures led by Hassan Whiteside’s 13 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Veterans Joe Johnson and Dwyane Wade both had 17 points apiece as contributions.
Ingredients to win the series
Both these teams, the second and third seed in the East, are quite equally matched talent-wise but neither has played up to its potential so far.
All Miami has do is play stellar defense (individual or team) on Lowry and Derozan to extend their shooting slump’s and take care of the basketball on their own offense. Turnovers, 21 of them in Game 2, have allowed the Raptors to even up the series.
The Raptors have to be heading to Miami hoping that either Lowry or Derozan just show up with an efficient shooting game. Neither of their All-Star guards has played at the level that they did during the regular season. It’s going to be a real slog for Toronto if their backcourt has another bad game these Playoffs.
Game 3 will be played at the American Airlines Arena in Miami on Saturday.
