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Miami Heat (16-16) vs Toronto Raptors (25-10), American Airlines Arena
Miami Heat will host Toronto Raptors tonight at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Heat are coming off a blowout victory against the Orlando magic, whereas Raptors had a blow out loss against the 76ers. Let us see how things stand for both teams.
Miami Heat perspective
Miami Heat are on fire as they have won five in a row and will be aiming for the sixth straight tonight. These five wins were against good teams- Grizzlies, Pelicans, Rockets, Bucks and Magic.
They beat Magic on Sunday by 115-91, where Tyler Johnson scored team-high 25 points. Justice Winslow also looked good and scored 22 points and five assists. Six of the Raptors were in double figures, and the bench contributed enough.
Heat has looked good on both the ends of the floor. They are a deep line up and have started working well together. If they beat the Raptors tonight, it will be one of the biggest wins of the season for them.
Toronto Raptors perspective
Raptors have won two of their last four games. Although they have lost a few matches recently, they still stand at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Toronto is playing the best basketball in the NBA right now but was blown out by the 76ers in their previous match.
They were missing the services of Serge Ibaka and Kawhi Leonard, leaving Kyle Lowry and Danny Green in charge. Both of them were also making a return after missing the previous one and were unable to stop the blow out loss.
Raptors are hopeful of Kawhi making a comeback tonight. Raptors need to get everybody together and start building up the winning momentum again.
Injury updates
Heat:
No injury report published by the Miami Heat
Raptors:
Jonas Valanciunas- OUT
Serge Ibaka- Questionable
How things might unfold
Raptors have been little down lately, but this game will see the return of Kawhi Leonard back to the lineup after missing one.
Heat have been on a roll and are playing zonal defense against teams who have bigs scoring in the paint. They have prevented players from reaching the rim and forced them to shoot a lot from outside.
However, Raptors' have high-quality players on the perimeter, capable of breaking the zone defense of the Miami Heat. I would give this one to the Raptors.
Prediction: Toronto Raptors to beat Miami Heat
