Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors‘ 112-104 win over the Miami Heat.
One – The Raptors held on for an impressive win against an equally shorthanded Heat team. Miami struck first and held the advantage until midway through the third quarter, before Toronto ramped up its defence and flipped the momentum back in their favour. What followed was a hard-fought fourth quarter where Kyle Lowry briefly took over to bring the Heat close, but the Raptors sealed the result with a collection of clever passes to find the open man against Miami’s swarming traps.
Two – The Raptors pulled off a 21-0 run in the third quarter to seize control. The Heat had been able to score with ease off Toronto breakdowns up until that point, with Lowry fading left for his signature three, and Jimmy Butler driving in uncontested for a dunk which opened up a 10-point lead. The Raptors locked in from there, bringing a hard double against Butler and scrambling in rotation to leave the Heat’s offence in the hands of their inexperienced rookies. Nikola Jovic found himself pressured into two turnovers and shanked a contested corner three, Jamal Cain missed a string of open jumpers, while Butler himself was pressured into a pair of driving turnovers. The result was a seven-minute scoring drought that allowed the Raptors to pull ahead.
Three – This was one of the most complete offensive performances of O.G. Anunoby’s career. He scored 32 points despite only making a single three, as he was able to repeatedly break down the Heat in the paint for 12 twos and five free throws. Anunoby had been coming up short on his drives this season, turning it over on a sixth of his possessions while also shooting in the mid-thirties, but this performance showed what’s possible when he finishes consistently. Anunoby picked his spots on when he attacked quickly, when to use his immense strength, and when to use his touch while fading away. Lowry tried his usual trickery in the post and Anunoby avoided the bait for a charge to rise up clean for a floater, and withstood the strength of Butler to collapse the defence and make the extra passes. He would average 20 points per game easily if he finished as efficiently as he did tonight.
Four – Nick Nurse mentioned pre-game that he’s having to implement new plays to make up for the gap in scoring left by Pascal Siakam‘s offence. One especially successful action was to bring Anunoby around an off-ball screen, where he could curl and get downhill, and it worked for three straight scores. On the first play, Anunoby pumps the breaks to create separation on a pull-up. Next play down his defender steps up to respect the jumper, so he darts to the rim for a layup that was goaltended. Finally, his defender tries to overplay so he can’t cut to the ball at all, so Anunoby smartly counters with a cut backdoor.
Five – Scottie Barnes returned to his usual form after a string of empty performances. Barnes was aggressive from the jump as he established his scoring by making five jumpers in the first quarter while the defence kept sagging back. He took the same approach in the second half with a midrange pull-up for the first basket in the third quarter. Barnes also showed more intensity on defence, most notably on a play where he got into the ball to force a travel, which then prompted Barnes to celebrate by loudly clapping in the Heat player’s face. Otherwise, he played a team game and was a smart and efficient secondary option around Anunoby and VanVleet, which is a role he was most comfortable in last year.
Six – Barnes is especially adept at making plays to connect the team. The Heat shifted to doubling VanVleet in the second half, and twice Barnes was able to read the play and cut into open gaps to give VanVleet an outlet option at the basket. Barnes also made a smart play to flash up to the post in the last minute where Miami was keying in on Anunoby, then reversing the ball on target to Chris Boucher popping out for three. He also chased down two offensive rebounds that immediately went out for kickout threes to his teammates. Barnes doesn’t always need the ball to dominate, and his current skillset is a nice complement to the main scorer on the roster.
Seven – Thad Young remains the unsung hero during Siakam’s absence. He continues to deliver timely and unselfish plays in a starting role, and his hustle and effort always sets the tone for his teammates. Consider this: Young is in his 16th season and he single-handedly outrebounded the entire Heat roster 5-4 in offensive rebounds. It helped that Young was matched up with a rookie in Jovic, who Young was able to push around for position and putbacks outside of a few cheap fouls that subsided as the game went on.
Eight – Boucher overcame a couple of defensive breakdowns and was focus on finishing strong. The Raptors had four excellent starters in Barnes, VanVleet, Anunoby and Young, and the challenge was to find the fifth starter to support them. Juancho Hernangomez played his role defensively well in the third, but the Raptors needed a little more scoring in the fourth and Boucher was the natural fit. He paired beautifully with Young for two cutting layups, and knocked in a corner three for 11 fourth-quarter points to cap the victory. Outside of a short blip earlier last week, Boucher has been the best and most consistent player off the bench.
Nine – It was a poor showing from both Khem Birch and Christian Koloko on the defensive end. Miami was able to attack both players in pick-and-rolls to climb back into the game after a 21-0 run, with Koloko making errors on four successive baskets, and then Birch coming in for the same mistakes of not being up on threes. The Raptors are light in the frontcourt with injuries at the moment, and it will be important for at least one of the backup centres to step up. Koloko should continue to get the first look with his ability to block shots.
Ten – Dalano Banton left the game with an ankle injury. He got another start coming off the heels of his career night, but the Heat humbled him by continuing to leave him open. Banton wasn’t able to convert, but it was encouraging to see him take the shot confidently. It’s telling that Malachi Flynn didn’t get a shot in his place despite his recent success, which was likely due to Nurse’s fear of Lowry and Butler hunting Flynn on defence. That being said, if Banton misses time, there should be matchups where Flynn can be productive and he should still be involved with his ability to score.
