Takeaways and reaction from loss to Raptors, as Heat ‘out-toughed’ in third straight loss
The Miami Heat’s first matchup of the season against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 17 included 22 lead changes. Their second meeting on Saturday went down as only the fourth triple-overtime game in Heat history.
The teams’ third meeting in 16 days produced another wild one.
The Raptors (26-23) rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the Heat 110-106 on Tuesday night in an empty Scotiabank Arena due to COVID-19 restrictions. It marked the second night of a back-to-back for both teams, and the third straight loss and the end of a rare stretch of four games in five nights for the Heat (32-20).
Ahead by 15 points with 10:56 left in the third quarter, the Heat was outscored by the Raptors 60-41 the rest of the way.
“I think we ran out of gas, I’m being honest,” said Heat center Bam Adebayo, who played a team-high 148 minutes during the stretch of four games in five nights. “I think in my career this is the first time that we’ve played four games in five nights.”
The Raptors led by as many as eight points with 1:43 to play in the fourth quarter and the Heat managed to cut the deficit to two points with 6.7 seconds remaining. But following a timeout, Toronto rookie Scottie Barnes found OG Anunoby for an open layup off an inbounds pass to push the lead to four and end Miami’s hopes of putting together its own comeback.
Toronto took advantage of 15 offensive rebounds to score 19 second-chance points and also turned 17 Miami turnovers into 24 points.
The Heat shot just 40 percent from the field and just 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) from three-point range in the second half.
The Raptors were led by Gary Trent Jr., who finished with a game-high 33 points with the help of 6-of-10 shooting on threes.
The Heat looked to be in control early, entering halftime with a 12-point lead. Miami shot 57.9 percent from the field and 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range in the first two quarters.
But the Raptors dominated the second half behind 7-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc and 17-of-22 shooting from the foul line in the final two quarters.
Toronto guard Fred VanVleet scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half.
One of the bright spots for the Heat in the loss: Adebayo was a force with 32 points and 11 rebounds.
Tyler Herro was Miami’s second-leading scorer with 18 points off the bench.
The Heat continues its six-game trip on Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs. Miami is 0-2 to start the trip and fell to third place in the Eastern Conference behind the second-place Philadelphia 76ers and first-place Chicago Bulls.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Raptors:
The Heat found a way to slow down the Raptors’ transition game, but lost the game in “the trenches.”
Running off Heat turnovers and misses, Toronto outscored Miami by a combined score of 44-18 in fast-break points in the teams’ first two matchups of the season. That includes a 24-14 edge in fast-break points in Saturday’s triple-overtime win over the Heat.
In their third meeting on Tuesday, the Heat finally found a way to limit the Raptors’ transition opportunities. Toronto scored only 10 fast-break points on Tuesday.
The Raptors entered averaging 15.3 fast-break points per game this season, which is the third-most in the NBA.
But Toronto made up for its below average night in the open court by scoring 19 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds. The Raptors also totaled totaled 24 points off the Heat’s 17 turnovers.
As a result, the Raptors finished with a 19-10 edge in second-chance points and 24-19 edge in points off turnovers.
“I think they were just playing harder than us,” Herro said. “Obviously, they were all over the offensive glass just being stronger, more physical, tougher. They kind of outdid us at our own game. This is the type of game we want and they just out-toughed us, outplayed us and they deserved it more than us.”
The Heat is 3-3 this season when allowing 19 or more second-chance points and 3-6 when its opponent finishes with 24 or more points off turnovers.
“We just as a team, we didn’t do the little things, the tough things, the things that we’ve built our foundation on,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Blockouts, rebounding, loose balls. It felt like every loose ball that was out there, we lost.”
Also, after committing only nine fouls in the first half, the Heat was called for 16 fouls in the second half. That allowed the Raptors to score 17 points at the foul line on 22 free-throw attempts in the final two quarters.
“This game was going to be decided by taking care of the ball, getting more shots on goal and in the trenches,” Spoelstra continued. “I would say we categorically lost those departments, particularly in the trenches.”
Adebayo was aggressive and put together one of his best offensive performances of the season.
With the Raptors using Barnes (6-7 and 225-pounds) to defend Adebayo for most of the game, the Heat made sure to take advantage of Adebayo’s size advantage at 6-9 and 255 pounds early and often.
Adebayo recorded nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line and four rebounds in his first eight-minute stint of the game.
But Adebayo didn’t stop there, scoring 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line in the second quarter.
Even in a rough second half for the Heat, Adebayo contributed 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Adebayo finished with a season-high 32 points while shooting 13-of-17 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 35 minutes. It’s the second time he has reached the 30-point mark this season.
Adebayo scored 24 paint points on 12-of-14 shooting. He finished 1 of 2 on midrange attempts.
“I had it going earlier in the first, so guys kept trying to find me and then in the open court I was just being aggressive,” Adebayo said.
The Heat’s offense just couldn’t function without Adebayo on Tuesday. Miami scored at a pace of 116.9 points per 100 possessions in Adebayo’s 35 minutes on the court compared to just 100 points per 100 possessions in the 13 minutes he wasn’t.
Before Tuesday’s impressive outing, Adebayo combined to total just 28 points on 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) shooting from the field in the Heat’s first two games against the Raptors this season.
Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker returned for the Heat and looked healthy.
Butler, who missed Monday’s loss to the Celtics with right big toe irritation, finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists and two steals in 40 minutes on Tuesday. But he shot just 3 of 10 from the field, scoring most of his points with the help of 10-of-10 shooting at the foul line.
Butler’s three-point shooting struggles continued. He finished Tuesday’s loss 0 of 3 from deep and is 14 of 64 (21.9 percent) from three-point range this season.
Tucker also returned for the Heat after missing Monday’s loss because of left knee irritation. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 36 minutes.
Kyle Lowry’s return to Toronto will have to wait, as the Heat’s starting point guard was again out because of undisclosed personal reasons.
Lowry missed his ninth straight game on Tuesday and missed an opportunity to play his first game in Toronto since leaving the Raptors to join the Heat this past offseason. The Heat faces the Raptors again in Toronto late this season on April 3.
There’s no definitive timetable for Lowry’s return. But a return during the Heat’s current six-game trip that ends next week has not been ruled out.
The Heat was also without Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning), KZ Okpala (right wrist sprain), Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) and Omer Yurtseven (health and safety protocols) against the Raptors.
The Heat’s struggles on the second night of back-to-backs continued.
The Heat fell to 2-7 this season on the second night of back-to-backs.
The Raptors were also playing on the second night of a challenging back-to-back. The Raptors landed in Toronto early Tuesday morning after earning a road win over the Hawks in Atlanta on Monday night.
While the Heat hasn’t been good on the second night of back-to-backs this season, it has been very good when it has a few days off. Miami is 10-0 when playing a game coming off of two or more days of rest.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 10:09 PM.
