Heat holds on for overtime road win over Raptors to snap four-game skid. Takeaways and details
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 120-111 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors (17-39) on Friday night at Scotiabank Arena to kick off its post-All-Star break schedule and open a three-game trip. The Heat (26-28) continues the trip on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks:
It wasn’t pretty, but the leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins stepped up in overtime to make sure the Heat wouldn’t waste another double-digit lead. In the process, the Heat snapped its season-long four-game losing skid.
The Heat led by as many as 14 points in the first half before entering halftime ahead by nine.
But after the Heat pulled ahead by 12 points with 11:04 left in the third quarter, the Raptors rallied behind a big 27-14 run to take a one-point lead just eight minutes later. It marked Toronto’s first lead since going ahead 2-0 in the opening seconds of the contest.
The Heat then regained its footing to enter the fourth quarter with a four-point advantage and extended its lead to eight with 8:42 to play in regulation.
The rebuilding Raptors again responded, going on a 19-9 run to take a two-point lead with 1:56 left in the fourth quarter
Herro answered by hitting a clutch three-pointer to put the Heat back ahead by one point with 1:43 remaining in regulation.
RJ Barrett then scored four unanswered points to give the Raptors a three-point lead with 53.3 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
Barrett followed up that spurt with a costly mistake, though, fouling Wiggins on a three-point attempt. Wiggins made all three free throws to tie the score at 107 with 45.6 seconds left.
Neither team scored again in regulation, as the game went to overtime.
For a Heat team that has already blown the second-most double-digit leads (13 such occurrences) in the NBA this season, it could have wilted at this point to allow another double-digit advantage turn into a brutal loss.
But Adebayo, Herro and Wiggins teamed up to help the Heat dominate overtime 13-4, holding on for the nine-point victory.
Adebayo (six points), Herro (three points) and Wiggins (four points) combined to score all 13 of the Heat’s overtime points.
“Man, we have to stop scaring ourselves like that,” Adebayo said of giving up another double-digit lead before winning in overtime. “We have to stop doing that. Great win, obviously, to kick off post All-Star. Great win for us. We had to do that on the defensive end. We got stops and that’s what mattered in OT.”
Herro totaled a team-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range, three rebounds, seven assists and one block in the win.
Adebayo finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 12 rebounds.
Wiggins contributed 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 shooting on threes and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line, eight rebounds, one assist and two steals.
Davion Mitchell added 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting on threes and one steal.
Duncan Robinson recorded 14 points off the Heat’s bench.
Barrett led the Raptors with a game-high 29 points.
“The game was full of surprises,” Wiggins said. “Ups and downs. One team goes on a run, the other team goes on a run. It was a close battle.”
Friday marked the Heat’s first win since defeating the 76ers in Philadelphia on Feb. 5. The Heat ended Friday in eighth place in the Eastern Conference — just percentage points behind the seventh-place Orlando Magic.
“Now that there’s more clarity, there’s role clarity, there’s role definition, guys will get more comfortable and confident,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
It was a milestone night for Adebayo.
Not only did Adebayo help lead the Heat to Friday’s win, but he also recorded the 221st double-double of his NBA career to tie Rony Seikaly’s record for the most double-double performances in Heat history.
“It’s good to tie,” Adebayo said. “Obviously, I got to pass you at some point, Seikaly. I’m sorry you got to be second.”
Adebayo is also close to another milestone, as he now stands just five rebounds shy of tying Alonzo Mourning (4,807 rebounds) for second place on the Heat’s all-time rebounding list. Udonis Haslem (5,791) has grabbed the most rebounds in Heat history.
At Adebayo’s current pace, he and Dwyane Wade could end up as No. 1 and No. 2 as the Heat’s all-time career leaders in categories like two-point field goals made, free throws made, assists, steals and points, among others. Adebayo also appears to be on his way to overtaking Haslem as the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder within the next two seasons.
The Heat opened the post-All-Star break schedule by returning to its new preferred starting lineup.
The Heat used the starting lineup of Mitchell, Herro, Wiggins, Adebayo and Kel’el Ware on Friday against the Raptors. It’s the Heat’s new preferred starting group since acquiring Kyle Anderson, Mitchell and Wiggins in the Jimmy Butler trade earlier this month.
Friday marked the fourth game that Anderson, Mitchell and Wiggins have been with the Heat since the deal, and this Mitchell-Herro-Wiggins-Adebayo-Ware lineup has been used to start two of those four games.
The Heat didn’t go with this starting unit two times during this four-game stretch because of injuries or illness.
Alec Burks started in Herro’s place in the Heat’s Feb. 10 loss to the Boston Celtics because Herro was unavailable due to a stomach illness.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. started in Wiggins’ place and Anderson started in Adebayo’s place in the Heat’s Feb. 13 loss to the Dallas Mavericks because Wiggins was out due to a stomach illness and Adebayo was unavailable because of a knee contusion.
In their first start, the Mitchell-Herro-Wiggins-Adebayo-Ware combination was outscored by two points in 12 minutes together during the Heat’s Feb. 12 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In their second start, the Heat’s new preferred starting lineup outscored the Raptors by four points in 11 minutes together during Friday’s win.
But it was a quiet night for Ware, as the 7-foot rookie didn’t play in the fourth quarter or overtime. He finished the victory with four points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field, six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 21 minutes.
The Heat’s bench rotation on Friday didn’t include a few notable names.
The Heat went with a bench rotation of Nikola Jovic, Terry Rozier, Robinson, Anderson and Burks against the Raptors.
Robinson was the only player off the Heat’s bench to score double-digit points, but Anderson also made a positive impact on the game when he entered for his first action of the night with 5:06 left in the third quarter. Anderson contributed two points, two rebounds and three assists in 11 minutes while posting a positive plus/minus of plus 4.
That left Jaquez, Haywood Highsmith and Pelle Larsson out of the Heat’s rotation on Friday despite all of them being available to play.
“It could differ game to game,” Spoelstra said when asked about the bench rotation after the win in Toronto. “But we want to create a little bit of clarity, as much as we can right now. And everybody just has to stay ready. We have to make some things happen and it will be all hands on deck. We feel very comfortable with our depth and we saw that depth.”
Jaquez has been a regular in the Miami’s rotation since being drafted by the Heat in 2023, but he has now received two DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) in the last three games. Those are the first two DNP-CDs of Jaquez’s NBA career.
Jaquez’s scoring and efficiency have dipped from last season when he was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team. He averaged more points while shooting a better percentage from the field and from behind the arc as a rookie.
On top of that, the Heat has been outscored by 7.1 points per 100 possessions with Jaquez on the court this season.
The only unavailable players for the Heat against the Raptors were Josh Christopher (G League), Keshad Johnson (G League), Kevin Love (personal reasons), Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery) and Isaiah Stevens (G League).
A familiar face was in the Raptors’ starting lineup.
With Toronto missing starting center Jakob Poeltl because of a hip injury, former Heat center Orlando Robinson started for the short-handed Raptors on Friday.
In the ninth start of his NBA career and his first start of the season, Robinson finished Friday’s game with nine points, five rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.
Robinson, who went undrafted out of Fresno State in 2022, spent most of his first NBA season on a two-way contract with the Heat in 2022-23 prior to being promoted to a standard contract for his second season with the team in 2023-24. But Robinson was waived by the Heat this past summer after struggling to find consistent playing time in Miami, appearing in just 36 games for the Heat last season.
Robinson, 24, began this season with the Sacramento Kings before being waived by the Kings on Jan. 7. He then signed two 10-day contracts with the Raptors in January, and then ultimately committed to a two-way deal with the Raptors on Feb. 7.
“That’s his NBA ability is perseverance and his work ethic,” Spoelstra said of Robinson before Friday’s game in Toronto. “He will just continue to grind and work, and that’s why we thought he was a great fit with us and that’s why I always respect guys like that. ... I think this is a good fit for him here because they do value player development and he’s all about the work. So I continue to root for him.”
Along with missing Poeltl, the Raptors were without Ulrich Chomche (knee), Brandon Ingram (ankle sprain), A.J. Lawson (G League) and P.J. Tucker (not with team).
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 10:11 PM.
