After ugly loss to Raptors, Heat again locked into play-in tourney. Takeaways and details
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 121-95 loss to the Toronto Raptors (44-35) on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena to begin a three-game trip. The Heat (41-38) now remains in Toronto to finish its two-game set against the Raptors on Thursday:
The Heat’s offense continued to struggle against the Raptors’ quality defense, as Tuesday’s loss locked Miami into the NBA’s play-in tournament for the fourth straight season.
The Raptors held the Heat under 100 points in each of the teams’ first two meetings this season. Miami, which entered Tuesday as the second-highest scoring team in the NBA with 120.8 points per game, averaged just 93.5 points per game on 41.2 percent shooting from the field and 30.5 percent shooting on threes in its first two losses to Toronto this season.
The Heat’s third matchup of the season against the Raptors didn’t go well either, as Toronto’s length on the defensive end again bothered Miami. The Raptors are now 3-0 against the Heat this season, with the teams’ fourth and final game of the regular season coming Thursday in Toronto.
The Heat finished Tuesday’s loss with just 95 points on 36.3 percent shooting from the field and 12-of-44 (27.3 percent) shooting on threes. The defeat clinched the Heat’s fourth straight appearance in the play-in tourney.
“We’re disappointed for sure that we weren’t able to bring another level of competitive spirit to this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about needing to take part in the play-in tourney for the fourth straight year. “That’s what’s disappointing. We’re not thinking about the next step right now.”
The Heat has been held under 100 points in six games this season, and three of those games have now come against the Raptors. Three of the Heat’s five worst single-game offensive ratings of the season have also come against the Raptors.
The Heat’s offensive struggles began in the first half, totaling 51 points on 36.7 percent shooting from the field and 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) on threes in the first two quarters. Toronto took advantage to pull ahead by as many as 17 points in the first half before entering halftime with a 13-point advantage.
The Raptors’ defense continued to get the best of the Heat in the second half, limiting Miami to just 44 points over the final two quarters.
The Raptors’ lead grew to as large as 27 points in the second half on the way to the 26-point blowout win.
“We didn’t play with enough effort and that was bottom line,” Heat captain and three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo said.
The Raptors’ dominant performance included a big 70-34 edge in paint points, a 23-6 edge in second-chance points and an 18-10 edge in points off turnovers.
“They did a great job keeping us out of the paint,” Spoelstra said. “We had good looks from three, but you’ve got to knock down some of those to keep them honest. Otherwise, they’re going to keep on swarming the paint. They did a tremendous job of that.”
Scottie Barnes finished with a game-high 25 points for the Raptors. Brandon Ingram added 23 points for Toronto.
Andrew Wiggins was the only Heat player to reach the 20-point mark on Tuesday, recording 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting on threes.
Heat guard Tyler Herro contributed 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, five rebounds and six assists.
“They’re denying our swing passes and our movement,” Heat guard Norman Powell said of the Raptors’ defensive plan. “They’re getting into the bodies on the weak side. I know it’s taking away how we’re able to play a little free, being able to swing and attack and play in closeouts. They’re denying me and Tyler. And then when other guys attack without being able to move the ball, then they’re a great team in being able to swarm and then be able to get out after they’re swarmed. They protect the paint really well.”
The Heat has now lost nine of its last 12 games.
“This was a playoff-type game,” Wiggins said. “High stakes. We needed it, they needed it, and they played harder than us. They wanted it more.”
With the Heat now locked into the play-in tournament for the fourth straight season, the goal will be to try to work for a better position in the play-in tourney. But it won’t be easy.
The Heat (41-38) remains in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat’s best chance to move up the standings comes with the Charlotte Hornets (43-37), which lost to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday to fall to ninth place in the East. The Heat is just one loss behind the Hornets and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Charlotte after winning the regular-season series 3-1.
The Heat three remaining games this regular season: at Raptors on Thursday, at Washington Wizards on Friday and vs. Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
The Hornets’ two remaining games this regular season: vs. Detroit Pistons on Friday and at New York Knicks on Sunday.
But Thursday’s loss dropped the Heat two losses behind the eighth-place Orlando Magic (43-36). And the Heat is essentially three losses behind the Magic because Orlando holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami after sweeping the regular-season series 5-0.
That means the Heat would have to win its final three regular-season games and the Magic would have to lose its final three regular-season games for Miami to pass Orlando in the standings.
The Heat is also two losses behind the No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers (43-36), but Miami owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Philadelphia because the Heat won the regular-season series 2-1.
The Heat also now can’t catch the Raptors unless they are involved in a three-way or four-way tie with other teams. The No. 10 Heat is now three losses behind the No. 6 Raptors (44-35), with both teams only having three games left to play this regular season and Toronto already clinching the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami.
How does the play-in tournament work?
The seventh-place team in each conference hosts the eighth-place team in a play-in game. The winner of this matchup earns the seventh playoff seed.
The ninth-place team in each conference hosts the 10th-place team in another play-in game. The loser of this matchup is eliminated from playoff contention, while the winner of this matchup goes on the road to take on the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game for the right to the eighth playoff seed.
The teams that are eliminated in the play-in tournament before getting to the playoffs are seeded into the NBA Draft lottery based on regular-season record. The play-in tourney will take place from April 14-17.
Finishing in 10th place in the East would require the Heat to win two straight road games in the play-in tournament just to make the playoffs as the conference’s No. 8 seed.
The Heat has escaped the play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons to qualify for the playoffs as the East’s No. 8 seed. Last season, Miami became the first 10th-place team in the play-in tournament era to make the playoffs.
The Heat has just three games left to play this regular season. The final day of the NBA regular season is Sunday.
It was a rough night for Adebayo.
Adebayo finished Tuesday’s loss with just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field, 1-of-7 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes. He also posted a plus/minus of minus 13.
How bad was it? Tuesday marked just the second time in Adebayo’s NBA career that he has scored seven or fewer points while taking at least 13 field-goal attempts in a game.
Adebayo, who is the Heat’s highest paid player, entered Tuesday averaging 20.2 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 31.7 percent shooting on threes this season.
Tuesday is tied for Adebayo’s third-lowest scoring performance of the season.
Heat backup center Kel’el Ware also wasn’t a positive, as he totaled five points, eight rebounds and one block. He finished as a minus 9 in 17 minutes.
After missing four straight games due to an upper respiratory illness, Powell returned to a reserve role.
Powell, who was the Heat’s lone All-Star this season, played off the bench on Tuesday for just the fourth time this season. He started in his first 49 appearances this season before this recent stint as a reserve.
Powell closed the loss with 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 2-of-7 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line in 24 minutes off the bench.
“It’s tough,” Powell said of playing through the lingering effects of his illness. “Just trying to get my wind. I was getting a little tired quickly, coughing and stuff throughout the game. But, I got to figure it out. And I just continue to play and go out there and give as much effort as I can as my immune system gets back fully healthy and my airways and stuff open up.”
With Powell playing as a reserve, the Heat went with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Pelle Larsson, Wiggins and Adebayo against the Raptors. It marked the 10th game that this group has started this season.
Powell was part of a Heat bench rotation that also included Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and Jaime Jaquez Jr. on Tuesday. Miami then emptied its bench late in the lopsided loss.
With Herro and Powell playing in different units, their time on the court together was limited. This is seemingly an intentional move by the Heat, as Miami had been outscored by six points per 100 possessions in the 249 minutes that Herro and Powell played together this season ahead of Tuesday’s contest in Toronto.
“That was the intention for this game, and we’ll see what we do moving forward,” Spoelstra said when asked about splitting up Herro and Powell on Tuesday.
Both teams were relatively healthy for Tuesday’s matchup..
The Heat was only missing Nikola Jovic (left ankle sprain) and Terry Rozier (not with team). The Raptors were only without Chucky Hepburn (right knee surgery recovery).
Mitchell was uncharacteristically aggressive with his shot at the start, but then was quiet for the rest of the night.
With the Raptors giving Mitchell space and daring him to shoot at times, he took those opportunities to try to make Toronto pay early in Tuesday’s game.
Mitchell scored nine of the Heat’s first 12 points and finished the first quarter with nine points on nine shot attempts. For perspective, it’s the most shots that he has put up in any quarter this season. His previous season-high for field-goal attempts in a quarter was six.
Mitchell, who entered averaging 9.2 points on 7.6 field-goal attempts per game this season, then went on to go scoreless and take just two shots over the final three quarters.
Mitchell finished Tuesday’s loss with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 shooting from three-point range, one rebound and six assists in 23 minutes.
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 9:59 PM.
