The Toronto Raptors suffered a road loss to the Miami Heat in a matchup that could be a playoff preview. How did everyone grade in the tough loss?
Coming into Thursday’s Toronto Raptors-Miami Heat matchup, most everyone expected a slugfest. This was a contest between two top-10 defenses and two teams that right next to each other in the standings, as the No. 4 and No. 3 seeds respectively. And of course, a defensive slugfest is exactly what we got. In a game that surely reminded viewers more of the 2000s era of NBA basketball—filled with plenty of “clear one side of the floor” isolations, post-up opportunities, and missed 3-point shots—the Heat showed why they are one of two teams this year to not have lost consecutive games.
The Raptors have been struggling as of late and it is hard to fault them too much as they are still playing without star Pascal Siakam, as well as Norman Powell and Marc Gasol, all out due to injury. Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse decided to insert OG Anunoby back into the starting lineup after bringing off the bench in Tuesday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. This meant Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was back with the bench unit. Nurse is likely just trying to get a feel for different starting units with the Raptors being at a point in the season (with all the injuries piling up) where it feels fine to experiment.
Siakam has been out since December 18, and in his absence, Kyle Lowry has taken his game to another level. Against the Heat on Thursday, Lowry again accepted the responsibility of trying to lead the team on both sides of the floor, even more so with Fred VanVleet struggling worse than he was. None of the other Raptors stepped up big time, with Serge Ibaka trying to do the most of anyone on offense (21 field goal attempts for Ibaka) but still failing to produce efficiently in the paint or get anything going from the 3-point line.
There is no shame in losing to a tough Miami Heat team on the road but this loss illuminates just how much harder things will be against the top teams in the East while the Raptors are shorthanded. With there still being no concrete return date for Siakam and Co., the Raptors will need to find ways to win against the top dogs in the East. But on Thursday the Heat made them look like one of the worst teams in the league.
How did everyone look in the tough loss?