We weren't expecting a particularly “flashy” match between the Raptors and the Heatand this was indeed not the case… At the end of boredom, the players of Miami actually dominated, belatedly, those of Toronto (112-103), whose performance of the evening finally perfectly reflected their face this season.
The face of a mid-table team, stuck between mediocrity and a few all-too-rare flashes of genius. In the first half, the Raptors scored 66 points on 53% shooting, returning to the locker room at the break with a short advantage in the score (+2) and “momentum” certainly in their favor. Then the second period came, and the Canadian club became unrecognizable: 38 poor little points, and a meager 33% shooting success…
Asphyxiated Raptors
A collapse which is obviously explained by the awakening of the Heat's defense, which completely asphyxiated an attack that had suddenly become amorphous, especially in the last act (only 19 points scored). Even if Pascal Siakam (30 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists) and OG Anunoby (23 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists) tried everything until the end. But the Heat's attack was not much more convincing (38% in the second half), and this is proof of the deep problems that inhabit this Raptors team on the offensive level.
Without particularly convincing, the Heat are already returning to victory, and we will especially remember, in this narrow match, the XXL performances of the soldiers Caleb Martin (24 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists) and Orlando Robinson (15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 interceptions), valuable in the absence of Bam Adebayo.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The X Factors Caleb Martin and Orlando Robinson. Without Bam Adebayo and of course Tyler Herro, the Heat was able to count on the contribution of two of its firefighters: Caleb Martin and Orlando Robinson. An atypical interior duo, the two Miami soldiers were brilliant in the shadow missions: defending, out wide for the first and closer to the circle for the second, taking rebounds (24 shots in total), contesting shots or even make delay screens… The first even allowed himself to draw, successfully, behind the arc (4/7). In short, the Heat role-players did an XXL job, as is always the case, year after year in this decidedly inimitable franchise.
– The usual inconsistency of the Raptors on offense. Inconsistent team par excellence, the Raptors delivered a rather caricatured match: an all-out first half… before the damp squib after the break. All the “momentum” accumulated by the efforts of a great first half gradually evaporated upon returning from the locker room, until this most impoverished fourth quarter… The limits in attack of this team are glaring, and it It's hard to imagine that these repetitive ailments will simply disappear with time. At least not with the current group.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
