Raptors take Game 2 as Valanciunas' effort sets up Lowry late

TORONTO – Kyle Lowry hasn’t made many shots during these playoffs, but he’s sure made them when it counts and the Raptors sure needed them Thursday night to pull off a 96-92 win over the Miami Heat in Game 2.

Lowry – 5-for-18 from the field with under a minute left in the fourth quarter – hit two pivotal shots on back-to-back offensive possessions, the second shot putting Raptors up 86-83. Time still remained on the clock, just under 15 seconds to be exact, and Goran Dragic responded with a three-pointer to tie the game for Miami. Lowry had one more opportunity to play hero, but his three-point heave at the buzzer missed badly, resulting in overtime between these two teams for the second straight game.

This OT period, however, played out much differently than it did in Game 1. The Raptors tightened up defensively, holding Miami from scoring until 23.5 seconds remaining and hitting enough free throws to put the game out of reach.

There would have been no late-game redemption for Lowry or overtime for Toronto, though, if not for Jonas Valanciunas. During a three-minute stretch preceding Lowry’s clutch shot-making, Valanciunas scored six points off three offensive rebounds to dig the Raptors out of a deficit and give them a lead.

Valanciunas’ effort was a season-saver on yet another inefficient offensive night from the Raptors' All-Star backourt. Lowry scored 18 points on 7-for-22 shooting, and DeMar DeRozan wasn’t much better with 20 points on 9-for-24 shooting,

“He did that without us really running any plays for him,” said DeRozan. “It was him being hungry, going after the ball. A lot of times when the shots are going up, he’s been in great position, getting his hand on the ball. It came through big. He’s definitely the reason why we won this game.”

Another big reason was how the Raptors took advantage of Miami’s 11 first quarter turnovers, allowing Toronto to stake a 29-19 lead after the opening 12 minutes. That’s where DeMarre Carroll did most of his damage, scoring eight of his game-high 21 points and grabbing two of his four steals.

“We caused 21 turnovers for 24 points and I thought that was the difference in the game, especially at the beginning of the game and down the stretch,” said Casey.

The Heat’s veterans didn’t make their presence felt until the very end of the first half as Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, and Luol Deng scored Miami’s final nine points heading into halftime.

They were just getting warmed up. Johnson poured in Miami’s first nine points to open the third quarter, his scoring outburst causing Casey to bring James Johnson off Toronto’s bench.

That’s when Wade took over, tying the game 61-61 and then canning a jumper to put Miami up 65-63 before the end of the third quarter, giving the Heat its first lead since before their turnover-fest in the first.

Dragic scored 20 and Wade and Johnson each had 17, but the Heat's margin of error was none due to the early turnovers.

Going down 2-0 with the series shifting back to Miami would have been catastrophic for the Raptors. Now they need a win in Game 3 or Game 4 to restore home court advantage.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr