10 things from Raptors-Heat

Here’s 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors’ 117-109 overtime win over the Miami Heat.

One - Desperation: Miami’s season was on the line, and it took Toronto’s best efforts to hold them off. The Heat capitalized on some sluggish defense early by parading to the basket for layups, but the Raptors eventually woke up and started out-executing the Heat. The Raptors can secure home-court advantage against the Warriors if they finish the regular season with one last win over the Timberwolves.

Two - Proud: Dwyane Wade can hold his head high after finishing with 21 points and five assists in what is likely the last road game of his legendary career. Wade battled to the end to create chances, came up clutch with unthinkable threes, won key offensive rebounds that most 36-year-olds would hurt themselves jumping for, but his teammates just couldn’t make enough plays to deliver the win.

Three - Unimaginative: Nick Nurse might have his reasons to not call a set play, but it’s unacceptable that so many possessions in crunch time come down to Kawhi Leonard dribbling and attacking a set defense. He can be a great finisher, but Leonard isn’t exactly James Harden off the dribble. He’s at his best when he catches it in the post, before facing up and attacking from the midrange like Carmelo Anthony. The Raptors wasted a chance to end the game in regulation because Leonard dribbled for 20 seconds before clanking a contested three over James Johnson, and they simply can’t afford these mistakes when it counts.

Four - Execution: Unsurprisingly, the Raptors got their best looks in overtime when they moved the ball. Marc Gasol picked out a pair of gorgeous high-low feeds that led to a layup and a corner three, and Leonard even ran a pick-and-roll with Kyle Lowry which ended in a swing sequence that settled in Pascal Siakam knocking down a corner three to ice the win.

Five - Patience: OG Anunoby is clearly rusty after missing nearly two weeks with concussion-like symptoms. He was a step slow defensively against James Johnson, and he made poor reads on offense which led to ill-advised layups and contested triples. Nevertheless, Nick Nurse stuck with Anunoby for extended minutes in an effort to get him back on track, and that’s the right concession in these mostly meaningless games. However, power forward depth will be an issue if Anunoby continues to struggle. The Raptors don’t have enough wings to effectively play small ball without Anunoby, and should consider adding one more emergency body for the stretch run.

Six - Spark: Thankfully, the Raptors got an inspired performance off the bench from Norman Powell to make up for Anunoby’s off night. Powell shook the Raptors out of their slumber with two hard drives in the second quarter, and he bailed the Raptors out of several stale possessions with some unlikely threes in the second half. Powell remains an all-or-nothing type of player, but at least the highs have been higher of late. He finished with 23 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the field.

Seven - Clever: The Raptors consistently dial up great set plays after timeouts (even if this doesn’t always apply in crunch time). One favorite they’re featuring lately is the ‘Hammer set’ where Danny Green comes around a screen on the weak side to hit the corner three after receiving a cross-court feed along the baseline. The Cavaliers used to run this play all the time where LeBron James would drive and kick to Kyle Korver.

Eight - Smarts: Miami stifled Toronto with a zone defense in the second quarter, but the Raptors are well-equipped to counter such looks going forward. Gasol’s playmaking is an obvious solution, but Nurse also found a solution in the second half where Anunoby and later Siakam operated as the center flashing in the middle of the floor while Serge Ibaka crashed in from the weak side.

Nine - Bold: It’s still not a guarantee that Siakam can translate his production into the postseason, but he continues to perform under pressure. Not only did Siakam drill a crucial corner three in overtime, but he also made contributions across the board despite not being featured in the offense. Siakam only needed 10 shots to create 23 points, and he also chipped in on the glass with 10 rebounds.

Ten - Caution: There’s always some inherent danger with playing a hungry team at the end of the regular season. Just last year, the Raptors lost Fred VanVleet for most of the first round after Bam Adebayo clobbered him with a bone-crunching screen as Dwane Casey pushed his team in vain to chase 60 wins. Adebayo also threw his weight around in this game, but this time he sustained the hit as Lowry ran through his knee while Adebayo stuck his leg out on a suspicious screen.

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