Game Rap: Raptors 116, Heat 89

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

Kyle Lowry hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game to put the Raptors ahead by 25 with 3:24 remaining. Both teams pulled the majority of their starters shortly after as Toronto cruised to a 116-89 victory to take the series 4-3 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It will be the first trip to the conference finals in franchise history.

Both teams opened the game with a bit of nervous energy, but Toronto quickly set an aggressive tone, getting to the free throw line 10 times in the quarter to help build a 25-24 lead after one. DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 11 in the opening frame, shooting 5-for-12 from the floor.

Miami didn’t allow Toronto to make much of a jump in the second, despite shooting 56 percent in the quarter compared to Toronto’s 41 percent shooting. Kyle Lowry took over for DeMar DeRozan in the second quarter, scoring 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting while getting to the line six times. Toronto lead by six at the half.

Toronto came out firing to start the third, and Bismack Biyombo seemed to be everywhere, on both ends of the court, as he fired up the crowd and helped the Raptors build a 17-point lead midway through the quarter. Closing out quarters strong has been an achilles’ heel for the Raptors this season, and it continued on Friday with the Heat trimming Toronto’s advantage to eight at the end of the third with Kyle Lowry on the bench.

Things clicked on both ends for the Raptors in the fourth, and they outscored the Heat 30-11 in the quarter. Toronto was 10-for-23 in the fourth, while the Heat managed to make just 3-of-13 field goals. The Raptors had a well-balanced scoring attack to close out the game as Bismack Biyombo scored eight points in the fourth and Kyle Lowry added seven, with eight different Raptors players scoring in the quarter.

Kyle Lowry was magnificent in Game 7, rising to the occasion and embracing the moment with a performance to remember. He led all scorers with 35 points in 42 minutes on 11-for-20 shooting. He shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, 8-for-11 from the free throw line and added seven rebounds, nine assists and four steals. When Lowry was on the floor, the Raptors were a +31 in the game.

Bismack Biyombo played 41 minutes and left his impact all over the Air Canada Centre court as he continued to start in place of the injured Jonas Valanciunas. Biyombo scored 17 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and added an assist and two blocked shots. He made 6-of-8 field goals, 5-of-12 free throws, and had six of Toronto’s 20 offensive rebounds as they dominated the glass throughout the game.

“I just make a speech before every game. This time it was all about our satisfaction. I had one question for everybody: are we satisfied with what we've done individually and what we've done collectively as a team, how far we've come? Do we want more? Do we want to go even further? Do we want to make history? Do we want to keep playing or do we want to go home? Hopefully that was positive energy for my teammates.”- Patrick Patterson on his pre-game speech to his teammates

50…Rebounds for Toronto, just 30 for the Heat. The Raptors held a 20-7 edge on the offensive glass as they took advantage of the Heat electing to go with a smaller lineup.

28…Points, eight rebounds, and an assist for DeMar DeRozan.

27…Second chance points for the Raptors, nine for the Heat.

16…Fast break points for Toronto, compared to six for the Heat.

11…Points, 11 rebounds for Patrick Patterson who grabbed seven offensive rebounds, as many as the entire Heat team. DeMarre Carroll also added 14 points, including two big 3-pointers, as all five Raptors starters reached double-figures.

“For the franchise, I think it’s another step for us. We’re not there yet. You can just see the growth of the players, the confidence they have in each other and what we’re doing, the buy-in over the last three or four years is good to see. We’re not a finished product yet.”- Dwane Casey on taking another step forward and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals

“DeMarre is one of the toughest guys I've played with. He just brings that energy, that mindset that pushes us, he's been pushing me and this guy every single day, and a lot of people look at us being the leaders of this team, but DeMarre is definitely one of the leaders of this team as well, and he leads by example.”- DeMar DeRozan on the toughness DeMarre Carroll has shown throughout the postseason

“The moment, and what it means, I think tonight was huge for both he and DeMar. I thought they both stepped up at the right time, at the right game at the right place. And not only the offensive end, I thought Kyle’s defence was extraordinary. I thought he was into the basketball with some of his best pick and roll defence, hounding the ball, dictating direction was huge."- Dwane Casey on the play of his two All-Stars

"Probably the third quarter. We haven't played that type of basketball in the third quarter in the whole series. We came out and told them we weren't going to take no more. We kept running it down their throat, and doing it on the defensive end."- DeMarre Carroll on when he felt like Toronto had taken control of the game

“Before we went to Miami it was pretty loud. Coming back here for Game 7, it was unbelievable to me. We found a way to start the game strong. We played a s team on both ends of the floor, we shared the ball and I think that was key for us. Also, the intensity. Everybody know what it was going to take for us to win the game. We knew it was Game 7, and we knew the mistakes we made in Miami. Coming back home we had to find a way to correct those mistakes.”- Bismack Biyombo on the atmosphere inside the ACC

“It’s great to hear the home crowd. The organization deserves it, this country deserves it, to see it get to the next step and go somewhere it hasn’t been. But we’re not done yet.”- DeMar DeRozan on hearing the crowd in the final minutes of the game with the series wrapped up

The Raptors head to Cleveland to prepare for Game 1 against the Cavaliers on Tuesday at 8:30 P.M. ET