After falling behind by 17 points with 7:02 left in the third quarter, the HEAT clawed back to take the lead early in the fourth but couldn’t quite hold on in a tough 107-103 loss to the Raptors Monday afternoon at HP Field House in Orlando.
Despite the disappointing result, let’s take a look at how Miami made it a game.
1. Dragić Turns Things Around
With the HEAT laboring a bit at the break, Goran Dragić provided a major spark in the second half and helped the team climb out of its double-digit deficit.
Not only did he breathe fire with 11 points in the third quarter, including this remarkable finish over Serge Ibaka just before the buzzer,…
…but he also carried over his sharp play into the fourth.
How so?
Well, he drew an important charge on Fred VanVleet with 52.2 seconds left and then hit a bucket with contact immediately thereafter on the other end.
Long story short, Dragić did all he could.
When it was all said and done, the Dragon amassed a team-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-7 from distance, five boards, five assists, a game-high two steals (tied with Jimmy Butler), one block and a game-high plus-15 rating.
2. Crowder Stays Strong on Both Ends
From the start, Jae Crowder dug in defensively against multiple guys, including Pascal Siakam, and continued to space the floor for Miami.
That said, Crowder’s biggest contribution came in the fourth, where he led all players with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
In all, the 30-year-old tallied 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-10 from deep, six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
3. Bubble Kelly Keeps It Up
Although Kelly Olynyk didn’t quite have a 20-point quarter like he did against the Nuggets, he still made an impact versus Toronto.
In addition to some of his usual treys off nifty fakes...
…he also fought hard on the offensive glass and played stout defense inside more often than not.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough in the end.
Olynyk finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-11 from downtown, four rebounds (three offensive), two assists, one steal, one block and a plus-10 rating.
Other Takeaways:
-Butler came out of the gate super aggressive and scored the HEAT’s first six points of the contest.
Of course, he also got the job done defensively as well.
Butler ended up with 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the line, seven boards, a game-high five assists (tied with four others), a game-high two steals (tied with Dragić) and a game-high two blocks (tied with Kendrick Nunn and Kyle Lowry).
-While Bam Adebayo didn’t score as much as he’s accustomed to, he really emptied the tank defensively against Siakam and others.
Adebayo concluded with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, a game-high eight rebounds (tied with Lowry), four assists, one steal and that block above.
Game Note:
-Kyle Alexander, Solomon Hill, KZ Okpala and Chris Silva were inactive.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will get right back to it on Tuesday at 6:30PM against the Celtics. You can catch the game on either FOX Sports Sun or TNT.