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The Miami Heat lost to the Toronto Raptors 106-92 Tuesday night and now sit in seventh place in the eastern conference. The Raptors, who are in ninth place, evened its record to 38-38, its first time being .500 since Dec. 9.
The Heat are now half a game behind the Brooklyn Nets while the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors are two games behind Miami.
Leading scorer Jimmy Butler sat Tuesday night due to a sore neck. Cody Zeller made his return back to the court after being out the last six games due to a broken nose.
Shuffling things around 🔀 pic.twitter.com/g4g7i90nrO
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 28, 2023
Top Scorers on Both Sides
The Raptors had three players who recorded over 20 points: Pascal Siakam scored 26 points, O.G. Anunoby scored 22 and Scottie Barnes scored 22 as well with a career-high 12 assists.
With Butler out, the Heat had to lean on multiple players to produce numbers he would have. Tyler Herro scored 33 points and Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 12 rebounds. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the Raptors offense.
Heat Couldn’t Hold An Early Lead
Miami had an early 14-4 lead on Toronto and had smooth momentum as the game started. But after one, Toronto jumped back and made it a one point game at 24-23.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1640861951591890944?s=20
Once Miami was down, they stayed down and couldn’t complete any late comebacks. Though they did make the game within 10 in the fourth, a one minute possession that ended up with no reward hurt them. They were one of the best teams at protecting points in the paint. But after the all-star break, it has gone south as its been one of the teams biggest struggles. The Raptors were all over points in the paint as they outscored Miami 62-36 in that category.
The Heat were near perfect at the free throw line as they made 18 of 19, with Adebayo making seven of them.
What the Raptors do best is holding opponents under 100 points. And they did just that. The Raptors are a perfect 8-0 on the season when they are able to do so.
As the game progressed, it was looking more and more like the Raptors game and they took a 84-67 lead going into the fourth.
What’s Next
Miami has to bounce back from this loss quick as they turn to play the Knicks Wednesday night.
Toronto will travel to play the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday to begin its five game road trip.
