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Heat, Raptors clash in Game 2 on Thursday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 5/5/2016  at  11:15:00 AM
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MIAMI HEAT (53-37)

at TORONTO RAPTORS (60-30)

NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference – Round 2
Tip-off: Thursday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Toronto -4.5, Total: 188.0

The Heat will be looking to head back to Miami with a 2-0 series lead by defeating the Raptors in Game 2 in Toronto on Thursday.

The first game of this series was a crazy one, as the Raptors sent the game to overtime on a half-court shot to tie the game as time expired. Toronto was down three at the time, but the team still ended up falling 102-96 as a 3.5-point home favorite. Where the Raptors really got killed was on the glass, as they were outrebounded 62-47 in the game. They’ll need to do a better job of competing for loose balls on Thursday. One trend favoring Miami coming into this game is that Toronto is 4-14 ATS in all playoff games over the past three seasons. The Raptors are, however, an impressive 40-25 ATS after having lost two of their past three games over the past three seasons. PF Chris Bosh (Blood Clot) is officially out for the remainder of the year for Miami. He is likely to be the only inactive player for either team in this game.

The Heat are coming off of a huge Game 1 victory and can now really make a statement by winning Game 2 in Toronto on Thursday. SG Dwyane Wade (19.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.1 BPG in playoffs) had it going in Game 1, finishing with 24 points, six boards, four assists, three steals and two blocks in 37 minutes of action. He was very aggressive and the Heat need him to be the rest of this series. It’s also big that he is shooting the ball well. His jumper has abandoned him at times this season, but he’s been hot lately and the Heat are a much better team when he is knocking down outside shots. C Hassan Whiteside (12.6 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 3.1 BPG in playoffs) was a huge reason the Heat won the battle on the glass in Game 1. Whiteside had nine points and 17 boards in the game and will need to continue to dominate the paint on both ends of the floor. His matchup with Jonas Valanciunas is big in this series and if he can win it then the Heat will be in great shape. Perhaps the best thing Miami has going on is that PG Goran Dragic (15.6 PPG in playoffs) has taken his game to a new level recently. Over the past two games, Dragic is averaging 25.5 PPG and has done so on 21-for-37 shooting from the floor. He is being aggressive going to the basket and will need to keep it up moving forward.

The Raptors are coming off of a rough Game 1 performance and one guy that needs to be a lot better is PG Kyle Lowry (13.0 PPG, 7.4 APG, 1.5 SPG in playoffs). Lowry had just seven points on 3-for-13 shooting from the floor on Tuesday and he also was torched by Dragic on the defensive end. The Raptors need Lowry to start playing like an All-Star again and he knows the importance of his game as well. Lowry stayed at the arena to work on his shot after losing Game 1. He’ll be focused and locked in coming into Thursday’s game. SG DeMar DeRozan (18.4 PPG, 1.5 SPG) is also going to need to be more efficient for this Toronto team moving forward. He had 22 points in Game 1, but he is still shooting just 33.1% from the floor in the postseason. DeRozan is extremely athletic and is a good finisher around the rim, so he’d be wise to attack the basket more often moving forward. C Jonas Valanciunas (14.9 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG in playoffs) was the Raptors’ best player in Game 1. He had 24 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the game and was really giving Hassan Whiteside a lot of trouble on both ends of the floor. Toronto should really do its best to get him the rock early and often in Game 2.


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