“We got spanked today,” James Johnson told the media in a postgame scrum.
Yes, James. Yes, you did.
The Toronto Raptors showed up to America Airlines Arena Sunday evening, sure, but they did not show up to play. The Raptors lost to the Miami Heat 96-76, despite leading by seven at one point in the first half. What looked to be an entertaining game early devolved into sheer chaos and for most fans, abhorrence. That is not what professional basketball should look like.
Where do you even begin with this doozy of a game?
DeMarre Carroll was kept out of Sunday’s game as he deals with plantar fasciitis, a common but unforgiving injury for many basketball players. Apparently, Carroll’s been dealing with it since the season began, but with each game, playing through the pain becomes more difficult. Carroll remarked that his stubbornness made the decision difficult, but the Raptors’ coaching staff ultimately made the right decision in sitting him last night.
As a result, James Johnson got the starting nod at small forward. Johnson, for the most part, replicates what Carroll brings to the Raptors, albeit not as efficiently or consistently. He finished the night with seven points, seven boards, and two assists in 26 minutes. He probably would have played more had he not been so liberal with his play in the third quarter — one turnover, two missed field goals — but then again, Johnson wasn’t the only one playing hero ball.
Kyle Lowry made a concerted effort to bring the Raptors back into the game in the third, too. Unfortunately, he also failed. Lowry played all 12 minutes in the third quarter, and unsurprisingly flaunted a team-low -14 in that quarter alone.
We know the drill. When the Raptors start slipping, Lowry takes it personally. Sometimes — or more specifically, when he’s lucky — Lowry can singlehandedly will the Raptors to a win in those situations. In Sunday’s game against the Heat, however, Lowry all but cemented the Raptors’ loss. Bricked pull-up threes, wild drives through traffic…like I said, we know the drill.
But where did the Raptors go wrong? What got them into that situation in the first place?
There are plenty of reasons. Like, a lot. Many more than we’d like to admit. It was one of those games.
For instance, Jonas Valanciunas put in a beastly line of 16 points and four rebounds in the first half. He shot 8-for-11 from the field. Guess how many field goal attempts he had in the second half. Just guess. Give up?
One.
Valanciunas, despite leading the Raptors’ offense in the first half, took one shot in the second half. The Raptors simply stopped looking for him. Sure, the Heat changed the way they guarded Valanciunas in the second half — he saw guards digging down when he caught the ball in the post, and even a double at one point — but the Raptors’ reluctance to feed him the ball because the Heat adapted their defense to stop him is, no matter how you cut it, inexcusable. One shot attempt!
Two players took half of the Raptors’ field goal attempts in the second half, and they’re the two you’d expect. The first was Lowry, and the second was DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan was a mixed bag, overall. He scored 16 points on 14 shots, got to the free throw line six times, snagged a board and dished out three assists. You know, normal DeRozan stuff. However, he also had six turnovers. A few weren’t entirely his fault, including a mishandled pass he received on the left block, but his inability to control the ball hurt the Raptors immensely. If you remove his six turnovers from the equation, the Raptors only turned the ball over 10 times last night. You can win with that.
But again, it’s important to stress that last night’s loss wasn’t any one player’s fault. No one really showed up. Not a single player felt sticking to Dwane Casey’s principles on offense or defense was necessary, and each player, at one point or another, tried to make a hero ball play. Yes, even Cory Joseph.
Seriously, it’s all in the box score: The Raptors snagged seven offensive rebounds and converted on one putback. Conversely, the Heat had 12 second-chance opportunities and converted on seven. The Raptors grabbed 38 rebounds to the Heat’s 48. The Raptors turned the ball over 16 times, while the Heat only turned it over 10 times. The Raptors were simply outplayed on both ends of the floor.
The Heat didn’t win this game, the Raptors lost it. 5-2 isn’t bad, but losing two winnable games in a row isn’t great for morale.
