The Toronto Raptors very nearly stole Game 1 from the Miami Heat, insomuch as you can steal a game on your own court. Trailing by six in the closing moments, a handful of odd, weird, strange, timely plays put the Raptors within three with 3.3 seconds left on the clock, without a timeout.
And then Kyle Lowry hit a ridiculous half-court heave to send the game to overtime.
“OK, so I’ll lead this off,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before the media could ask a question. “I know there’s probably some angle that, yeah, we let it go and didn’t respect it. I’ll tell you what, Toronto made every play they needed to make down the stretch…They made big-time plays going down the stretch. And Kyle Lowry’s three, as soon as it left his hand, I think everybody in the building kind of had an idea that it’d go. ”
“From that point on,” Spoelstra said. “I was extremely proud of the group.”
From that point on, the Raptors didn’t offer much resistance, at least initially. They got back down eight in a hurry, and then somehow cut the lead to three and got the ball back again, through another peculiar series of events. DeMar DeRozan lost the handle on a crossover on a play designed to get Terrence Ross a look in the corner, Dwyane Wade ran the floor and very barely finished a game-sealing and-one, and the Raptors once again found themselves in a 1-0 series hole.
“I unfortunately had a very good look at it, and I was like no way, this is not gonna happen,” Wade said. “When it goes in, you’re crushed for a minute.”
Wade was a major story, doing typical Wade things and carrying the Heat offense down the stretch and in overtime. Spoelstra called it Wade willing the team to plays down the stretch despite some fatigue, and both coaches agree on the importance of those plays.
“Those plays were backbreakers,” Dwane Casey said.
“That’s the mental toughness that he always shows in these moments,” Spoelstra said, almost as if Wade’s been closing out games for over a decade. “The overtime was probably the most mental toughness I think we’ve shown. To be able to come from that, the natural human condition obviously for Lowry to hit that bomb, you have to collect yourself. I would think some of what we went through last series helped with that.”
Chris Bosh made a contribution tonight. He was the guy who spoke to the team before the overtime and told them to relax and re-focus
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) May 4, 2016
The Raptors walk away disappointed, once again having surrendered home court in the opening game of a series, but they were happy with their own persistence down the stretch, even if they made some mistakes to make it necessary and couldn’t ultimately close out.
“You always think that: You had an opportunity to win,” Casey said. “There was a stretch there where we just didn’t execute on either end. In a playoff situation, every possession’s important…I liked our battle, I liked our fight…We’ve just gotta clean up some things and make sure we execute in certain situations.”
Biyombo says the Raptors relaxed heading into OT, didn’t compete properly. “If we’re going to lose, we gotta lose competing.”
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 4, 2016
Part of why the Raptors were in that hole late was that despite his late-game heroics, Lowry had an uncharacteristically poor night, decidedly losing the point guard battle against former teammate Goran Dragic. Casey was quick to point to Lowry’s plus-seven mark and some gritty plays late in the game, but this wasn’t entirely the Lowry who made a major impact in the Indiana series with his jumper missing in action. He was better late
“We know he’s not shooting the ball well,” Casey said. “We have to believe in him. We do believe in him, and he’s gonna come out of it. As long as he does the things like he did at the end of the game…he gives us so much more than shooting the basketball.”
Spoelstra’s comments on Dragic’s big game, after having some Round One struggles of his own, could easily apply to Lowry.
“That’s the playoffs,” Spoelstra said. “Some nights it’s going to be your opportunity, some nights (somebody gets you).”
Lowry, by the way, was unavailable immediately following the game because he was up in the practice gym shooting.
Wade just joked Lowry's 3FG% is "like my regular season," says that means he's on track to hit some big 3s soon.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) May 4, 2016
Lowry said he's been in a slump like this, but not at this time. Said it sucks knowing all eyes are on you when shooting poorly
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 4, 2016
Lowry stood in the middle of the room and took every question. said he's got to figure this out. Called the slump mind boggling.
— Chris O'Leary (@olearychris) May 4, 2016
The Raptors might be able to steal a game or two with Lowry playing below his standards, particularly if DeMar DeRozan at least has a decent showing. On Tuesday, Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas both stepped up in major ways in support, too, the former a pleasant surprise after an impact-free first round and the latter a necessity for a seven-game battle with Hassan Whiteside.
“Somebody else has to step up. I thought T-Ross got out of his, and gave us some punch off the bench,” Casey said, also calling it one of Valanciunas’ “best” games before turning back to Ross. “I think I said it before, we need him. We need his scoring, we need his shooting until Kyle gets his jump shot going again.
The game started out nearly as ugly as it ended, with the score stuck at 8-4 almost halfway through the first quarter. With a quick turnaround from series finales on the weekend, both teams may have been a little tired and a little less prepared than they’d like.
“There was no rhythm to it, I think is what you’re saying,” Casey said. “We wanted to create a tempo…We got a little frenetic.”
The Raptors also rolled with their fourth different starting lineup of the playoffs already, and that group played the Heat even in 16 minutes. They looked particularly strong defending early on, but the Raptors want to play a little faster than they did (that group averaged 96.5 possessions per-48 minutes, much faster than the Raptors normally play, albeit right in line with the rest of the game).
“Defensively, I thought the matchups were better for us,” Casey said. “But again, I thought the tempo, the pace of the game that it created was good for us. We’ve gotta continue to push the pace, makes or misses.”
There’s only a day for the Raptors to turn around and bounce back before Game 2 tips off Thursday, and they have a few points beyond tempo to work on. Casey highlighted the need to keep Dragic from getting penetration, they want to rebound better, and they obviously need Lowry or DeRozan to shoot a little better. Those tasks are easier said than done, but maybe there’s some confidence from already having erased a 1-0 series deficit.
“It’s basketball. A series is a series. It’s difficult,” DeRozan said. “There’s a few things we made a mistake on and still had a chance to win. Now it’s just more of a challenge, that’s all.”
A lot of weird, little things.
DEMAR
gm1: Good or bad, I got the utmost confidence in him. It’s gonna come around.
