Quick Reaction: Raptors 87, Heat 94 – Series Tied 2-2

His impact was mostly on the defensive end, having done a hell of a job on Joe Johnson. He hit a couple shots, none bigger than the put back in the 4th to put the Raptors back up by 4 with 3 minutes left in the game, but did literally nothing else. Still, solid job on Joe Johnson…hate Joe Johnson…

OT: tapped in ball, on own net. ಠ_ಠ

Another solid game where he brought the goods. Never settled for the jumper when he could put it on the floor and get himself a better shot with a runner or layup. Has that “I deserve to be here” mentality that the rest of the Raptors need to fucking pick up and use already. We’re this close to the ECF, and this is the only (healthy and available) starter who has that attitude.

OT: got lost in no-man’s land again on Dragic, who blew by him off the bounce, hit a layup AND1….Heat up 3…Raptors done.

Amare. LOL. Seriously, Biyombo was a savage tonight, and the Raptors would have fallen into a deep-deep whole in without him. He had really big shoes to fill, and filled them admirably. Obviously not a long term replacement, but damn, he played well (even had a sweet shovel pass to Carroll under the basket on the break).

The Heat weren’t going to let him repeat game 3 offensively, so they swarmed, rotated and let him shoot himself in the foot (he didn’t do himself any favours with a few of those shots he took). Fortunately, he found other ways to contribute (take note, DeMar) with 9ast 7rebs 4stls before fouling out. I dunno, man…this is getting hard to stomach…

I’m a DeRozan apologist, so I’m sorry..I’m sorry he took so so so so many bad shots. Even missing 3 of 4 free throws; that’s your bread and butter, son. Gotta hit those. Appreciate the hustle, but thumb injured? Sit, man. Just sit. You’re not helping anyone. Again, appreciate the effort.

OT: didn’t settle for a jumpers, but instead put the ball on the floor and made a couple flacid attempts off the bounce before finishing with his left to cut deficit to 2 with under a minute left; that was it.

1st half: bad Ross. 2nd half: really-good Ross. Seemed engage (even while he made more bad decisions than good in the 1st), but two key plays in the third (a three then drew a foul on a three) put the Raptors up 5 for the first time all game. Then two key plays in the 4th (both transition threes putting the Raptors up 5 and 7 respectively) were absolutely momentum changing for the Raptors. Probably gave him too high a score for committing so many defensive sins, but he did what we needed him to do (buckets) when we needed him to do it. I can live with that considering our defense was doing it’s job for the most part all night anyways.

OT: grab the rebound, man. Grab it. We needed possession…

Another tale of two halfs: I thought he did a pretty good job (considering) in the 1st where his help defense was huge in altering shots by Wade, and had a nice rolling dunk off the two-man-game with Ross. He saw time in the fourth for some God-forsaken reason…could have been worse, so that’s something, but he really looked out of place, and frankly, it wasn’t fair throwing him out there like that in the first place.

Mixed results in the fourth and OT with Lowry having fouled out, but he played well. That was a big time jumper inside the three point line putting the Raptors up 4 with under 2 minutes left in the 4th, but he inconceivably got two iso plays called for him that he obviously couldn’t convert to win the game with under a minute left. Steadying force with Lowry in the game, and especially steadying force with him out, but he did little to make his teammates better.

OT: unable to score or facilitate

Norm is just too undersized to deal with Miami’s wings, but it’s not for lack of trying. Offensively, he played within himself, and the flow of the game, took good shots and hit the ones he needed to (dunk on the break and a three). Nothing else really, just not a good match-up for him.

Not sure what he was thinking putting Bebe out there in the fourth, otherwise did a pretty good job of countering lineups and keeping shit together when things looked bleak heading into the half. Must have had a hell of a half-time speech. Had the balls to keep DeMar benched for most of the fourth when playing him would have cost the game for sure. Called a few uninspired plays for Corey at the end of the 4th when just a little more creativity might have opened up a lane or something. Hard to operate when Lowry get’s fouled (Cojo isn’t a threat from deep even though Lowry isn’t shooting well).

OT: team looked disorganized, and like…DeRozan? Really? Not sure whatever choice he had, but James Johnson for defense and size? Biz? Timeout often? Could have used one…all of them. Fuck…