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Carroll and Deng updates, the $1,000 shoelace, and other post-game notes

The Raptors take a 3-2 series lead and now have two chances to close out.

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The Toronto Raptors made it interesting, they made it exciting, and they made it terrifying. In the end, though, they won Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead against the Miami Heat, giving themselves two chances to close out and reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. Damn.

Bismaaaaaaaack

The play of Bismack Biyombo since Jonas Valanciunas went down can not be overstated. A game after posting a team-high plus-11 but sitting late in the fourth and into overtime over offensive concerns, Biyombo played 38 minutes, including the entire close-out run. He “only” had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, but several of those buckets were huge momentum builders. His six rebounds were light by his standards, but he also tipped several, had a pair of steals, and blocked four shots. In the end, he was a plus-15, and the Biyombo-Patrick Patterson duo was once again terrific (they were a plus-21 in 26 minutes in Game 4 and a plus-8 in 35 minutes in Game 5).

“I think it speaks for itself, the energy that he brings at both ends,” DeRozan said. “It’s amazing, especially when he did the Usain Bolt.”

“Set the tone that way,” Casey said of Biyombo’s physicality. “I thought it was important for him to be able to get those rebounds…He and Patrick did an excellent job in the paint.”


Going small to match Miami late was something Casey was criticized for in Game 4, and the Heat expected them to change course.

“We anticipated that. And the way this series is going, you can’t be surprised by anything,” Spoelstra said. “You saw it. The blockouts, we’re putting bodies on them and we’re getting thrown around…But we had some advantage the other way. That’s the give and take of it.”

A game after Miami’s centerless group was a plus-14 in 10 minutes, they were “just” a plus-5 in 16 minutes. That’s not great for the Raptors if the Heat opt to get even more aggressive going small – the Raptors were a plus-16 with Udonis Haslem or what’s left of Amar’e Stoudemire on the floor – and they may still eventually need to toy with matching small when Biyombo hits the bench, given how middling Lucas Nogueira and Jason Thompson have played in the backup center spot.

Lowry and DeRozan look like Lowry and DeRozan<

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan did their best impressions of regular season Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in this one, and it’s amazing how much more seamless success for this team feels when, you know, their two best players are playing well. Lowry hit several huge shots and was a game-high plus-25 (shocking, I know), finishing with 25-10-6 with three steals, though he took 25 field-goal attempts to get to 25 points. DeRozan, meanwhile, went 11-of-22 for 34 points in what was maybe his best offensive night of the postseason, dishing two assists and jumping lanes for two steals (he was a plus-five, as lineups without Lowry continued to be awful).

Their nights weren’t perfect, but they were closer to what the team has come to expect from their stars. It was their highest combined point total of the playoffs and the best they’ve played as a duo, at least in this series. That’s huge.

“Couldn’t even tell you,” DeRozan said, laughing, when asked what changed. “We just try to go out there and be aggressive…Shots just wasn’t dropping for us…We were just going to continue being aggressive.”

In terms of what changed, Casey thought the Raptors getting the transition game going early helped.

“I thought that was the difference to start the game. That’s a very prideful team,” Casey said. “We were able to get out and get some easy points off our defense. I thought it helped Kyle’s rhythm, it helped DeMar’s rhythm, to get out in transition like that and get some easy buckets.”

As for Casey’s RIDE OR DIE faith in them? Vindicated, for a night.

“They’re our guys. We can disparage them all we want to and talk about how bad their shooting is. You don’t forget how to score the basketball,” he said. “It’s gonna come back. They’ve carried us the entire season and not one time did we doubt their ability to score the basketball.”

Spoelstra agreed that the Heat let Lowry and DeRozan get into too much of a rhythm early on thanks to a lack of discipline on Miami’s part.

“You have to credit them. Look, they’re All-Stars. You have to embrace and take the challenge on good players in this league,” he said. “Even with all that said, you still have the opportunity to win.”

“They made shots. They’re All-Star players, they’re gonna get going at some point,” Wade echoed.

The Raptors and Heat played each other tight with Lowry and DeRozan shooting poorly. They played each other tight with them shooting better. The latter is the preference, but rest assured, Game 6 is going to be tight no matter what.

“Me and DeMar, we’re our closers,” Lowry said of his clutch shots.

Carroll and Deng trade wrist injuries

Just as both teams lost their starting centers in Game 3, both teams may have lost their starting combo-forwards in Game 5. DeMarre Carroll and Luol Deng both left the game in the second half due to wrist injuries, with Carroll’s being called a contusion following negative X-rays and Deng’s X-rays coming back inconclusive.

“X-rays were negative. So, see how he is come next game,” Casey said of Carroll. Carroll was undergoing further tests and was not made available to the media. The team may not have MRI results until the morning.

Spoelstra, meanwhile, said Deng had X-rays and is set for an MRI when the team returns to Miami.

“It’s very unfortunate. Obviously, I don’t know what happened with Luol yet, but he’s an important part of our team, like Carroll’s a big part of their team,” Wade said. “That’s the worst part of the game, injuries…We will continue to move on. Hopefully Luol is with us, if he’s not, the next guy will have to step up.”

“We have enough,” Spoelstra added about the team’s depth.


DeRozan left the game briefly after aggravating his injured right thumb, and Casey admitted he didn’t think they’d get him back. Instead, Alex McKechnie worked his “magic” and DeRozan was able to fight through it, even going 11-of-11 at the line. That’s encouraging. And hey, whatever works, right?

DeRozan said his thumb feels “like a blowtorch on my hand.” He said he jammed it again before exiting, saying he had “no doubt in my mind” he was returning, but he was making sure everything was stable. “Thousand dollar shoelace, that’s all I can say,” DeRozan joked.

Assorted


*Wade on the back-to-the-wall situation in Game 6: “It’s the playoffs, man. You enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy the environment, you’re not gonna be successful. Tonight was a great environment to play in”


*Casey, on Lowry’s face: “Kyle Lowry looks like a boxer, cuts on both eyelids.”

*A good quote from Spoelstra on how tight everything’s been offensively: “I think it’s a big part of it, how both teams are defending each team. Neither team played like this during the regular season. it’s just coming down to that. How many plays you can make during the course of the game, how efficient you can be with your offense…and inevitably it comes down to the final possessions.”

It sure does.

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