 | Miami | 94 | Final Box Score | 96 | Toronto |  |
 B | D. Carroll22 MIN, 7 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 2-4 FG, 2-3 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -4 +/- His activity level was high and his shooting was effective but this was one of those games where he just didn’t seem to have the speed necessary to keep up. He wasn’t really bad but PJ Tucker seemed to be coming up with more impact plays so DeMarre’s minutes were cut. | ||||||||
 B+ | S. Ibaka30 MIN, 11 PTS, 9 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-9 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 7 +/- He’s struggling to get synced up with Kyle Lowry and if he’s not getting wide open looks he can struggle to put up points but his shooting opened things up for DeRozan and his defense against this very aggressive Heat team made a big difference. He really struggled to hold his position on the defensive glass and it cost the Raptors at times. | ||||||||
 B+ | J. Valanciunas30 MIN, 9 PTS, 10 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-9 FG, 0-1 3FG, 1-2 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- This felt like the most Valanciunas has contributed to a game without scoring in quite a while. He frustrated Whiteside with his activity, kept the Heat off the glass, defended the rim effectively and made mostly good decisions on both ends. | ||||||||
 A | D. DeRozan38 MIN, 38 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 14-32 FG, 0-1 3FG, 10-11 FT, 1 BLK, 6 TO, 0 +/- This was one of those mixed bag performances from DeRozan. His shot selection was okay and his scoring was pretty good but he made some really questionable decisions with the ball at some key moments. Thankfully the Heat failed to capitalize on them, but they really could have swung the game. The shooting touch isn’t where it needs to be come playoff time but it looked better tonight than it had the previous couple of games. | ||||||||
 B+ | K. Lowry36 MIN, 12 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 5-14 FG, 1-5 3FG, 1-5 FT, 0 BLK, 5 TO, 0 +/- I’m grading him on a curve here, considering he’s just coming back I won’t be too hard on him. He got some open looks but didn’t convert them, his 1-5 shooting from the line suggests that he may still need a few games to really get back in rhythm. His defense was solid and the Raptors still look their best when he’s at the helm regardless of what his individual statistics look like for the night. | ||||||||
 A | P. Tucker27 MIN, 0 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 3 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 4 +/- It feels like he got his hands on every loose ball while he was on the court. Tapping back the missed Lowry free throw in crunch time was huge as was helping to recover the ball after one of DeRozan’s late turnovers. He didn’t make a single shot but was easily one of the best players on the floor. | ||||||||
 A+ | C. Joseph26 MIN, 14 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 5-10 FG, 2-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 3 +/- The three steals he got were works of art and this was one of his better shooting performances. The Heat guards were held in check and Corey’s pesky defense was a huge part of that and with Lowry still getting his touch back this shooting performance couldn’t have come at a better time. | ||||||||
 B+ | P. Patterson22 MIN, 3 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 1-5 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- Like Tucker he didn’t contribute much as far as box score stats go but he was his usual active self on defense and he kept the ball moving on offense. | ||||||||
 B | D. Wright5 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -2 +/- He didn’t really get a chance to do much good but he didn’t play particularly poorly in his limited minutes so he just gets defaulted to a B. | ||||||||
 C+ | J. Poeltl3 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/- I feel kind of bad for this because it’s not like he was given a chance to make up for the poor play in his brief stretch, but when called on to fill in for Valanciunas and Ibaka he just seemed completely overmatched out there. | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- There were way too many turnovers committed and a lot of them seemed to be unforced errors. Guards were leaving their feet without knowing where the ball was going to go or playing like they had never seen a full court press before. It’s likely just an off night but this is something they need to be wary of when the playoffs come around and the opponent plays with this level of intensity every night.
- Rebounding was an issue in the fourth quarter so hopefully Casey is flexible on his “no fourth quarter minutes for Valanciunas(unless there’s foul trouble) policy. The Raptors have actually been pretty good defensively with Valanciunas on the court over the last little while and he’s easily their best defensive rebounder, if the first round matchup ends up having a Whiteside or a Howard they may want to consider reserving some crunch time minutes for their big man.
- The fourth quarter rebounding could have been a lot worse if not for some active hands from PJ Tucker and DeMar DeRozan. Rebounding from the wings and backcourt has been an issue for the Raptors over the last few years but this is something that has been much improved lately, particularly from DeRozan. Tucker’s hustle forces DeRozan to do more just to keep up and the team is much better for it.
