Toronto is going to face Miami for the second straight game after suffering a loss to them this past Saturday. Toronto stayed in Miami for this second game hoping to split this two-game series tonight after a tough loss in the first of the two games.
Toronto fell to the Miami Heat although they attempted to stage a comeback against the eastern conference finals runner up. The Heat were blowing Toronto out for most of that game and Toronto really couldn’t find their rhythm until the second half. You could say the run was sparked by the scuffle Raptors rookie Christian Koloko got into with Heat Forward Caleb Martin.
Last game showed how much fight Toronto has with them being able to cut down a 24 point lead and ultimately falling by a mere three points despite all the issues in this game. Fred VanVleet had an odd outing with four fouls and 0 points in the first half and foul trouble plagued him the rest of the game, Sophomore Scottie Barnes suffered an ankle injury after having a wonderful start to the game chipping in 11 points in 13 minutes.
Toronto will have to face Miami again without the help of Scottie Barnes, but they do have the return of bench piece Chris Boucher to look forward to and he should help with bench scoring that the Raptors really need.
Last game, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry did most of the work along with a surprising 20 point performance from Max Strus so the Raptors will be looking to contain these guys tonight like they did to Bam Adebayo this past Saturday.
Should be an entertaining game tonight and the Raptors have a little extra motivation after Christian Koloko was tackled by Caleb Martin. Pascal Siakam has been brilliant this season and we hope he can get someone else to come along for the ride because to beat Miami tonight he’ll need all the help he can get.
Raptors Lineup
Chris Boucher has been upgraded to questionable for this game. Otto Porter Jr. (hamstring) remains out. Scottie Barnes is questionable(ankle)
PG: Fred VanVleet, Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn
SG: Gary Trent Jr., Jeff Dowtin Jr., Ron Harper Jr.
SF: O.G. Anunoby, Justin Champagnie
PF: Precious Achiuwa, Thaddeus Young, Juancho Hernangomez
C: Pascal Siakam, Christian Koloko, Khem Birch
Heat Lineup
Latest update: Victor Oladipo (left knee) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle) are day to day. Caleb Martin out serving a one game suspension.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent
SG: Tyler Herro, Max Strus, Dru Smith
SF: Duncan Robinson, Jamal Cain
PF: Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Udonis Haslem
C: Bam Adebayo, Dewayne Dedmon
The Line
Miami is favored by 4 points. The Over/Under is 217.5.
