Holly MacKenzie – Raptors.com
After a 102-96 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday, the Toronto Raptors are hoping to tie the series at the Air Canada Centre tonight. Game 1 featured plenty of turnovers and mental mistakes from both teams, with Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry calling it a “feeling out” type of game. Miami’s Goran Dragic led all scorers in the Heat win with 26 points, while Dwyane Wade added 24 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 24 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Tip-off – 8PM
Air Canada Centre doors open: – 6:30PM
Broadcast info: SN | TSN1050 RADIO | ESPN
Ford Fanzone open: 6PM
Pregame Show: 6:30PM on NBA TV Canada
LESSONS LEARNED
Keeping Composure Is Key: Thanks to a furious late rally, a Kyle Lowry buzzer-beating three from beyond halfcourt forced overtime in Game 1. Unfortunately for Toronto, the Heat opened the extra session with an 8-0 run and the Raptors had a few too many turnovers down the stretch to complete the comeback attempt. Head coach Dwane Casey talked about the importance of his team playing with poise in close-game situations against the veteran Miami roster.
“That’s the experience that comes into play of not having turnovers at that time, making quality shots and not coming down and taking quick shots just because another team has come down and made a run,” Casey said. “Good teams are in the playoffs, they’re there for a reason. Other teams are going to make runs. There are very few sweeps that are going to happen. Look at San Antonio, they got beat at home by OKC after beating them by 20 or whatever. That’s going to happen, so we have to keep our poise, compete with poise and not get rattled when the other team makes a run.”
BOUNCE BACK MENTALITY
Ready For Game 2: Despite dropping the first game of the series for the second time this postseason, Casey doesn’t doubt that his team will be ready to go when the game tips off on Thursday. Although he’s preached composure, he also knows the team will be anxious to shake off the feeling of Tuesday’s loss.
“We have a bunch of fighters in that locker room,” Casey said. “I’ve never doubted any of those guys. You can’t get too high when you win and you can’t say it’s the end of the world when you lose. As long as we keep that mentality, people can say what they want to say. We have to stick together and do what we do, and the main thing is to compete at a high level with poise, even through adversity. I think that’s our next step of growth as a playoff team.”
GAME 2 TALKING POINTS
Keeping Dragic Under Control: After leading throughout the first half, the Raptors fell behind during a third quarter lull that coincided with a 10-point quarter from Goran Dragic. Moving forward, the team hopes to step up it’s defence and get a better handle on Dragic’s drives to the rim. “I think we did a decent job [defensively],” DeMarre Carroll said. “We let Goran Dragic get away from us sometimes, but we did a decent job. Defensively, I think we did a good job. It’s just we couldn’t hit any shots. Once we start hitting shots, hopefully that opens up a lot for us on the defensive end.”
Casey credited Dragic and Joe Johnson for providing Miami with a scoring boost when needed, and stressed the importance of limiting opportunities for Dragic in transition where he’s at his best.
“Dragic getting back to his form that he’s played with in Phoenix is huge,” Casey said. “I thought he went through some things there in Miami but he’s back now playing at a very high level. We can do a better job whether it’s blitzing him some, getting the ball out of his hands a little bit more. There’s some things we can do to help our guards guarding him, and that’s going to be an important part of this series: making sure we get him under control, get back in transition. That’s when he really gets his juices going, when we don’t do a good job of getting back in transition, and attacking us early.”
Playing With Pace: Although Casey doesn’t want to see a helter-skelter, out of control pace from his team, he does want his guys getting up and down the floor to try to maximize easy opportunities to score.
“They’re so good in the halfcourt with [Hassan] Whiteside back there waiting for you,” Casey said. “If we don’t speed the game up — and that doesn’t mean coming down and being frenetic, or taking a quick shot and throwing the ball out of the gym, [but[ we want to get the pace up the floor, push the ball up the floor, pass it up early and take the shots that are your shots. We want to get the ball in the paint, kick it out then [get a look for] a 3. But we want to keep the pace going. The best way to do that is to get stops.”
