The comforts of home await the Raptors, who have been reduced to road kill when venturing into enemy territory this season.
To date, 12 road games have been played with 11 losses recorded.
At home, Toronto’s record is far superior, having gone 4-4 at Scotiabank Arena where Sunday the Raptors will play host to virtually the same Miami Heat team that used a decisive third quarter to topple the visitors 121-111 on Friday night.
Bam Adebayo posted a triple-double in Miami’s win, though it was tainted given Jimmy Butler air balled a jumper in the game’s waning seconds to provide Adebayo with his 10th rebound and eighth-career triple-double.
For the record, Butler, who led Miami with 26 points, heaved a 14-foot jumper.
To the naked eye, it appeared the hoopster known as Jimmy Buckets intentionally missed the shot, paving the way for Adebayo to grab the offensive rebound.
Post-game, Butler wasn’t particularly convincing when asked to recall the errant shot and the statistical milestone that ensued.
“I had no idea,” said Butler. “I just shoot terrible shots like that where I throw the ball straight up in there.”
Butler is one of the game’s big-game performers who isn’t known for heaving mid-range air balls.
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So be it, but at the same time it should serve as some fodder for the Raptors as they aim to earn a split with the Heat.
Butler has recorded 16 career triple-doubles.
Also Friday night, Scottie Barnes posted a triple-double. He also earned a technical on a sequence involving Butler.
Barnes asked for a video review and it was granted.
In reality, the Raptors should have waived off Barnes’ request on a play that would be upheld.
The time of the game did not warrant a video review to begin with and Barnes’ antics — when he basically mimicked the official — was completely unnecessary.
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All it revealed was a lack of maturity.
It also highlighted how the Raptors continue to treat their anointed franchise face with kid gloves.
During Toronto’s 1-3 road trip, Ochai Agbaji was called out following a poor performance in Detroit.
He responded in a convincing win over a woeful New Orleans Pelicans team as the Raptors finally earned their first road victory.
There’s no denying Barnes’ talent and potential, but on nights when he’s settling for three-point shots the Raptors can’t be hesitant to rein him in.
Early makes from distance serve as fool’s gold when everyone in basketball knows Barnes is at his best when he’s drawing defenders or resorting to bully ball when operating on the block.
His passing can be sublime, but his shooting is very suspect.
In Miami, he attempted more threes than free throws. He also turned the ball over five times.
As a team, the Raptors committed 19 turnovers that led to 27 Miami points and were outscored by 30 from distance.
With their margin for error so thin given a depleted roster, on nights when the Raptors are guilty of committing self-inflicted wounds they have no chance.
Miami broke the game open when its three-point heaves began to drop.
A total of 54 three-pointers were taken by the Heat, third most in club history, and 21 found net.
At home, the Raptors have found their comfort level, which isn’t entirely surprising.
Their season began with a 30-point drubbing at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a result that served as a harbinger for things to come, at least from a Cleveland perspective as it continues to be among the biggest surprise stories in the NBA.
Toronto has beaten an inferior Philly team and tamed the Timberwolves on a night Barnes made his return from his orbital fracture.
The Raptors also earned a home win over Sacramento in overtime when Vince Carter’s jersey was raised to the rafters.
Toronto’s fourth home win was against a very inferior Indiana team missing a few key pieces.
Still, the Raptors are better on their turf and this run of home games, beginning Sunday, should be interesting.
It also has the potential of being intriguing because one suspects some of the team’s injured players appear poised to return.
RJ Barrett, for one, has feasted on home cooking.
When his potential game-winner against visiting Denver didn’t drop, it came on a night when Barnes was initially hurt following an inadvertent elbow by Nikola Jokic.
Unlike Barnes, Barrett does not fall in love with his perimeter shooting when shots are dropping from beyond the arc.
One of the issues Barrett must clean up is his penchant for turning the ball over.
In South Beach on Friday, he recorded a game-high six turnovers.
Add Barnes’ five to the mix and Toronto’s two best offensive players had more turnovers (11) than the entire Heat team (10).
The other worrisome area to Barrett’s game can be found at the charity stripe.
Missed free throws did not result in the Raptors losing Friday night when the essence of the game could be summed up in the points off turnover discrepancy and the disparity in three-point efficiency.
Barrett did lead the Raptors in scoring by pouring in 25 points on a night he attempted 18 shots.
Tyler Herro took a team-high 18 shots for Miami in the win as he ended the night by scoring 23 points.
Miami lacks size, a big reason why Jakob Poeltl was able to go 10-for-11 from the field in recording yet another double-double (24 points, 10 rebounds).
Miami also resorts to zone defences.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is well aware such defensive schemes often lead to players overthinking when the ball is in their hands.
The second-year bench boss encourages his players to play with freedom.
And when good ball movement leads to open shots, he wants players to shoot with confidence.
The negative to zone defences is that it does make teams vulnerable in terms of offensive rebounds.
Four of Poeltl’s 10 boards came on the offensive glass.
In Friday’s loss, the Raptors outscored Miami 62-36 in paint points.