A familiar story played out on Thursday in Miami for the Toronto Raptors.
Undermanned, unable to match an opponent from behind the three-point arc or to keep fouls in check, a game and gritty squad once again fell short of earning a win.
This time it wasn’t a close loss, but rather a clear Miami Heat win, 114-104, though the Raptors did play well early in building a 16-point advantage.
Toronto struggled to shoot outside of the paint, bricking most three-point looks and various two-pointers, was more than doubled on free throw attempts and gave up close to 50% shooting from the field to the suddenly streaking Heat, winners of four straight. Toronto lost its fourth in a row, getting 22 points from Gradey Dick and 16 from Jakob Poeltl, but Canadians RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynyk had rough shooting nights.
Tyler Herro led Miami with 23 points, Bam Adebayo added 21 and 16 rebounds.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic decided not to start a traditional point guard, keeping Davion Mitchell in a reserve role. Mitchell has started 13 of 26 games this season, largely in place of Immanuel Quickley, but at times Scottie Barnes had shifted to a point forward role. With Barnes out weeks with an ankle sprain, Rajakovic opted to utilize RJ Barrett as a point forward. Barrett has thrived as a play-maker this season, boasting by far his best creation numbers without sacrificing his scoring. But Barrett was just 4-for-17 from the field and had six turnovers. Still, he notched a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Rookie Jonathan Mogbo made his second start, a nice moment for the native of nearby West Palm Beach. Mogbo has flashed some play-making skills himself and the team also planned to have centre Jakob Poeltl available as an offensive hub. However, last-minute back spasms prompted the Raptors to replace Poeltl just before tipoff, inserting Bruno Fernando. In a twist though, Poeltl entered the game just two minutes in and quickly threw down a dunk, followed by a hook shot.
Toronto also started Dick and Ochai Agbaji, providing some shooting threats (both Kansas products are also elite at finding openings off the ball).
Meanwhile, Miami has been embroiled in a bit of controversy, with star player Jimmy Butler possibly angling for an exit from South Beach, depending on who you believe. ESPN’s insider Shams Charania got into it a bit on social media with Butler’s agent, Toronto’s own Bernie Lee, about the situation. Charania stood by his reporting and sources, while Lee asked him to take his name out of reports about Butler potentially demanding a trade. Butler was quiet by his standards, scoring only 11 points, with five rebounds and four assists.
The Raptors cut Miami’s 12-point lead in half late in the third, but then gave up a 13-0 run to end the quarter and never got back into the game.
Thursday’s game was added to the schedule, along with Toronto’s home game against Chicago on Monday, after the teams were eliminated from the NBA Cup. After playing four times last week, the Raptors have four games total this week and next.
An update on Barnes is expected in about a week, but neither he nor Quickley are close to returns. Veteran Bruce Brown remained out for Toronto as he continues to work toward making his season debut.
@WolstatSun