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Questions must be asked of how the Toronto Raptors can bounce back in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series against the powerful Miami Heat. Join The Roar for live scores from 10am (AEST).
The Raptors found a way to lose Game 1, despite being without the first-round pressure which has previously hurt them, and in doing so have lost home-court advantage, something which would have been a huge advantage in what is shaping up as an even series.
Even more frustrating for Toronto is the fact they won the season series against Miami three games to one and finished the Eastern Conference in second position.
It just seems the Raptors have a playoff problem. They were taken all the way to seven games in the first round by the Indiana Pacers, although even that was an improvement on the last two years where they were knocked out in the first round, despite promising so much.
Dwayne Wade was the problem for the Raptors in Game 1. Toronto’s inability to limit the veteran’s impact on offence, and the fact Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan shot the ball abysmally, meant the Raptors were lucky to be as close as they were, let alone force the game to overtime before succumbing to a six-point loss.
Of course, it was only a Kyle Lowry half-court bomb on the buzzer that tied things up, but the Raptors were lucky to even be in that position after trailing at the beginning of the third quarter.
Lowry and DeRozan scored just 29 points between them, whereas Wade scored 26 by himself. The biggest difference though was that the Raptors duo shot a combined 12 of 35 from the field, a clip which just isn’t efficient enough.
With Hassan Whiteside dominating in the middle, it meant the Raptors had to pull up for poor outside shots, which helped contribute to the woeful shooting percentages of Lowry and DeRozan.
In saying that, Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas had 24 points shooting 10 of 16 from the floor, indicating the Raptors do have a genuine scoring option should DeRozan and Lowry go cold again.
Prediction
On paper, Toronto should be able to win. But their mentality and ability to win under pressure appears to be shot, even though they finally escaped the first round. Dwayne Wade’s form is simply too good right now.
Heat to take a 2-0 series lead by 8 points.
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