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The Toronto Raptors will look to take the lead of the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Miami Heat, with things delicately poised. Join The Roar for live scores of Game 5 from 10am (AEST).
Toronto squandered a lead in Game 4 of the series – away from home – to find themselves in a predicament where the pressure is back on, and the series is locked at two games apiece.
After dropping Game 1 at home, they managed to bounce back by grabbing a win on the road to go ahead 2-1. Toronto have been inconsistent at best right throughout the playoffs, and with their key stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan going missing, it isn’t hard to see why.
Game 4, saw Toronto force overtime after only playing one solid quarter throughout the whole game. They went into halftime nine points down, then dominated the third quarter to go up by 11 before Dwayne Wade brought Miami back and shot the lights out during overtime to give Miami the victory.
Wade has been the dominant force this series. With support from Joe Johnson and Goran Dragic, he scored 30 points while shooting over 50 per cent from the field during Game 4, and it has continued a similar trend throughout the series.
Meanwhile, the Raptors duo of Lowry and DeRozan scored a grand total of 19 points on a very poor 6 of 28 from the floor. While Lowry managed to add six points from the free throw line, it simply isn’t good enough from a pair of players who led their team to second in the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season.
What is even more worrying for Toronto is they both tried to shoot their way out of the rut, instead of passing and looking for teammates in better positions. Lowry again made an attempt to pass on the occasion but DeRozan had zero assists in 34 minutes of play.
Miami will be again without star big man Hassan Whiteside, which means the pressure on Wade is again increased, but at both ends of the floor. What has slowed down Lowry and DeRozan is his ability to stop them getting into the paint – with no Whiteside that becomes essential.
Prediction
Away from home with no Whiteside, Wade simply can’t keep shooting like he has done. It is difficult to see Toronto not changing their structure a little bit and winning in a low-scoring match.
Raptors by 6.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this match from 10am (AEST) and don’t forget you can get involved by adding a comment below.
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