Raptors blitz Heat from opening tip, earn 121-97 win

Raptors Heat
This was a game to forget for the Miami Heat. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP Photo)

Days after the Miami Heat had arguably their worst first half of the season, they followed suit with one of their worst games of the season.

The Heat, who trailed by as many as 37 at one point, suffered a 121-97 loss to the Toronto Raptors Wednesday hours after Toronto traded a top-2 player on their team, Pascal Siakam, to the Indiana Pacers.

The Raptors jumped out to a 10-0 run over the first 2:50 and didn’t look back, leading 41-18 after one quarter and by 35 points heading into interemission. Miami made a valiant third-quarter effort, outscoring Toronto by 14 and cutting the advantage to 13 points with just under eight minutes left.

But Miami couldn’t put together a last-ditch effort to secure what would’ve been a historic comeback victory.

Wednesday marked the Heat’s first 20-point loss of the season and their worst deficit since March 25, 2023, when they lost by 29 (129-100) at home to the Brooklyn Nets. Miami’s now experienced just 11 losses by 24 points or more in the Jimmy Butler era, the fifth-fewest in the league–trailing the Boston Celtics (5), Raptors (7), Denver Nuggets (8) and Philadelphia 76ers (10).

The Raptors, who entered Wednesday in the bottom third in 3-point percentage, shot 51.1 percent from the floor and 20-of-38 from deep. Its 62.5 effective field goal percentage in non-garbage-time situations (a fair amount of this game could be considered garbage time) placed in the 89th percentile, per Cleaning The Glass.

Miami, meanwhile, shot 45.6 percent and 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range, their worst 3-point percentage in a single game this season by over four percentage points; its previous worse was on Monday against Brooklyn, when it shot 8-of-31 from deep (25.8 percent).

Six Heat players tallied double figures, though nobody scored more than 16 points; Butler, Bam Adebayo and Herro all scored 16 points. Butler added five rebounds, five assists and two steals; Adebayo had five boards, four assists and a steal and Herro had seven boards with three assists.

Duncan Robinson had 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting while Caleb Martin had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and five assists.

The Raptors’ rim pressure had the Heat in disarray practically all evening, which spiraled into late and disjointed Miami rotations and better looks for the Raptors offense.

It was spearheaded by Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, R.J. Barrett and Gary Trent Jr., who tallied a team-high 28 points on 8-of-9 shooting from 3-point range (yes … he had two more 3s than the entire Heat team on nearly 20 fewer attempts).

Quickley had 17 points, eight rebounds and nine assists on 6-of-16 shooting and 3-of-6 from distance; Barnes finished with 20 pints, five rebounds, eight assists, a pair of steals with one block on 9-of-16 shooting.

Barrett, who was also acquired at the beginning of the month from the New York Knicks alongside Quickley, had 26 points and eight rebounds, putting a stranglehold on the Heat’s interior.

The Heat’s three-game win streak was snapped. Now it will return home for one game Friday against the Atlanta Hawks. Can they get another streak started? Let us know in the comments below!

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ManilaHeat

Its the halfway pt of the games played this season. Last season we are just one win above .500 after 41 games now we are 7 wins above. Yey! Teams will be making a run for the playoffs now and the wear and tear is gonna be more prevalent for players. That’s one of the factors Heat system is built for. So even if a lot of our top guys missed games we are still in the running. Compare that with the top teams if their star player is shelved…I’m not hoping players gets injured but that is a big consideration in any sports specially in bb. So trades or no trades, which ever we end up with we’ll be fine. Im seeing us in ECF again and anything less, fire Spo and Pat should retire lol. Just kidding…Go Heat!!

Alien

Plenty of work needs to be done on the transition defense which remains painfully abysmal. I heard one of the Heat TV commentators repeat my sentiments. I agree with him 100%.

Reality Czech

Whatever the team management is smoking in the boardroom, I hope they share it with us. Must be the best sh*t since the 60s!
”Miami Heat Name Duncan Robinson As “Untouchable” In Trade NegotiationsThe Miami Heat recently listed guard Duncan Robinson as “untouchable” in trade discussions, according to a report”
Okay, I like Duncan, but ‘untouchable’??

Alien

I agree with the Heat that he is “untouchable” for now. Each elite team in the league is structured to have at least one spot 3 shooter, who averages above 40% on 3 points shooting. Miami is lucky to have two in Herro and Duncan. It is only Miami, do I see trade scenarios from fans willing to give up each of these players for a PG not averaging above 40% from the 3 point arc and yet want to win a championship.That is no winning formula giving up your excellent 3 point shooters with no adequate replacement, IMHO.

Last edited 2 months ago by Alien
Reality Czech

I’m an optimist, but I believe even getting back to the ECF will be difficult without making a move or two. And the only player I’d consider untouchable is Bam.

ManilaHeat

Wait… I’ll msg one of the staff to touch Bam see if this holds true. brb

Reality Czech

He might burst like a bubble, be careful…

Sundayafternoons

I have a feeling the conversation is more like “for the assets and players you’re offering absolutely not”.

Which then gets reported on missing that context of what is being offered. So the real story is that teams around the league want to low-ball the Heat and Duncan.

Alien

Great to be an optimist ‘cos without it no one can be a sports fan. We all go into sports with optimism to win. The point is you can not trade either Herro nor Duncan without getting an equivalent player shooting at 40% in 3s to win a championship. It is not a winning formula. In 2006 Championship win, Heat had Posey shooting 3s at 40% even when the trend was paint dominance in the league, In 2012 Championship, Miller was shooting 40% from beyond the arc, in 2013, both Miller and Ray Allen had the honor of shooting 40% from beyond the arc. Now that the emphasis have shifted to knocking down 3s efficiently, you can not trade your guys given you 40% from beyond the arc without equivalent replacement and hope to win. It is not about optimism, some of us including me have at times gone to the extreme, called blind optimism which I define as hoping for sunrise at midnight. It just does not work like that.

Last edited 2 months ago by Alien
Reality Czech

Good points and I get them, but on some levels I disagree. Let me exaggerate a bit. If you substituted Maxey, who is below 40%, for Duncan (arguably Herro), are you suggesting the team wouldn’t be stronger? It’s not only about that 40% 3p%. It’s about what skill set the replacement player brings. Replace Duncan with a pg that gives us 18p, 8 apg, 37% 3p%, is athletic, can finish strong at the rim, plays stellar defense, and we’re a better team imo. We are dead last in the league scoring at the rim. I simply believe that IF trading Duncan brought back Rozier or Murray, we’d be better.

Alien

Of course it is about having a rounded team and including at least a player that could shoot 40% from beyond the arc. okay, I want to be generous with you and follow along with your comment,I will lower it to 38%. In the past 20 years, please name a team that won the NBA finals championship without having at least one player that shot above 38% from beyond the arc and I will give you a team that won the NBA finals without playing a game? I am sorry to tell you that a pg shooting 37% with all his other skills being YOUR BEST 3 pt shooter has never won an NBA championship in the past modern NBA of 20 years history with all the optimism in the house!

Last edited 2 months ago by Alien
SunManFromDogBone

If I had to rank the Eastern Conference right now it would be:
#1 Boston
#2 Milwaukee
#3 Philadelphia
#4 Cleveland
#5 New York
#6 Indiana
#7 Miami
#8 Orlando

The top six teams have made significant upgrades since last season. Miami has not. If the teams finish in the above order, Miami would play Milwaukee in the first round, the Philadelphia/Indiana winner in the second round and likely Boston in the Eastern Finals. In my opinion, there is no way in hell Miami can navigate that gauntlet with the current team.

Pat has four choices:

Make one or more significant trades to improve the team before the playoffsMake minor changes and hope for the best Make no significant changes and hope for the bestTrade Butler, Lowry and Martin to the highest bidders and prepare for a retooling with younger players and draft picks.Pat has three weeks until the trade deadline to decide which route he wants to take.

GO HEAT!

Last edited 2 months ago by SunManFromDogBone
heat for life

only guy that would really move the needle is donovan. rozier murray move it a little.if jimmy can become playoff jimmy in playoffs is the 64 million $ ?.hopefully hes saving his body for that.

ManilaHeat

I will base my list on strength of team, experience both regular season and playoffs with more bearing on post season…
1. Bos
2. Mil
3. Philly
4. HEAT (lol I’m an optimist)
5. NY
6. Cavs
7. Indy
8. Magic
I strongly believe Miami will be able to avoid the play-in and land #5-6. And that with or without any movement but we might get booted out in second rd hehe (nervous laugh). Yes…Go Heat!?

Bout30man

Those choices seem logical to me. You never know with Pat either. There has been more of a tendency to do less than more at trade deadlines, or offseason too. Some imply that no one wants to work with Pat, and even though I don’t really buy the reasons given as to why, I sometimes get the vibe there may be some reluctance by some teams. But really, there is no excuse to do nothing by the deadline. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

SunManFromDogBone

The Heat have a big problem on offense, and they might not be able to fix it.
“This is a personnel problem. The Heat don’t have anyone who gets to the basket for more than five field-goal attempts per game. Adebayo has become reliant on the foul-line jumper and Butler, at 34, can’t be tasked with that kind of workload at this stage of his career. 
The trade deadline is Feb. 8, and finding a player who can pressure the rim and help bring balance to Miami’s shot chart should be the priority. If the Heat can’t make changes now, then their offseason will start earlier than last year.”

https://allucanheat.com/posts/miami-heat-have-a-big-problem-on-offense-and-they-might-not-be-able-to-fix-it?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955

heat for life

the other teams get layups we get jumpers or blocked ty shots going to the rim

heat for life

until we see ty caleb bam jjj jim play together im not gonna make any30 man opinions yet.

Bout30man

I would love to see that too. Will we ever?

SunManFromDogBone

Up until now, the team has not demonstrated that it can consistently beat winning teams…much less top tier teams such as Boston, Milwaukee, Denver, OKC etc.

At minimum, this team needs a starting two-way/playmaking PG who can consistently score 15 ppg and dish out 6+ assists. In addition, Bam needs a two-way PF who can help him in the paint and shoot 3’s at a decent clip. With those upgrades, the team can contend. Without those upgrades it will be a frustrating roller coaster ride for the next 2 1/2 months and an early exit in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Butler will be another year older and expecting a lucrative contract extension in 2024-2025.

The time is now to either go “all in” or trade our older players (Butler, Lowry, Love, etc.) and build for the future.

Reality Czech

I remain convinced that if the Heat offer Butler a max or near max 3-4 year extension at $50-60 million a year, it’d be the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise. At 34, we are seeing an increase in missed games and a decrease in overall performance except, possibly, in the playoffs. He was pretty ineffective in the finals last season. I felt sure he had some kind of injury, but he insisted he didn’t.
By adding a Rozier or Murray, you make the team more competitive now and create a bridge to the future. Each can give you a good 3-5 years.

SunManFromDogBone

I agree. I think Miami still needs a PF to pair with Bam. There are a few out there who could be had for cheap.

Bout30man

Good comments.

Bout30man

If last nights game doesn’t spur our GM to do something to upgrade us, then we might as well trade Jimmy and blow it up. Jimmy is a bit less effective this year, a bit less able to carry us, there can be no doubt anymore. He has started the inevitable downturn, from a low A+ player, to an high A, still our best player along with Bam, who is also a high A. It matters though as he needs a better supporting cast. Since Oladipo’s knee blew up, we haven’t had that third athlete, and losing Vincent hurt us there too. So, in this area we actually have less as Locksmith doesn’t regularly give us enough on offense to be used in some situations and JRich is just a B- player, still a help, but not enough. And Caleb has not taken that next step we were hoping for after last years Celtic’s playoff game. Caleb still helps, but not as much as we hoped. The two upgrades over last year, JJJ, who has been a big part of our successes so far and may already be our third best player, and Dunc has gone from an overall C+ to a B, a huge leap. Ty is still a B+ player, A on offense but C+ on the defense, a slight improvement on defense. And the GLeague contingent has helped very little and are not able to move the needle much.
We need more or we are a first round exiter this year. There are trades there, trades that will at least give us a fighting chance. Doing nothing will be a huge mistake, and using draft capital is indicated. Jimmy will not get better next year. But, this year he is still a magnificent player, one with an amazing will to win. Jimmy’s don’t come around often, he deserves a chance at the glory.

Bout30man

The other three players, Lowry, Love and Jovic, I did not mention as they are overall not helping. Lowry has less left than last year and Jovic is clearly not ready. Love has been surprisingly a little help. My point is, overall this years team isn’t as good as last year’s, even with the addition of JJJ and Dunc’a improvement, and we need some upgrades from outside the organization.

vagibugi

I disagree. I believe this year team is better than last years. Even current record shows that.
But there is a lot of concerns. Lowry and Butler are the biggest among them. they are both worse then last year, and this rapidly lower the team ceiling. But team is better because players like Jovic and JJJ.

As it is now, this team can be better in regular season, and worse in playoff then last year.

But we can use another guard, which is also a good shooter.

Bout30man

No prob disagreeing. I only say we are worse because of the slight loss in overall effectiveness of Jimmy and the further aging out of Kyle.
We did add a high B+ player in Jaime (and he could even get better). I think he is our third best player now, better overall than Ty because he gives more on defense. And, the last two games might have gone better with him available, although I only think last night’s game only would have been closer.
Still, some young, athletic teams are going to keep beating us unless we improve. To put our relative strength in perspective,I am of the opinion that Indiana has now probably surpassed us, and New York.
I have to admit I don’t agree on Jovic. I can see his potential, but he is still a project and is not improving us for now.

vagibugi

Jovic was an important part of the Serbia team, which was 2nd in the words this summer, (US with Edwards, Brunson, Haliburton was 4th, remember?).
Boy can play.

Its obvious he is on defensive mission now, and he is good at it, so he is not focused on offence right now. But I can see him score 20-25 points in a game very soon. He just need some time that everything comes together.

Sharkey

Jovic was very good and effective for Serbia. I think nobody doubts that he is a player with a lot of potential and has skills that are very highly valued in today’s basketball. But he does need more time to mature both physically and as a player (and for that he needs more playing time). It is easy to forget that he is 2 years younger than JJJ, because he was drafted earlier. He didn’t play in the previous season and he would not get a chance in this one, if it weren’t for injuries. He needs to improve one on one defense, this is his biggest weakness. He easily gets 3-4 fouls in 5-10 minutes in the first quarter. NBA basketball is too athletic and to fast for him at this stage of his development. But he definitely has very high potential.
And it is so refreshing to see his size and help with rebounds. It is so different when he plays the PF than usual guys from Spo’s small ball line up.

SunManFromDogBone

The team is not better than last year’s team. Maybe they are just better at beating crappy/bottom feeder/lottery teams. Furthermore, the competition is much better than last year because of other top teams’ upgrades in personnel. Miami hasn’t shown it can beat Minnesota, OKC, Denver, Clippers, Boston, Milwaukee or 76ers (with Embiid). Come playoff time, this team will not go very far. Unless trades are made, I see 2021 all over again!

Bout30man

I agree. I tried to explain why elsewhere.

ManilaHeat

Yep. Same here. But season not yet done, unless Heat falls again in play-in then same same I guess. And the field is more competitive with more teams in east improving (Indy, Magic).

vagibugi

It looks the Heat forget to play basketball in first half.
Spo will kick some asses in days to come.

Reality Czech

Even before this game, I was going to write that the Celtics and Bucks made key moves in the offseason, and now the Knicks and Pacers made key moves in the trading period. It’s time for the Heat to make a move. Not one that is basically a wash as some (or one) has suggested, but a move to upgrade this team. Riley should stop dreaming about Mitchell. It’s extremely unlikely, based on the Cavs statements and current position, that they will trade him this season (btw, they beat the Giannis-less Bucks by 40 tonight. Lillard 7-20, 1-5). Rozier or Murray would both be upgrades with a realistic deal that is fair to both sides. I like Murray more, but think Rozier is more realistic. Nike slogan – Just Do It.

ManilaHeat

I just have the feeling other gms are apprehensive in dealing with Pat. Teams view Lowry with having little value. So Riles might be having a hard time here unless he gives in and release a major Heat contributor or a perceived future. Oh and btw, Murray just hit a game winner vs Magic

Bout30man

Absolutely. This time around doing nothing will be disappointing.

ManilaHeat

We’ll see this Raptors team again last 2 games of the regular season… consecutively! Gotta forget this loss and recover big next game.
Meanwhile, condolences to the family of warriors assistant coach Milosevic. So young only 46. Be safe everyone and stay healthy.

heat for life

rj barrett being challenged by 6 4 guys that right there is a problem.

Bout30man

It was one of many defensive shortcomings. Everyone was driving past our guys, and rotations to help only led to open threes, then there were the rebounds given up. The defense was even worse than the offense last night. Toronto had one lull early in the third but otherwise scored at will.

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