The Miami Heat will look to build on a new winning streak following their 20-point win in Philadelphia on Friday night. Now the Heat will face games against back-to-back opponents that have a strong connection to Miami, at least now they do. The first such game takes place on Sunday at 1pm as the Toronto Raptors come down to South Florida for a matinee against the Heat.
This is the first meeting between the two teams this season, but if last year is any indication then we should be in store for some interesting basketball. At least for the immediate future, its always going to be interesting when the Heat play the Raptors since Miami signed Chris Bosh. Bosh had been Toronto's franchise player since being drafted in 2003, but decided to join his friends Dwyane Wade and LeBron James when all 3 signed as free agents with Miami.
Toronto comes in fresh off of a rare home victory. The Raptors have only won three of their nine home games this season, but one of those wins came on Friday when they took town the lowly Washington Wizards 106-89. It was a nice change of pace for the Raptors, who had lost their previous two games averaging just 70.5 points on 35.6% shooting.
Miami's last game was a road loss in Milwaukee, but they have been having a lot of success at home this year. The Heat has won four consecutive games at home, and on the season Miami averages 105.3 points per game when playing in South Florida, one of the best marks in the league. They have also beaten Toronto four straight times at the AAA, winning those games by an average of 13.0 points.
GAME NOTES
- The Heat are 10-2 at home. Toronto is 5-10 on the road.
- This is the first meeting of the season between Miami and Toronto. They will play once more in each team's home arena.
- Dwyane Wade is averaging 32.1 points over his last eight games against Toronto.
- The Heat has gone 4-0 this season against the Atlantic Division, and on an eight game winning streak dating back to last year.
- Miami has won five straight games against the Raptors.
- The Heat has also won nine of their last eleven games overall.
- For Miami, Mike Miller (hand) is day-to-day.
- Raptors center Andrea Bargnani (calf) is out.
- Toronto is just 2-9 this season with Bargnani out of the lineup.
Tipoff from the AAA is set for 1pm. The game will be broadcast locally on Sun Sports.