Heat beat Raptors 96-76 in second half surge

First Quarter

The Miami Heat started off the game extremely slow, allowing the Toronto Raptors to take the lead right away. Stagnant on defense it took Miami a little while to get going, but when they did they were solid picking up the pace and pressuring on defense thanks to Luol Deng and Justise Winslow. Dwyane Wade scored very easily inside, and his chemistry with Hassan Whiteside looked fantastic.

Second Quarter

Miami’s second quarter started off strong, the second unit appeared very fluid with guest star Chris Bosh who was sat down early because of foul trouble. The Heat looked solid on defense, causing frustration and terrible passes. Additionally, the Josh McRoberts - Bosh 2 man game has actual potential. Tyler Johnson is steadily improving, though outmatched on defense by the bigger James Johnson.

Winslow was everywhere scoring points, causing steals and taking charges. Unfortunately Toronto continued to fight back, using Jonas Valanciunas to score easy baskets. It was a tough end of quarter, with Wade chucking up difficult shots and Dragic visually absent mentally. The Heat still lack chemistry offensively, it’s as if Dragic and Wade just can’t work together which creates a dilemma as Miami can’t move Dragic to the second line based on the amount of money they paid him.

Third Quarter

Toronto seemed to start the second half in a zone, but Bosh didn’t care hit as he hit back to back shots from midrange. Whiteside looked like an animal cleaning up on offense, grabbing boards and swatting all interior shots (he had 6 blocks midway through the 3rd).

Whiteside to all shots pic.twitter.com/4fxbfzJu4R

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) November 9, 2015

Despite shooting poorly, Dragic still did a great job conducting the offense. Miami’s hustle was evident, as they scored a multitude of put back buckets. Miami was able to take the lead mostly because of the Raptors’ inability to score inside, which they depended on in the first half. Miami continued to build on their lead as they consistently found their way to the free throw line, and actually hit open shots.

Fourth Quarter

The Raptors found their way to the free throw line immediately as the fourth quarter began. They subsequently rejected Justise Winslow, and hit a three. Fortunately, that didn’t deter Miami though, as Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson and well... everybody else delivered on the offensive end. Miami really picked it up on defense, completely discombobulating the Raptors and causing multiple turnovers. ‘Rio even had a block. This didn’t change as Bosh caught fire, and Justise fried DeMar DeRozan’s brain. The Heat never let up, improving to 4-3.

The Good:

• Justise Winslow: Wow, Winslow is going a great player. He psyched DeRozan right out of the game. He was also great on offense scoring nine points and grabbing five boards.
• Hassan Whiteside: Whiteside put on block party nearly getting a triple double. He had a stat line of 20 points, 11 boards and 6 blocks.
• Chris Bosh: Bosh was fantastic scoring 23 points, and 8 boards. He's finally in rhythm and it's great.

The Bad:

• Goran Dragic: Dragic has just been unable to get it going this season, tonight was no different as he shot 1-5 from the field.
• Dwyane Wade: Wade accomplished a milestone passing Scottie Pippen, unfortunately he shot poorly from the field going 4-13.

The Ugly:

• Nothing tonight