Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 110-106 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
1. The Raptors continue to collect impressive wins, having defeated the Heat twice and the Atlanta Hawks in a span of four nights. This game was quite similar to the Hawks game the night prior, where the Raptors were sluggish in the first half, trailed heading into the break, eliminated the deficit in the third quarter, before closing out strong. The Heat made a point to prepare for this game having lost in triple-overtime at home on Saturday, resting Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker while swallowing a landslide loss to the Boston Celtics just to be fresh in this game, and still the Raptors came out ahead. As coach Nick Nurse said following the win, the Raptors can compete with anybody. They show it on a nightly basis.
2. The Raptors hunted the Heat's weakest defenders in crunch time. There was no set play that the Raptors returned to over and over again, rather the goal was to seek out Tyler Herro, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and even Tucker if needed, regardless of who had the matchup. Coming out of a timeout, the Raptors put six-foot guard Fred VanVleet in the post against Herro, and it worked as VanVleet got him to bite on the up fake to draw the foul. VanVleet also bullied his way past Vincent for an and-one, which turned into an and-three as Pascal Siakam beat Tucker to the rebound off the missed free throw for his own and-one. Even when VanVleet missed on a fadeaway jumper over Herro, OG Anunoby was there to clean up as he discarded of Strus in the post to work his way inside for an and-one putback. Strus was so frustrated that he took a technical as well after slamming the ball into the stanchion twice right in front of the referee. That was the bulk of Toronto's offence in the fourth, and while it isn't quite as sexy as a star player nailing turnaround jumpers over top of tight defence, it was smart basketball that won the game.
3. Whether it was on purpose or improvisation, Scottie Barnes threw a gorgeous feed to clinch the win. The Raptors had the ball up two with the shot clock turned off, and Nurse called timeout with Barnes being the inbounder. Typically, that role is held by VanVleet, but Nurse had it in the hands of the rookie instead while VanVleet made a cut to the near corner. The Heat aggressively doubled VanVleet thinking that's where the play would go, but that left Bam Adebayo sandwiched by Siakam and Anunoby, and Barnes had the presence of mind to throw a lob leading Anunoby to a lob without a Heat defender in sight. Nurse couldn't have foreseen that the Heat would double VanVleet so eagerly, but it was a well-designed play nonetheless, and it was a great read and an even better pass by Barnes.
4. The Raptors continue their trend of flipping games in the third quarter. Their first-half performance was sluggish from the start as Miami raced ahead 7-0, and held a 12-point advantage having scored 62 points at halftime. But just like they have done against Milwaukee, Utah, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington in the past month, the Raptors were an entirely different team after regrouping. It's almost as if the Raptors are this wily boxer, ducking and weaving at the start just to tire the opponent out, before throwing their haymakers late, and the third quarter is always when the starting group takes collective responsibility to spark the team. It's also quite likely that Nurse and his coaching staff are making astute adjustments at halftime, which saw VanVleet start to shake loose after attempting only two shots in the first half.
5. VanVleet launched the comeback with 14 points in the third quarter as the Raptors cut Miami's lead from 12 to three. Part of it was the Raptors getting VanVleet off the matchup against Butler, who is genuinely terrifying to try to score against, but it was also the point guard taking more initiative in the offence. He worked a two-on-one fast break with Siakam for a triple, ducked around a few screens to shake Butler and find space to launch from the top, ripped down a rebound and bullied Vincent in isolation for an and-one, and had the burst to finish a baseline drive for a reverse layup around a shot blocker. The Raptors clearly respond to VanVleet as the leader, and when he gets it going, others start to follow.
6. Trent Jr. continues his absurd shooting with his fifth straight 30-point game. This was the most difficult of the bunch, with the Heat generally playing him tough, except Trent Jr. is even tougher as a scorer. Of his 11 made baskets, only two were catch-and-shoot looks where the defence momentarily left him open before a teammate found him on a kickout. The rest were all self-generated looks, which really shows you the ability and the confidence in his game. Trent Jr. attacked downhill and finished an and-one around Duncan Robinson at the basket, then threw in a sweeping hook on another drive. He also nailed fadeaway jumpers in the midrange, and hunted stepback threes at every opportunity. He even went on a personal 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, dropping Tucker on two threes, before getting Adebayo to foul him from deep on his third trip down.
7. The Raptors were looking to get Trent Jr. involved as much as possible. Nurse even broke out a novelty play for Trent Jr. at the end of the third quarter, where he lined up three players side by side at halfcourt, with VanVleet feeding it to Anunoby in the opposite post. Trent Jr. then broke from the pack, curled around two screens, got the pitch back from Anunoby, and made the read to get downhill against Butler. And while the shot didn't drop, his downward pressure created a lane where Precious Achiuwa was able to follow up on the play for a putback dunk.
8. Siakam had to find his way back into the game after picking up early foul trouble. Siakam racked up three fouls midway through the second quarter, and Nurse rolled the dice by leaving him in while disguised by a zone defence, but ultimately limited his minutes. The extra rest did pay off, however, as Siakam's energy was incredible in the third-quarter comeback. He collected two steals, hunted down an offensive rebound to set up VanVleet being fouled from deep, scored the putback off VanVleet's miss, and he was everywhere on defence. It's encouraging that even when Siakam's shot isn't falling, or when the calls aren't going his way, that he still finds ways to positively impact the game.
9. Anunoby's defence on Butler was sensational yet again. Butler scored just three baskets in 40 minutes of play having rested the night prior, while Anunoby had him searching for answers. Anunoby was up on him just close enough to dissuade his patented midrange jumper, while inviting him to drive but only towards where the help defenders were in the lane, where he was blocked by Barnes and Achiuwa. Butler is too smart of a player to force his shot when the matchup isn't there, and he was still a positive contributor on the whole, but Anunoby cutting off the Heat's primary playmaker forced them to turn to lesser options in crunch time which could not close the deal.
10. Credit the Raptors' bench players for making contributions in the second half. It was a rough first-half showing with the substitutes mirroring the starters in their inattentiveness, but it was much improved in the fourth quarter. Chris Boucher stepped in for a charge with a timely rotation against Adebayo, and drew an offensive foul with Butler kicking his legs out at him on an attempt at a flop. Achiuwa knocked in a corner three off a kickout from Anunoby and followed up Trent Jr.'s drive. Dalano Banton got a rare fourth-quarter stint with Nurse splitting up the duo of Achiuwa and Boucher, giving the Raptors an extra ball handler which came in handy when Banton split apart the zone with a lookaway pass to find Siakam in the middle for a floater. It's not as if the reserves can't contribute, but they need to make winning plays consistently to get consistent run from Nurse.
