Raptors can’t beat Heat, Wiz are next
The Toronto Raptors — the 59win Toronto Raptors — will meet the Washington Wizards in the first round of the NBA’s post-season.
Kyle Lowry had 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Raptors forced overtime in their regular-season finale Wednesday night, but they still fell to the Miami Heat 116-109 in overtime, coming up one victory short of a 60-win season. The cold-shooting Wizards, meanwhile, dropped a101-92 decision to Orlando to finish eighth in the East to earn a date with Toronto.
Toronto heads into its fifth consecutive playoff appearance after rewriting the franchise history books in the regular season.
The Raptors won a record 59 games, topping their previous best of 56. They also won a franchise-high 34 games at the Air Canada Centre, tying the Houston Rockets for the best home record in the NBA.
Washington swept the Raptors in four games in the opening round of the playoffs in 2015, Toronto’s worst performance in its last four post-season appearances.
But the Raptors and Wizards split their four games this season, with each team winning once in the other’s arena.
The Wizards ended the regular season in a free fall, losing11 of their last 16 games. They went cold in the fourth quarter of their finale Wednesday night, making just five of 25 shots. They shot 34 per cent for the game. The Raptors, meanwhile, couldn’t handle Miami’s Wayne Ellington, who scored a careerhigh 32 points and set Miami’s single-season record for threepointers, helping the Heat wrap up the No. 6 seed in the East. Miami will open the playoffs at No. 3 Philadelphia this weekend.
DeMar DeRozan had19 points for the Raptors, Jakob Poeltl had 16 and Jonas Valanciunas scored 12.
Ellington’s 3-pointer with 18.8 seconds left in regulation put Miami up two, and Poeltl tied it with a tip-in. But Miami scored the first five points of the extra session and didn’t look back.
Raptors reserve Fred VanVleet left with 1:32 remaining in regulation after apparently getting hurt while trying to fight through a screen. He stayed down for several seconds near the Toronto bench before getting helped off the floor.
Even with nothing standings-wise to play for, the Raptors had no qualms about using their starters. Lowry, DeRozan, Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka combined to play more than 120 minutes.
The Raptors were 22-60 in 2010-11, the season before Dwane Casey came to Toronto. They ended this season 59-23.
“It’s taken us a while to build our program, to get it where it is,” said Casey, a coach of the year candidate this season. “This (Heat) program has multiple championships and we’re trying to get to that level organically. And it takes time. You’re just not going to wave a magic wand and turn a player into Magic Johnson or Larry Bird or anybody like that. It’s part of the process, and that’s something I know our organization is proud of.”
There was a bit of back and forth at times, with six ties and 16 lead changes through the first three quarters.
Yet after each of those periods, the Raptors had the lead: 29-27 after one, 53-47 at the half and 78-71 after three. But Miami won the fourth 34-27.