These games start coming and they don’t stop coming. If you’re fatigued, just think of how the Raptors themselves must feel. But this is the case for all the teams, of course. The show must go on.
As for the Heat, they are starting to hit their stride. They have been a team of runs this season; after having alternated win-loss-win-loss for their first eight games of the season, they haven’t won or lost single games, rather than multiples, more than once. And right now, they’re on a streak of three wins in a row.
Unfortunately for the Raptors, those are three big wins. First they cooled off the hot Sacramento Kings, holding the unbelievably De’Aaron Fox to only 11 points. Then they beat the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in their first rematch this season. They followed that by beating the feisty Oklahoma City Thunder with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That’s a hot streak, tried and true, and the Heat are hitting their collective stride at the right time. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are starting to reach their ultimate potentials, with Butler as a strong, pass-first point guard and Adebayo as a world-eater on defense who does practically everything well on the other end. That’s a tough team to scheme for, particularly with Duncan Robinson shooting fire from deep.
The Heat may not be the juggernaut that reached the NBA Finals last season, at least not yet, but they are still a formidable opponent. They’re also jockeying with the Raptors for playoff positioning at the moment, with the Heat in 10th and the Raps in 5th, but the former only 1.5 games back. Things are confused in the East playoff picture.
Toronto’s coming off a tough loss, to be sure. But they are starting to find an identity. They’ll need it on the second half of a back-to-back against a team that has historically given them fits.
Game Info
Tipoff: 8:00pm EST | TV: SN | Radio: SN 590 The Fan
Raptors Lineup
Kyle Lowry (thumb) remains day-to-day. The team played it coy when asked after the Philly loss if he could be expected back soon.
PG: Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn
SG: DeAndre’ Bembry, Pat McCaw, Matt Thomas
SF: Norman Powell, Terence Davis, Paul Watson
PF: Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, Yuta Watanabe, Stanley Johnson
C: OG Anunoby, Aron Baynes
Heat Lineup
Tyler Herro (hip) is questionable, and Goran Dragic (ankle) is day-to-day, while Avery Bradley (calf), Chris Silva (hip), and Meyers Leonard (shoulder) are out.
PG: Kendrick Nunn, Gabe Vincent
SG: Duncan Robinson, Max Strus
SF: Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala, KZ Okpala
PF: Kelly Olynyk, Moe Harkless
C: Bam Adebayo, Precious Achiuwa, Udonis Haslem
The Line
Raptors are +2.5, which they’re gonna need after playing all their guys such big minutes last night. The over-under is 216.5.
