Raptors at Heat
THE STORY: One of the best teams in the NBA plays one of the worst squads when the Miami Heat host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. Miami has won nine of 11 games and thrashed the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Friday. The Heat played a terrific all-around game and received 26 points from Dwyane Wade and 19 points and 12 rebounds from LeBron James. “This was probably the best game from start to finish in terms of playing together and communicating,” James said. Miami leads the Southeast Division and is 10-2 at home. Toronto has won four of its last seven games to get its victory count up to eight. The Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards on Friday after losing their previous two games to Boston (36) and Atlanta (23) by a combined 59 points. Point guard Jose Calderon has a season-high 17 assists in the victory over the Wizards, who will once again play without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani (calf).
TV: 1 p.m. ET, TSN (Toronto), Sun Sports (Miami)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (8-16): One of the stunning aspects of Toronto’s victory over Washington was the 61-37 advantage it had on the boards. The Raptors had 23 offensive rebounds for their most since having 22 against Washington early in the 2009-10 season. Forward Amir Johnson had seven offensive boards as part of an 18-point, 13-rebound outing. “Amir was a monster,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “He did a good job rolling to the basket and cleaning up the offensive boards.”
ABOUT THE HEAT (17-6): Forward Chris Bosh played in just two of Miami’s four games against the Raptors last season and averaged18.5 points and 6.0 rebounds against his former club. He has been struggling recently and has failed to score more than 12 points in any of the Heat’s last three games, averaging just 11 points and 5.7 rebounds during the stretch. Bosh is averaging 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds. He played seven seasons for the Raptors before joining Miami as a free agent prior to the 2010-11 season.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Miami has won five consecutive games against Toronto.
2. James is averaging 27.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 28 career games against the Raptors.
3. The 106 points against Washington was Toronto’s second-highest output of the season and just the third time the Raptors have topped 100.