Heat at Raptors
The Miami Heat have dropped three straight games to fall out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference and desperately need a road victory over the Atlantic Division champion Toronto Raptors on Sunday afternoon. The Heat lost two straight contests against Boston to start the week before scoring just 18 points in the fourth quarter of a 111-109 defeat at Minnesota on Friday, and sit one game behind eighth-place Detroit in the East.
“You want to win in the playoffs, you have to learn how to win pressure games and games with expectation and consequences during the regular season,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after Friday’s loss. “This can’t feel any more like the playoffs right now. Our backs are fully against the wall. … You have to embrace this and find a way to rise to the challenge.” The Heat have dropped all three meetings by a combined 33 points against the Raptors, who are locked into second place in the East while reaching at least 56 wins for the third time in four seasons. Toronto saw its five-game winning streak come to an end Friday as Jeremy Lamb drilled a 27-footer with 3.3 seconds to go and Kawhi Leonard missed at the buzzer in Charlotte’s 113-111 victory. Leonard recorded 29 points against the Hornets and leads the team in scoring overall (26.8) while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game.
TV: Noon ET, FS Sun (Miami), TSN (Toronto)
ABOUT THE HEAT (38-41): Dwyane Wade is finishing his regular-season career with a flourish, scoring 24 on Friday and averaging 18.5 points off the bench the last four, but will need more of the same to compete in another playoff game. Guard Goran Dragic is averaging 17.8 points over the last five contests and backcourt mate Dion Waiters has been a force in the past seven games while contributing 21 points per outing. Miami hopes to get a better performance from center Hassan Whiteside, who has averaged 8.7 points and 8.0 rebounds against Toronto this season.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (56-24): Toronto has been getting strong efforts inside to support their perimeter players as forward Pascal Siakam averaged 21 points the last two games and center Serge Ibaka is averaging 20.3 points and 10.5 boards the past four contests. Center Marc Gasol (9.2 points) has not put up big numbers since being acquired from Memphis in early February, but scored 44 combined the past four games. Point guard Kyle Lowry is averaging a double-double (18 points, 10 assists) in two games against Miami while Leonard scored 59 points total in two outings versus the Heat.
TIP-INS
1. Toronto G Fred VanVleet is averaging 12.8 points - making 12-of-26 from 3-point range - and 5.8 assists over the last five contests.
2. Wade has scored in double figures in 15 straight games off the bench, one off the team record of Chris Gatling (1996)
3. The Raptors came into Saturday seventh in the league in scoring (114.3) while Miami is tied for second in scoring defense (105.8).