Canada Sports News

The Toronto Raptors lost their first game of the season at the Scotiabank Arena, and they did it against the Miami Heat, 121-110. The Raptors gave their best, forced overtime although trailing 7 points with just under two minutes to go, but couldn’t resist superb Jimmy Butler.

The Toronto Raptors lost their first game of the season at the Scotiabank Arena, and they did it against the Miami Heat, 121-110. The Raptors gave their best, forced overtime although trailing 7 points with just under two minutes to go, but couldn’t resist superb Jimmy Butler.

The Heat forward, and one of the best players in the league posted a triple-double in this one, but what is more important, knocked out the hosts in the OT. Butler delivered 9 straight points after the beginning of an additional five minutes. He was single-handedly destroying the hosts. In the end, the four-time All-Star had 22 points, 13 boards, and 12 assists, but didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it.

“I’m not going to say that this one is more special than any other one,” Butler said. “Just two good teams going at it. We were fortunate enough to do our job.”

This was Miami’s third straight win, which snapped a seven-game triumphant streak of the champions. Toronto had a brief time in the opening quarter, which saw them leading, and after that, it was mostly Miami who controlled the game-flow.

Kyle Lowery was back after 11 straight games of absence. It is more than fitting to say that his performance was under any expected level, as Raptors’ point guard missed all of his 11 three-point shots. Overall, Lowry was 2 for 18 from the field.

“That was terrible,” Lowry said. “I’m sure I’ll be better next game. It’s nothing to be concerned or worried about.”

Lack of energy among the home team’s players was obvious, while on the other hand, the Heat was playing solid, although they barely lost a win in the end. As we said, they had a seven-point advantage with 1:59 to go but weren’t able to preserve that, jeopardizing what was supposed to be a certain triumph.

Besides Butler, Miami had Duncan Robinson, who dropped 22 points, hurting the Raptors from downtown. He was 6 for 9 behind the arc, all that in 27 minutes on the floor. Bam Adebayo scored 18 with 7 rebounds.

Heat bench had a lot of positive impact on their performance. Kelly Olynyk scored 16 points with 6 boards, while Justice Winslow had 17 with 9 rebounds and 4 dimes.

For the Raptors, Norman Powell scored a team-high off the bench with 23 points, adding 8 rebounds and four threes. Fred VanVleet ended the night with 19 and 6 assists, while Pascal Siakam had a bit slower night with 15 points. Though the Most Improved Player of the last season had 12 rebounds. Marc Gasol scored 12, and Kyle Lowry had 12 with 11 assists.

The Raptors are 15-5 now and host the Houston Rockets on Thursday. After that, Nick Nurse’s team has two-road events against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Chicago Bulls.

The Heat (15-5), meanwhile, has a big clash against the Boston Celtics already tonight. At the moment they have two consecutive victories on the road during this minitour and will aim to close it with another one before going back to American Airlines Arena.

lost their first game of the season at the Scotiabank Arena, and they did it against the Miami Heat, 121-110. The Raptors gave their best, forced overtime although trailing 7 points with just under two minutes to go, but couldn’t resist superb Jimmy Butler.

The Heat forward, and one of the best players in the league posted a triple-double in this one, but what is more important, knocked out the hosts in the OT. Butler delivered 9 straight points after the beginning of an additional five minutes. He was single-handedly destroying the hosts. In the end, the four-time All-Star had 22 points, 13 boards, and 12 assists, but didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it.

“I’m not going to say that this one is more special than any other one,” Butler said. “Just two good teams going at it. We were fortunate enough to do our job.”

This was Miami’s third straight win, which snapped a seven-game triumphant streak of the champions. Toronto had a brief time in the opening quarter, which saw them leading, and after that, it was mostly Miami who controlled the game-flow.

Kyle Lowery was back after 11 straight games of absence. It is more than fitting to say that his performance was under any expected level, as Raptors’ point guard missed all of his 11 three-point shots. Overall, Lowry was 2 for 18 from the field.

“That was terrible,” Lowry said. “I’m sure I’ll be better next game. It’s nothing to be concerned or worried about.”

Lack of energy among the home team’s players was obvious, while on the other hand, the Heat was playing solid, although they barely lost a win in the end. As we said, they had a seven-point advantage with 1:59 to go but weren’t able to preserve that, jeopardizing what was supposed to be a certain triumph.

Besides Butler, Miami had Duncan Robinson, who dropped 22 points, hurting the Raptors from downtown. He was 6 for 9 behind the arc, all that in 27 minutes on the floor. Bam Adebayo scored 18 with 7 rebounds.

Heat bench had a lot of positive impact on their performance. Kelly Olynyk scored 16 points with 6 boards, while Justice Winslow had 17 with 9 rebounds and 4 dimes.

For the Raptors, Norman Powell scored a team-high off the bench with 23 points, adding 8 rebounds and four threes. Fred VanVleet ended the night with 19 and 6 assists, while Pascal Siakam had a bit slower night with 15 points. Though the Most Improved Player of the last season had 12 rebounds. Marc Gasol scored 12, and Kyle Lowry had 12 with 11 assists.

The Raptors are 15-5 now and host the Houston Rockets on Thursday. After that, Nick Nurse’s team has two-road events against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Chicago Bulls.

The Heat (15-5), meanwhile, has a big clash against the Boston Celtics already tonight. At the moment they have two consecutive victories on the road during this minitour and will aim to close it with another one before going back to American Airlines Arena.