4 notes from the Miami Heat’s Game 2 loss vs the Toronto Raptors

The Miami Heat drop Game 2 as the Toronto Raptors even the series at 1-1 heading into Game 3.

Goran Dragic, with eight stitches in his bottom lip, nailed a three-pointer with just seconds remaining in the game to force overtime. It was a fantastic shot following another fantastic shot by Dwyane Wade, who his his fourth three-pointer of the post-season just seconds before. The Miami Heat had been down six to the Toronto Raptors, and they tied it up to force overtime.

It would have been cause for more celebration if (1) the Heat hadn’t given up a six point lead with four minutes left or (2) they could have delivered in overtime as they had in Game 1.

In an ugly game, the Raptors squeezed out the win to even the series 1-1 as it heads back to Miami for Game 3. Here are some notes from the game:

1. Scoreless stretches

On two different occasions late in the game, the Miami Heat went almost four minutes without scoring. The first time was with a little more than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors went on a 10-0 run take an 84-80 lead. After Dragic forced overtime, the Heat didn’t score its first basket until about 30 seconds left in the five minute overtime period.

Despite the Raptors’ stars Lowry and DeRozan struggling with their shot once again (16-of-46 combined), they were at least picked up by its other players. For the Heat, the long stretches of empty possessions was once again a killer.

2. Turnovers

Turnovers were killer for the Heat. Wade, as good as he’s been (17 points, six rebounds, three assists) had a a particularly hard time handling the ball, coughing it up five times. The Heat, as a team, had 21 turnovers in regulation and overtime.

Miami committed 11 of those turnovers in the first quarter and had just one the rest of the half, and it seemed as if whatever problem they were having was resolved. That clearly wasn’t the case, and it didn’t help that the Raptors committed just nine turnovers.

That led to the Raptors attempting 93 shots, 14 more than the 79 the Heat attempted. Despite Miami shooting nearly 50 percent from the field in the game to Toronto’s 41.9 percent, the Raptors just had more chances.

3. Whiteside has to be better

Hassan Whiteside simply has to be better for the Heat to win this series. He was beaten by Jonas Valanciunas, who grabbed six offensive rebounds, too much, and wasn’t in position to box out against or contest his second chance put backs.  All in all, Whiteside (13 points on seven shots and 13 rebounds) and Valanciunas (15 points on nine shots and 12 rebounds) played to a draw.

The problem was his late game defense against Lowry. On back-to-back plays the Raptors ran a pick-and-roll with Lowry and Valancuinas. Lowry got to the same spot at the elbow without Whiteside closing out both times, scoring both times and helping the Raptors take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Dragic, who needed the help defense against Lowry, yelled at Whiteside both times for the same mistake. Erik Spoelstra promptly took him out for Udonis Haslem for the final defensive possession of regulation.

4. Final word

Overall, the Heat played a fine game. They got the shots they wanted for the most part, even in overtime, they just didn’t fall. The issue here was the turnover difference, 21-to-nine. You just aren’t going to win many games like that (and they almost won this one).

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Clean those things up and correct the pick-and-roll defense, and they should be in good shape Saturday for Game 3 in Miami.