Impressions Of The Miami Heat And Toronto Raptors

We’ve got two games in the books of the Miami Heat’s Eastern Conference semifinal against the Toronto Raptors and the good guys are coming home tied 1-1. While it hasn’t been pretty, the road split has to be considered a win for the Heat. All U Can Heat’s Wes Goldberg and Chris Posada share their thoughts.

Chris Posada: So I was in Europe during the first round and because WiFi isn’t easily accessible on a cruise ship and Italy (how does the Pope do Netflix and Pray?) I didn’t get to see a lot of it, so I had no idea how the Heat would look going into this series. If the first two games of this series are any indication of their performance, I’m shocked they got by Charlotte.

Miami has 41 turnovers through two games, missed approximately 126 shots in the paint in Game 1, blew two leads in the fourth quarter and yet they still found a way to head back home with the series tied at one. They could easily be down 0-2, or easily up 2-0 because they look better than the Raptors, if that even makes sense.

Wes, does this series make any sense?

Wes Goldberg: I think fans of the Raptors would be saying the same thing. They barely made it out of the first round against the Indiana Pacers, and haven’t done much that they like to do in this series against the Heat. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan’s shooting is still a mess, they haven’t gone to Jonas Valanciunas as much as they probably should, and the offense looks like an absolute mess sometimes. Sound familiar, Heat fans?

Both teams didn’t play their best on offense in Game 1 and 2, but each team’s defense has been mostly good. This was a grind it out series in Toronto, with both teams going into overtime to see who can not screw it up for an extra period. The series is split 1-1 on its way to Miami.

Despite how ugly this series has been, I think most Heat fans, if you would’ve asked them before the series, would have taken the 1-1 split heading into Miami. Maybe I’m an optimist, but even you said that Miami has looked better. How are you feeling about Miami’s chances after two games?

Posada: While the journey to 1-1 has been about who will be awful less, you absolutely are thrilled if you’re a Heat fan to be going back to Miami with the road split. And yes, Miami has had its moments of looking better.

But that seems to be the thing with the Heat: they can look amazing for portions of a game, then look completely terrible in the same game. I’ve felt that there’s a great team buried in the Heat, but they are their own worst enemy. I can’t tell if they’re a good decent team or a decent good team.

With that said, I’m feeling great having stolen home court from the Raptors. The Heat are a better team at home and could easily take the next two. Would I be surprised if they split? Of course not, because Toronto is still a good team and nothing can be taken away from them. But the Heat have been the reason for their own pitfalls and STILL were minutes away from being up 2-0.

I think the Heat’s best is better than the Raptors’ best. Toronto might be deeper, but Miami has five guys that demand attention, and they’re at the best when they play as a unit.

Which begs the question: if the Heat play great as a unit, why do they get stuck in iso-ball?

Goldberg: This is a question often asked about the Heat, and honestly I get kind of sick of it. Yes, ball movement is important and swinging the ball from good shots to better shots is a good and popular way to manufacture points. However, the Heat don’t and haven’t played like this all season.

This is a team that features Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson, two guys who often have size, strength and skill advantages against opposing guards. They take contested shots, which isn’t pretty, but it’s what they’ve done their entire careers for a combined 19 ALL STAR GAMES. I’m good with them dominating the mid-post after two or three dribbles. It also opens up the pass from the post, hitting Luol Deng in the corner or cutting, Josh Richardson for three-pointers or anything else. Should it be there first option on offense? Why not?! It’s worked so far.

I think what we need to see more if getting Whiteside involved in the pick-and-roll. Whiteside tends to play better at home, so I’ll be looking for that in Game 3 on Saturday. What adjustments do you expect, if any, when the series returns to Miami?

Posada: In all honesty, I disagree with that. “Live by the sword, die by the sword” is flawed, especially for two players in their 30s that do essentially the same thing on offense. I did see the last few minutes of Game 6 vs the Hornets and Wade taking contested turnaround 19 footers, or hero ball threes are shots they live with him taking. Same goes for Toronto. Has it worked before? Absolutely. But this team having three guys standing around doing nothing for six seconds is counterproductive.

In the fourth quarter of Game 2, Dragic was 2 for 4 from the field with a pair of assists. With just under five minutes to go, Wade checks back and Miami is up six. The remainder of the quarter, Dragic has one touch in the last six possessions – his game-tying three. The point guard didn’t touch the ball for almost five minutes! Not on an inbounds, not a ball that accidentally got tipped back out to him. Nothing. The one matchup that has been exploited by the Heat for two games with Dragic vs. Kyle Lowry and they went away from it. Sure, Wade/Johnson doing their thing has won countless games. But Miami bailed Toronto out in those last five minutes. 

Goldberg: Maybe I should have been more clear, it’s important that the Heat move the ball. I just don’t have a problem with it eventually finds Wade or Johnson in the post, or if it starts there and ends up being kicked out. Like the Heat did with LeBron James in the post so often, the ball movement can start there just as long as enough players are moving around.

The problem is when the offense gets stalled out, and it happened in the last few minutes and in overtime of Game 2. The Heat were getting fine shots, I thought, but the ball wasn’t finding the bottom of the net. Those four-to-five minute stretches of empty possessions have been killer for the Heat this post-season. When they don’t have them–or limit them to two minutes or less–they win.

Both defenses have been good by the way, let’s give them some credit. The Heat can make some things easier on themselves by getting out in transition more, avoiding isolation ball so soon in the shot clock, not turning the ball over so much and getting Whiteside involved more in the pick-and-roll, which was their bread and butter during the season. We can dissect and analyze all we want, but both Games 1 and 2 were close and came down to a matter of shots falling. Whether you’re the Heat or Raptors, there’s plenty of things you can improve on. Whoever cleans up the most mistakes wins this series.