Miami Heat vs Toronto Raptors: Preview, Watch/Listen, Odds

The Miami Heat will face the Toronto Raptors for the second time this season on Thursday. How will they perform after a huge letdown in their last game?

The Miami Heat will be back at it for the first time in the new year as they open their 2020 calendar year with a matchup against a divisional foe. They will welcome in the Toronto Raptors, where they are set to duel for the second time this season and for the first time in South Beach.

The Raptors hosted the Miami Heat several weeks back in their first matchup of the season, a matchup that saw the Heat take the game away from the Raptors and even with it being north of the border. On top of just doing it on their home floor, the Heat were actually the first team to get a win on Toronto’s home floor, breaking up a double-digit flawless home record up until that point.

The Heat will still be without Justise Winslow, but the Toronto Raptors will be without their fair share of firepower as well. Recently, Raptors Head Coach Nick Nurse stated that although Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell, and Marc Gasol were “all improving”, that they were still “a ways away”.

The Heat should be the favorites here, but what’s that mean and especially after taking an ugly defeat at the hands of the lowly Washington Wizards in their last outing on Monday. The Heat should be motivated based on that lost, the caliber of the matchup, and the fact that it is yet another opportunity to further impose their dominance in the Eastern Conference. Here is everything else you need to know about the game.