Heat toss away all hope for a playoff spot after blowout loss

The Miami Heat couldn't make it two wins in a row as they faced the Toronto Raptors on the road, losing by a wide margin of 26 points, 121-55. The Raptors' offense was clicking all night, while the Heat's defense faltered, and their offense fell completely flat.

The Heat came into Tuesday night's game against the Raptors 0-2 on the season, and after a third loss to their Eastern Conference counterpart, the possibility of getting swept by Toronto this season is real, as the two teams face off again this week.

Miami is now 2-8 in their last 10 games, which is a brutal way to close the season with three more games remaining. Their play-in spot is solidified, but that might be more disappointing than missing the playoffs altogether. Getting beaten by the Raptors was bad, but the Heat didn't help themselves either. 

Bam Adebayo failed to carry the Miami Heat in a pivotal game they needed

If there was one thing that killed the Heat against the Raptors, it was their porous three-point shooting. Toronto went 12-for-28 from beyond the arc, and the Heat never came close to matching those numbers, going 12-for-44 as a team. 

Only Andrew Wiggins shot well from three, going 4-for-7, scoring a total of 24 points, leading the Heat in offense. Where others like Tyler Herro (1-for-4), Norman Powell (2-for-7), Pelle Larsson (1-for-4), and Jamie Jaquez Jr. (1-for-4) all shot terribly, but Bam Adebayo's 1-for-7 stuck out the most, considering he scored just seven points on the night, going 2-for-13 in total from the floor. 

Miami couldn't score, and it buried them. Most of all, though, they couldn't stop Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes, who each put in 23 points apiece, never mind the rest of Toronto's offense, which had three other players finish with double-digit points. 

If the Heat were going to drop this game, a 26-point blowout was not the way to go down, and it certainly did not resemble a team that ranks among the NBA's top defenses this year. It was all too familiar, resembling one too many losses the Heat have succumbed to this season, and it's a significant reason why they are where they are today, with the regular season about to close its curtains. 

The loss to the Raptors makes it official: the Heat secure a play-in seed for the fourth consecutive season, and unfortunately, they don't appear to be a team that can win two games to make it out of the tournament. That said, the possibility of moving up in the play-in is still available to them. 

There is just one problem: the very same Raptors team that just gave the Heat an embarrassing 48 minutes of basketball will be the team Miami sees next on Thursday. Considering how the Raptors beat the Heat this time around with three-point shooting, perhaps this is a tell on what the Heat can and should do next time: shoot the ball more and hope to outshoot the Raptors.