In pivotal game five in Toronto between the Raptors and the Miami Heat, the story was the Raptors backcourt, from start to finish. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan scored all of Toronto’s first 11 points, and the Raptors raced out to a 13-2 lead early on. Toronto continued their first quarter dominance, opening up a 26-10 lead. By the end of the first, the score was 28-18. DeRozan and Lowry had a combined 19 points after the first quarter, after Miami shot just 27.27% from the field.
The Raptors dominated much of the second quarter, opening up a 20-point lead. Plus, Bismack Biyombo had a couple of nice plays in the quarter:
Bismack Biyombo rocks the rim with the alley-oop slam!#RaptorsVHeat
(via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/CVCvLuzbvl— NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) May 12, 2016
Bismack Biyombo blocks Dwyane Wade, finger wags and puts down the strong slam!
(Via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/nwtZK3GWeE
— NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) May 12, 2016
However, Miami wasn’t giving up yet. They put together a 10-0 run to close the quarter, and trailed 55-45 at the half.
The Heat’s momentum carried over to start the second half, as Dwyane Wade drilled a pull-up trey to extend the raptors run to 13-0. Then, DeRozan started to take over. He ended the run with a floater, knocked down a difficult three, and then a tough jumper. The Heat, who had been down by six, now trailed by 12, 69-57. Unfortunately, DeMarre Carroll went down with what would soon be diagnosed a wrist contusion, and would not return. Likewise, Luol Deng left the game with a left wrist injury. Going into the fourth quarter, Toronto led 75-62.
The Heat kept the fourth quarter close. Three three-pointers in the quarter from rookie sniper Josh Richardson were huge for Miami, and a Justise Winslow jumper got Miami to within 84-79, capping a 10-2 Heat run. Miami even got to within one point, but then began to crumble. The score was 90-87 when Goran Dragic turned the ball over. Toronto took their time on offense on the other end, and Kyle Lowry was forced to put up a very deep three-pointer as the shot clock expired… which he sunk. Here’s that dagger by Lowry:
Dwyane Wade, not to be outdone, hit a contested fader on the other end. However, Kyle Lowry was not about to lose this game. He came right back down and hit this tough shot:
Kyle Lowry hits the tough dagger jumper and he makes Pat Riley leave early…#RAPTORSvHEAT
(via @clippittv)pic.twitter.com/FFFKXnMFLn— NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) May 12, 2016
That was that. Wade missed a three-pointer, and the game was more or less over. 99-91 was the final score. The Raptors will look to close out the series on the road in Miami in game six.
Lowry and DeRozan were tremendous for Toronto. Lowry scored 25 points to go with 10 rebounds, six assists, and three steals. DeRozan led the game with 34 points on terrific efficiency(11-22 FG, 1-1 3PT, 11-11 FT). Another key contributor for Toronto was Bismack Biyombo, who posted 10 points to go with six rebounds and four blocked shots.
Wade led Miami with 20 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson scored 13 apiece.
We have not yet heard whether Carroll or Deng will return for game six, but that will be a big factor to watch.
Also, a fun fact from SportsCenter:
This is 4th time Kyle Lowry & DeMar DeRozan scored 20+ pts in same playoff game. Raptors are 4-0 in those instances. pic.twitter.com/ubIgvQqo0s
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 12, 2016
