Miami (1-0) at Toronto (0-1)
When: Thursday, May 5th 2016
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Time: 8:05 ET | TV: ESPN
The Miami Heat look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on the Toronto Raptors home floor when they meet Thursday night for Game 2. The Heat blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead, but prevailed in overtime 102-96 in Game 1 behind strong backcourt performances by Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade. Dragic had his second consecutive 20+ point game with 26 on 10-of-20 shooting and has hit five of his last nine three-point attempts. Wade scored seven of his 24 points in the extra period and stole the ball from DeMar DeRozan with four seconds left to seal the win. Wade needs five points to pass Scottie Pippen (3,642) for 15th place on the all-time playoff scoring list. Hassan Whiteside left the court after suffering a strained knee on Tuesday but returned and finished with 17 rebounds in 39 minutes. Miami has now won back-to-back road games after dropping their previous three.
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The Raptors are still getting nothing out of their All-Star backcourt. DeRozan shot 31.9% from the floor in a seven-game victory over the Indiana Pacers in the first round and went 9-of-22 from the floor on Tuesday while Kyle Lowry has been even worse, shooting 31.6% against the Pacers and slumping to 3-of-13 in Game 1 against the Heat. The only bright spot out of the two was Lowry’s half-court buzzer-beater to send the game into overtime, but then missed his only shot attempt in the overtime period. Lowry has not shot better than 38.1 percent in any of his eight games this postseason and stayed in the gym after finishing up with his media responsibilities on Tuesday to shoot jumpers. Toronto has not lost back-to-back home games since December 3rd and 5th.
I said it in our Game 1 preview and I’ll say it again – I can not lay points with Toronto right now they way DeRozan and Lowry are playing. Dragic and Wade were great in Game 1 and I think their momentum continues tonight. It will be close.
Pick: Heat +4.5
