This is the Hangover. We get basketball-wasted all the time. Yes, we recap the NBA every night in our own way.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images.)
#2 TORONTO RAPTORS 91 @ #3 MIAMI HEAT 103
EAST Semifinals – Game 6 – Series is TIED, 3-3
It was do or die for the Heat.
While the Raptors got some good scoring from their backcourt, they couldn’t stop Goran Dragic from going inside. All Dragic saw was a green light in Canada’s defense as he sliced and diced through. The Heat also got some good minutes from their young back-up guards, Josh Richardson and Tyler Johnson, as Miami got a 32-point second quarter. That was the first 30-point quarter by the Heat in this series.
Lowry and DeRozan didn’t have a lot of difficulty scoring but the rest of the team did. Team Canada especially couldn’t buy a bucket in the fourth. Luol Deng, Dwyane Wade and Josh Richardson rejected all of the Raptors players for prom (or at the rim; same thing, right?). Wade then scored eight of his 22 in the final stanza as the Heat won going away and extended the series to a full seven.
The interior defense for the Raptors was pretty much dead the whole game as Dragic got inside at will. Plus it seemed like the Raptors missed some opportunities on mismatches on their side of the court. Patrick Patterson or Bismack Biyombo would be on the post and they would ignore it. No other Raptors outside of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored more than eight points while the Heat got quality production out of Justise Winslow (12 points), Josh McRoberts (10 points), and Richardson (9 points, 2 blocks). Joe Johnson had a modest 13 points but he hit a big three to keep the Raptors at bay.
Toronto needs that reliable third scorer. And that’s IF DeRozan and Lowry are both actually scoring well. They miss Jonas Valanciunas very badly right now (though if they could get Biyombo involved like the two previous games, it would definitely help).
We’re going back to Toronto where the Raptors and the Heat will play their 14th game of the playoffs. In the meantime, the Cavs are yukking it up as they have only played eight games in a month.
Also, the previous five games had margins of eight points or fewer. This one was a 12-point difference.
BEHIND THE LINES
Goran Dragic (MIA): 30 pts, 7 rebs.
Dwyane Wade (MIA): 22 pts, 6 rebs, 5 assts, 3 blks.
Kyle Lowry (TOR): 36 pts.
DeMar DeRozan (TOR): 23 pts.
WATCH THIS PLAY
Josh Richardson used the escalator to touch the sky.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
Follow Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass for all tweets about the NBA and terrible pop music. Also, check out his podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental.
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