(Photo: Reuters/Mike Stone)
Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade pauses during a break in play against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 3 of the NBA Finals series in Dallas, Texas on June 5, 2011.
Christian Post Report – Friday, March 13, 2015, the Toronto Raptors host the Miami Heat at the Air Canada Centre in the NBA. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The teams have met once this season, with the Heat winning 107-102 at the American Airlines Arena. In that match, Chris Bosh led the team with 21 points, while also pulling down 11 rebounds. Dwyane Wade added 19 while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. He also achieved a double-double by pulling down 11 boards. As a team, the Heat shot 50 percent from the field, thanks to great distribution on the floor as shown by 22 total assists.
Toronto were anchored by DeMar DeRozan, who scored a game high 30 points. He also went 11-of-22 from the field in the losing effort. Kyle Lowry had 22 points, but failed to keep the rest of the team involved as he and DeRozan only combined for four assists.
Miami is short of big men as Hassan Whiteside is listed as day-to-day due to an ankle injury, while Bosh developed clotting in his lungs that resulted in him being dropped from the lineup for the rest of the season.
However, the Heat have survived – winning four of their last six matches. They currently have a 29-35 record, which is still good for the last playoff spot in the East. However, the Charlotte Hornets are closing in as they are only behind by 0.5 games.
The Raptors are fourth in the East and hold a 38-26 record. However, their hot start to the season has started to fizzle out and they are currently in a four-game losing streak. Even worse is that they have only won once in their last 10 matches – the lone win coming against the Philadelphia 76ers.
They have three players averaging double figures every game in DeRozan, Lowry, Lou Williams, Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross but have seen their defense suffer.
In their last 10 games they have allowed at least 100 points from their opponents on eight occasions, and this should be a cause of concern for coach Dwane Casey.
For updates and scores on this Eastern Conference matchup, visit NBA.com. For live streaming, click here.
Source : Christian Post