The Miami Heat snapped their season-long four-game losing streak Friday night against the Toronto Raptors, winning 120-111 in overtime.
The Heat led by as much as seven points with 6:31 left in regulation, but RJ Barrett’s 3-pointer and floater gave Toronto the lead with 3:14 left. Barrett’s layup gave Toronto a three-point advantage — 107-104 — with 53.1 seconds left. But Andrew Wiggins, playing in his hometown, was fouled from beyond the arc at the right corner with 45.1 seconds left, draining all three free throws.
Scottie Barnes missed the go-ahead layup with 21 seconds left. Tyler Herro got to the paint on the final possession and (wisely) passed it out to Bam Adebayo in the corner, who missed the potential game-winning floater to force overtime.
Behind Wiggins, Adebayo and Herro, Miami outscored Toronto 13-4 in overtime–capped by back-to-back finishes around the rim for Wiggins to put it out of reach with under a minute left.
The 6-foot-7 forward had his best game donning Miami Vice, scoring 25 points with eight rebounds on 9-of-19 shooting. It was a slow start from Wiggins efficiency-wise, but he continued to be aggressive while playing exceptional defense all night. Herro, coming off his first All-Star appearance, scored 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 4-of-9 from 3-point range, in addition to seven assists and three rebounds.
Adebayo had 19 points and 12 rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting while Davion Mitchell had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Collectively, the Heat shot 51.1 percent from the floor, 36.1 percent from 3-point range and 15-of-18 from the free-throw line. The Raptors, led by RJ Barrett’s game-high and Immanuel Quickley, shot just 41.8 percent, including 39.5 percent from 3-point range and 18-of-23 from the charity stripe.
Quickley was a thorn in Miami’s side most of the night, scoring 23 points on 5-of-11 from deep with seven boards. Gradey Dick had an impactful nine-point, 10-rebound outing while Scottie Barnes had just 13 points and six rebounds across 38 minutes.
The win brings Miami back to two games below .500 after enduring its longest losing stretch of the season. There’s still real estate between them and Detroit, but the Heat tied the Orlando Magic (28-30) for the No. 7 seed in the East as a result of Friday night’s win.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
Spo fixed those terrible periods of game, which cost us as several games.
I have a feeling, that rotation and players minutes were carefully measured, and all that played brought something to the table, some more, some less, depends of the day.
Thats good.
Not so good is, that they are barely won against bad and incomplete team.
Anyway, newcomers were good, which is a good thing.
JJJ and HH were out. Hard decision, but the right one.
For now.
Wiggins, Anderson and 2025 1st round (possibly lottery) pick for a quitter? I’ll take that trade any day and twice on Sunday!
Keep things in perspective folks. The Heat has all it’s regulars healthy. Toronto had two starters (Ingram and Poeltl) out and are in 13th place at 17-39. Sunday’s game against 31-24 Bucks, who will be without Portis and possibly Lillard, should be a little more revealing.
P.S. I couldn’t help but notice that Jaquez, Highsmith and Larsson didn’t play. Ware only played 21 minutes, Rozier played 16 and Burks played 6. Sign of things to come?
Don’t forget Mitchell. Had his best game tonight. As did Wiggins.
I meant to mention that. They seem to be finding their comfort levels. Both are blue collar type players. All the effort and none of the drama. I like the defensive presence they bring. Anderson is good to have off the bench if others are struggling.
I am happy for Wiggins. The Heat needs him to be more assertive in offense. I saw flashes of his younger years with him going downstream to the rim. I see him playing a larger role in offense as he gets use to the team.