TORONTO _ Wayne Ellington for a game-winning layup.
Not a 3-pointer.
Not a sweet jumper.
No, not in this game, a game that featured a fight and players again mixing it up at the finish.
Still, somehow, on a night of power ball, Ellington found a way, his driving layup off an inbounds play with 3.1 seconds remaining and the Miami Heat down one, lifting the Heat to a 90-89 victory Tuesday night over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.
Because up to that point, it had to be a power play for the Heat.
There weren't many other options.
With Tyler Johnson the latest Heat wing to be sidelined by injury, and with James Johnson ejected early in the third quarter for adding his mixed martial arts background to the proceedings, the Heat's perimeter game essentially was reduced to Goran Dragic or bust.
So with centers Bam Adebayo and Hassan Whiteside stepping forward, and with Dragic adding to the mix on the boards, the Heat fought the good, physical fight.
Dragic closed with 24 points and 12 rebounds, Adebayo with 16 points and 15 rebounds and Whiteside with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Oh, and Ellington with 15 points, none more significant than the final two.
Guard DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 25 points, including what appeared to be the game-winning putback basket with 3.1 seconds to play, on a night prolific shot blocking kept both teams' shooting percentages down.
As has been the case for most of the season for the Heat, it again came down to crunch time, this time with Raptors guard Delon Wright, the brother of former Heat forward Dorell Wright, converting a 3-pointer with 3:12 left to draw the Raptors within 86-83, after they had trailed by 12.
Raptors rookie OG Anunoby then scored his first basket of the game, in transition, to draw Toronto within 86-85, with a DeRozan basket putting Toronto up 87-86 with 2:01 to play, Toronto's first lead since the second period.
After uneven possessions on both ends, the Heat then found themselves in possession with 1:04 to play and 4.4 seconds left on the shot clock.
Following misses by Ellington and Whiteside, the Raptors then called timeout in possession with 57.1 seconds to play.
Toronto then got a missed 3-pointer from Norman Powell, but also possession on an offensive rebound, with Powell then missing.
Dragic then swopped in for an 88-87 Heat lead with 19 seconds to play.
But that's when DeRozan snuck in for a putback basket of his own miss and an 89-88 Toronto lead.
Already short-handed, the Heat lost James Johnson to an ejection with 7:50 left in the third quarter, after a scuffle with Raptors forward Serge Ibaka, who also was ejected.
If the league office determines Johnson threw a punch, it also could have him out for Wednesday's game in Indiana.
It was Johnson's third career ejection, with two last season for the Heat.
Through it all, with the Heat moving to a bigger lineup that had Whiteside and Adebayo playing side by side, the Heat took a 72-64 lead into the fourth quarter, with Dragic up to 22 points by that stage.
Both teams were without starting guards, the Heat without Tyler Johnson, the Raptors without Kyle Lowry.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said 90 minutes before tipoff that Johnson would be sidelined due to a shoulder strain sustained during the morning shootaround.
The Raptors were without Lowry with what his team listed as a bruised tailbone and back spasms.
Lowry was injured during the overtime of the Raptors' Monday night victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center, having to be lifted off the court and carried into the locker room by teammates.
The Raptors said Tuesday that X-rays were negative and that Lowry would be evaluated daily.
Entering the night, the Heat's last regular-season victory in Toronto was on Nov. 29, 2013.
The Heat entered 11-8 on the road, with victories in five of their previous six road games.
