Final thoughts
Well, that was most likely the most entertaining of the seven games in this series, although it’s a bit disappointing that the score became that lopsided so quickly in the second half (although I suppose Toronto fans didn’t mind so much). The Raptors now get exactly one day of rest before they have to travel to Cleveland to face a dangerous Cavaliers team that has been resting while they’ve been in the fight for their lives against a relentless Miami Heat team.
In other words, Raptors fans, enjoy this moment while you can. Chances are it could get ugly when the Eastern Conference Finals begin on Tuesday.
Of course, you should keep tuned for the Guardian for continuing coverage of the NBA playoffs. This, however, marks the end of our live coverage for today. Thanks to everyone who followed along with today’s Game 7 between the Heat and the Raptors! Ciao!
Updated
The Toronto Raptors have beaten the Miami Heat in seven games! They will go on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Raptors win!
Heat 89-116 Raptors, FINAL
The rest is garbage time: Dorrell Wright gets a basket for Miami. Winslow makes one of two free throws. Lucas Nogueira comes in for Toronto to score the last points of the game. Finally, the buzzer scores and the Toronto Raptors have beaten the Miami Heat!
Heat 86-114 Raptors, 2:27, 4th quarter
Wade is out, Gerald Green is in his place. I guess that battle against your old teammate just wasn’t to be.
And there goes Lowry, as the crowd gives him a huge ovation as Dwane Casey takes him out the game.
Biyombo makes a layup, and gets fouled, and he makes the free throw!
Heat 86-111 Raptors, 3:23, 4th quarter
The sound coming from the crowd is... it’s less happiness and joy, although that’s there, it’s more just relief. The Raptors aren’t going to let this slip away. Not this time. It’s like an angst exorcism.
Lowry hits a three-pointer. That helps the mood a bit too.
Heat 86-108 Raptors, 3:57, 4th quarter
Biyombo gets to the line and makes... both free throws? Wow. It really is the Raptors’ night.
And Lowry steals the ball away from Winslow, he gets the ball to DeRozan who hits a jumper and that is probably going to do this.
Heat 86-106 Raptors, 4:56, 4th quarter
Toronto takes a time out. They know they have this game, they just need to be smart about how they close this out. The clock is their friend.
Of course, scoring isn’t a bad thing either. Lowry knocks a shot down immediately out of the time out. Meanwhile, Wade is limping a bit on the court. So, yeah, things not great for Miami.
Heat 86-102 Raptors, 6:01, 4th quarter
Wade’s not going to give up, of course. He cuts it to 18 points with a basket. Ross fouls Dragic, giving him a chance to add two points with the clock stopped.
Heat 82-102 Raptors, 7:30, 4th quarter
Patrick Patterson makes a layup, then gets fouled by Winslow and goes to the line and the Raptors are up by 20. This... this might be over, folks.
Heat 82-98 Raptors, 7:54, 4th quarter
The officials try to figure out fouls after some on-court brouhaha, eventually giving a flagrant 2 foul on Josh McRoberts. It puts Biyombo on the free throw line, which is always awkward to watch. He makes one of two, which you’ll take if you’re Toronto.
Heat 82-97 Raptors, 8:26, 4th quarter
Cory Jospeh adds to the Toronto lead by making one of two free throws. Per usual with this team, right when it looks like the Raptors are in control, there’s a setback as Carroll picks up his fifth foul.
McRoberts makes a layup to cut into the Toronto lead.
Heat 80-96 Raptors, 9:41, 4th quarter
Biyombo brings the Toronto crowd back in the game with a dunk, he’s really electric when he’s on,
And then comes back-to-back threes from Carroll and Ross and it is, as the kids would say, AS LIT AF.
Heat 80-88 Raptors, 10:57, 4th quarter
McRoberts gets to the line, cuts the Raptors lead back down to 8 points.
Heat 78-88 Raptors, 11:22, 4th quarter
Lowry hits a mid-range jumper to push the Toronto lead up to 10. A good start.
Heat 78-86 Raptors, end of the 3rd quarter
DeRozan hits a shot that should calm things down a bit... but doesn’t. Dwyade Wade hits a three-pointer, something which it seems he can only do during the playoffs. Dragic then robs DeRozan on the next possession and takes it to the hoop.
AND THEN TYLER JOHNSON HITS A THREE
it’s looking like it’s Raptors implosion time? Luckily for them, the quarter’s almost over. DeRozan makes te last basket before the buzzer. Can the Heat keep up this momentum when the action resumes?
Heat 70-82 Raptors, 1:46, 3rd quarter
Now it’s Toronto’s turn to be angry at the officials, as Wade gets rewarded two free throws on an iffy call. He makes one of two.
Heat 69-82 Raptors, 1:59, 3rd quarter
Patterson is awarded free throws on a loose ball foul, a call that Heat coach Pat Riley isn’t particularly thrilled about it. He makes both.
Heat 69-80 Raptors, 2:30, 3rd quarter
Lowry hits a three-pointer, which settles things down quite a bit. 11 point Toronto lead.
Heat 69-77 Raptors, 2:49, 3rd quarter
DeRozan gets called for a loose ball foul that gets Winslow on the line, he makes both free throws. That’s he easiest way to get Miami back into this game so Toronto should avoid...
Oh, Winslow gets back on the line after being hacked by Biyombo after wrestling back an offensive rebound. THIS IS NOT IDEAL. He makes both freebies.
Heat 65-77 Raptors, 3:56, 3rd quarter
DeRozan hits a two-pointer to push the lead back up to 17 but Miami go on the closest thing they’ve had to “a run” in a long while, Winslow hits a three and McRoberts makes a jumper.
The Raptors takes a timeout to figure things out.
Heat 60-75 Raptors, 4:56, 3rd quarter
Lowry adds two points as the Raptors start extended their lead. Wade fouls Biyombo, probably a good idea considering that free throws are the one thing he hasn’t been able to help with here in the third. He makes one of two free throws.
Finally Miami gets back on the board, a two point shot that cuts the Raptors lead to 15. 15, yikes.
Heat 58-72 Raptors, 6:13, 3rd quarter
Deng stops the bleeding, briefly, with a layup, but DeRozan gets fouled on a successful basket. He makes the “and one.” Dragic misses on the other end, Lowry gets the ball back for Toronto and BIYOMBO BE THERE
Heat 56-67 Raptors, 7:45, 3rd quarter
Biyombo misses the free throw BUT he blocks Joe Johnson on the other side of the court! Carroll with a three-pointer!
Can Toronto start putting this away early?
Heat 56-64 Raptors, 8:06, 3rd quarter
It’s down to you Joe Johnson, Miami seems to be saying. He hits a three heading out of the timeout.
Potentially big: Dragic picks up his third foul that puts Biyombo to the line. Biyombo... isn’t much of a free throw shooter he misses both.
OH BUT HE CAN DUNK! And he’s fouled on the play!
Heat 53-62 Raptors, 8:45, 3rd quarter
The Joe Johnson renaissance continues as he responds with another basket. That’s the last good news for Miami for a while though. DeRozan hits a three! Lowry adds a basket! Toronto has a 10 point lead! Heat have to call a timeout!
Updated
Heat 51-58 Raptors, 10:00, 3rd quarter
Dragic gets a call his way, making two free throws. The Heat cut into the Toronto lead, for a few seconds at least as Lowry hits a deep, contested three.
Heat 49-55 Raptors, 10:38, 3rd quarter
Dragic gets called for a ticky-tacky foul on Kyle Lowry who may or may not have been in the process of shooting a three at the time. He’s awarded three free throws, making 2 out of 3.
Second half!
Heat 49-53 Raptors, 11:36, 3rd quarter
And we’re back! Deng hits a 6 footer to cut into the Raptors lead.
So far, the most entertaining aspect of Game 7 has been that stretch where Joe Johnson was dominating the game. Now, granted anytime the phrases “Joe Johnson” and “entertaining aspect” get used around the same time, something clearly is going screwy.
Basketball Twitter responds to the Heat and the Raptors actually giving us something resembling a basketball game today:
Thank you Heat and Raptors for a perfectly credible first half!
— Bethlehem Shoals (@freedarko) May 15, 2016
Whoever wins this series is definitely going to push the Cavs to 4 games.
— Penis Kanter (@ThomasAwful) May 15, 2016
Halftime thoughts
Those last two minutes are a perfect example of what a mess this series has been. Just both teams flailing and failing to hold on to the help that the other team has given them.
That said, it’s been mostly entertaining, with the exception of the non-stop parade of free throws that will only get worse from here on out.
Your take on the action so far? Do the Raptors hang on and win this? Do the Heat have a second-half surge? Does this go into triple overtime? Email Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com or tweet @HunterFelt with your thoughts, jokes, analysis etc.
Heat 47-53 Raptors, end of the 1st half
DeRozan knocks down a 12-footer to increase the Raptors lead. Miami calls a timeout. Wade draws a foul, the third on Carroll, and gets one of two free throws on the line. Then Udonis Haslem, who I keep forgetting is not retired, gets called for a blocking foul. Lowry makes the two free throws. And that will do it for the first half.
Heat 46-49 Raptors, :30, 2nd quarter
Lowry, however, gets a three-pointer right back.
Dragic hits a layup. And then another jumper. Just a massively disappointing ending this is shaping up to be for Toronto.
Heat 42-46 Raptors, 1:38, 2nd quarter
Biyombo blocks Wade and the Raptors get the ball back but can’t do anything with it. DeRozan then gets to the free throw line... and misses both. Toronto are missing several big opportunities to increase their lead here. They will regret this.
And yeah there’s Wade hitting a three-pointer. That’s what happens.
Heat 39-46 Raptors, 3:12, 2nd quarter
Patrick Patterson with a score and a foul! He hits the free throw and Miami takes a timeout. Things getting even louder in Toronto.
Heat 39-43 Raptors, 3:54, 2nd quarter
Well that was a rush. Carroll gets a basket by taking advantage of Wade’s two fouls, Joe Johnson then hits his fourth shot of the quarter for Miami, but then Lowry hits a three pointer that gets the crowd going.
Heat 37-38 Raptors, 5:22, 2nd quarter
Joe Johnson awakens from a long nap, refreshed
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) May 15, 2016
Josh Richardson goes for a DeRozan pumpfake, putting him on the line, where he hits both. Raptors lead again.
Heat 37-36 Raptors, 5:35, 2nd quarter
And Johnson makes his third straight shot and the Miami Heat have the lead! Raptors take a full timeout.
Heat 35-36 Raptors, 6:15, 2nd quarter
Old Man Joe Johnson makes back to back old fashioned jumpers. The Raptors just can’t get separation.
Heat 31-36 Raptors, 7:07, 2nd quarter
Wade misses with a jumper out of the break. Ross gets the rebound, gets it to Biyombo who lays it in.
Heat 31-34 Raptors, 7:46, 2nd quarter
Great sequence here: Richardson misses a three-pointer, Carroll gets the defensive rebound, the Raptors get to the other side of the court where Lowry hits a shot.
That will take us to a TV timeout.
Heat 31-32 Raptors, 8:26, 2nd quarter
Richardson his a three pointer to cut the Raptors lead back down to 1. Never mind, it’s 3 again after a Ross layup.
No, now it’s 1 again, Wade makes a five-footer.
Heat 26-30 Raptors, 9:42, 2nd quarter
Wade draws a foul on Cory Jospeh and then burns him for a basket immediately afterwards. Then Lowry sells a foul call to get on the line. Once again, he makes one of two.
Heat 24-29 Raptors, 10:26, 2nd quarter
And we have around minute and a half before our first free throws of the game. The foul’s on Josh Richardson and it puts Lowry on the line. He short-arms the first, but makes the second.
Heat 24-28 Raptors, 10:33, 2nd quarter
Oh hey, it’s Terrence Ross and he’s doing things!
A three-pointer gives the Raptors a four point lead.
Heat 24-25 Raptors, end of the 1st quarter
Deng gets to the line and hits two free throws, cutting the Raptors lead down to one. Then Terrence Ross LOSES THE BALL, Tyler Johnson has the ball for Miami, getting it to Dragic who hits the shot that gives Miami the lead.
Dragic was fouled on the play, but misses the free throw. DeRozan hits a shot in the quarter’s final seconds to give Toronto the slim lead going into the second.
Heat 20-23 Raptors, 1:01, 1st quarter
Josh McRoberts gets in the game and gets a bucket to cut the Toronto lead to one. Briefly. DeRozan, who is doing everything here today for the Raptors, gets it back.
Heat 18-21 Raptors, 2:16, 1st quarter
Deng rejects DeRozan’s layup, but Biyombo gets the putback. Nice movie.
Heat 18-19 Raptors, 3:03, 1st quarter
Wait, WHAT? Winslow hits a three-pointer... um, okay?
Heat 15-19 Raptors, 3:29, 1st quarter
Deng hits a shot for Miami. DeRozan nails a jumper in response. Then yet another foul call puts DeRozan on the line yet again, he makes one out of two free throws and Miami takes its first timeout of the game.
Heat 12-16 Raptors, 5:05, 1st quarter
Carroll gets to the line, what did I tell you, and hits both of his freebies. Wade hits the bench with two fouls already in this game.
...And then Patrick Patterson immediately gets called for a foul that puts Deng on the line. He gets one out of two.
Heat 11-14 Raptors, 5:22, 1st quarter
That was a fairly exciting start to this game, especially compared to how sluggish this series has been at times. Unfortunately it’s also a bit sloppy, so we could be seeing a lot of free throws today.
Deng hits a jumper to cut into the Toronto lead.
Heat 9-14 Raptors, 5:52, 1st quarter
And a delay of game call on Heat puts Patrick Patterson on the line. He makes two free throws. Wade and Lowry quickly trade baskets and Toronto takes a timeout after Bismack Biyombo gets called for a foul.
Heat 7-10 Raptors, 6:31, 1st quarter
Dragic gets called for a foul that puts Lowry on the line for two more free throws. He makes both of them.
Heat 7-8 Raptors, 7:50, 1st quarter
Lowry gets called for a foul, putting Winslow on the line where he hits one of two shots. Dragic converts a defensive rebound into a basket to cut the Raptors lead to one. Kind of a frenzied start here.
Heat 4-8 Raptors, 8:52, 1st quarter
Justise Winslow, who yes is playing the center possible (is it centre position in Canada?) catches Toronto napping and goes for a dunk.
DeMarre Carroll makes a layup and then Lowry swipes the ball from Dwyane Wade and gets the ball to DeRozan for an easy score.
Heat 2-4 Raptors, 10:22, 1st quarter
And Goran Dragic takes it to the rip for a layup to tie the game. Lowry gets fouled, makes both of his free throws.
Opening tip
Heat 0-2 Raptors, 11:12, 1st quarter
Lowry wins the opening tip, DeMar DeRozan makes the first shot of the game. 2-0 lead for the Raptors.
The Raptors are 0-13 in playoff games that tip-off before 4:00pm all-time, 0-5 over the last 3 years.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 14, 2016
Oh. Can I change my prediction yet? No, too late? Oh well. We’re almost here.
@HunterFelt Prepared for game 7 by watching Spurs-Pistons game 7 '05. Oh, how Manu's locks flew wildly through the air. Anyway, go Raps.
— Carly Lightfoot (@CarlyLightfoot) May 15, 2016
Now he has less of a bald spot and more a hair spot surrounded by baldness.
Toronto Raptors starters
DeMarre Carroll, F
Patrick Patterson, F
Bismack Biyombo, C
DeMar DeRozan, G
Kyle Lowry, G
Miami Heat starters
Dwyane Wade, F
Luol Deng, F
Justise Winslow, C
Joe Johnson, G
Goran Dragic, G
And where is Raptors mascot/superfan Drake? He’s apparently zooming in from New York after last night’s SNL hosting gig.
Raptors sources say Drake is flying in from New York for the game, and will be heading to LA afterward. #DrakeOrNoDrake
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) May 15, 2016
NOTE: Because of his hosting duties, Drake had to shave his playoff beard, so if the Raptors lose you know who to blame.
So, Toronto is really starting to get into this postseason stuff, it looks like:
Jurassic Park line. Wow pic.twitter.com/xqC8qRChBo
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) May 15, 2016
The bad news for the Raptors, as far as precedent goes, is that they have only won a single Game 7 in their franchise’s history. The good news: that happened in the last series against the Indiana Pacers. So recency bias is on their side.
Prediction time
I am really, really hoping for a Heat/Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals, something which I vaguely predicted before the season started. For that reason alone, I’m going to have to predict that the Raptors pull off the victory just because the only constant in this series has been that whatever would annoy me the most is what ends up happening. So, the Heat lose by like 8-10 points.
Your predictions? Email them to Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt.
Updated
So, what’s the perfect metaphor for this Heat/Raptors series so far, you may ask? Well, so far it’s been this moment where Dwyane Wade’s layup just got stuck on the rim rather than going in.
Preamble
I’m going to be honest here: of the four series we got in the second round of the playoffs, this wasn’t the one that anybody wanted to see go seven games. In fact, I’m still a little shocked that the Oklahoma City Thunder managed to eliminate the San Antonio Spurs in just six games. Now, it’s a little less surprising that the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to sweep the Atlanta Hawks and that the Portland Trail Blazers only managed to take a single game in their series against the Golden State Warriors
This series between the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors has been, well, something of a slog. The positive spin on this is that the Heat and the Raptors are evenly matched opponents who make things difficult for the other team. A more truthful thing to say here is that neither team has really played all that well. The ultimate winner of this series might end up being the Cavaliers, who should be heavily favored no matter which team wins today.
It hasn’t helped that both teams are dealing with significant injuries. The Heat, already forced to play without Chris Bosh, who is dealing with possibly career-threatening blood clots, and is currently without the game-changing abilities of Hassan Whiteside, who is dealing with a sprained MCL. The Raptors, on the other hand, are without big man Jonas Valanciunas, who was their best player until the ankle injury that most likely finished his postseason.
And we do have some nifty narratives here, for those of you who like storylines with your postseason basketball. The Raptors have been the second best team in the Eastern Conference all year long, but they’ve had to combat their reputation as playoff underachievers. Kyle Lowry, in particular, has had some pretty major struggles throughout this Raptors run. Meanwhile, if the Heat win, we will have one of the most intriguing Eastern Conference Finals matchups possible: LeBron James’s old team vs his current one
So that’s what’s on the line today. If you want to join today’s fun with your thoughts on this game, the NBA playoffs in general or just want to share Drake memes, we strong encourage that! You can either tweet @HunterFelt or email Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com.
It’s the Miami Heat vs the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre! Opening tip is scheduled around 3:30pm EST, but we’ll be back well before then.
Hunter will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s what happened in Game 6:
The Miami Heat went small, and came up big.
With that, another Game 7 awaits.
Goran Dragic scored a postseason career-high 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 22 and the Heat rode a small lineup to a 103-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, tying their Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-3.
“Last year at this time we were all on vacation,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So often in this business people tend to want to search for the easy route. There’s usually not an easy way in a seven-game series, certainly not with a second and third seed going against each other. This is the path … and now we’ve pushed it to a Game 7.”
It comes Sunday in Toronto. The winner will head to Cleveland for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night. Both the Heat and the Raptors won a Game 7 in the first round.
Kyle Lowry scored 36 points for Toronto, on 12-for-27 shooting. DeMar DeRozan added 23 for the Raptors, but their teammates combined to shoot 14 of 34 from the floor and manage 32 points.
