2016 NBA Playoffs: Miami Heat go small, force Game 7 with 103-91 win over Toronto Raptors
[2] Toronto Raptors 91-103 [3] Miami Heat [Series tied 3-3]
Going small has been a trend in the league of late but the Miami Heat went super small in Game 6 and that was a key part of their win. The Heat started rookie Justice Winslow at center and surrounded him with Luol Deng, Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic. With starting center Hassan Whiteside out with an MCL sprain and Amar’e Stoudemire not starting, it made sense for the Heat to go small as they had outscored the Raptors 63-38 whenever they had no big on the floor.
Point Guard Dragic led the way in the first half for the Heat, scoring or assisting on 29 of their 53 points. He finished the game with a Playoffs career high 30 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. His back court mate Wade, whose climbed six spots so far in the NBA’s post-season all-time scoring list, chipped in with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.
The Heat took control of the game behind a 32-24 second quarter and then never let the lead slip away. Toronto didn’t do much wrong, on a relative basis to Miami’s shooting, with mediocre shooting percentages of 41.5% from the field, 25% from beyond the arc and 76% from the free throw line.
The Raptors received 59 points and 5 dimes from its All-Star back court of Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan but nobody else on the team scored more than 8.
The difference maker in this game was the play of the benches. Miami’s short-handed rotations meant only three bench players being available for the game but that was enough as they scored 24 points, in contrast to their counterparts who scored 15 despite using as many as six reserves.
The Raptors might have home court advantage in Game 7 for this series but the numbers say otherwise as the Heat have won four straight Game 7’s, including their last six elimination games.
Top 5 Plays:
Josh Richardson’s poster on Bismack Biyombo leads the top plays for the night.