Heat vs. Raptors Preview
TORONTO (AP) – The Miami Heat have secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference, though it’s hardly been a smooth ride.
They know it won’t get any easier in the playoffs.
Miami closes out an eventful regular season when it visits the short-handed Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
According to NBA odds and oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the NA point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the NA. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that NA% of more than NA bets for this game have been placed on the NA.
The Heat (57-24) defeated Atlanta 98-90 on Monday to assure themselves of the No. 2 seed, locking them into a first-round matchup with Philadelphia.
Despite 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists from LeBron James, the Hawks nearly erased a 20-point deficit while playing mostly reserves.
“Sometimes it’s not pretty, but we’re doing the little things necessary to win,” said Dwyane Wade, who scored 21 points. “That’s what will matter in the playoffs, because some games won’t be so pretty.”
That certainly was the case at times during a regular season marked by sky-high expectations. Miami started 9-8 and endured a five-game losing streak against playoff teams from Feb. 27-March 8 that raised doubts about whether it could compete with the NBA’s best.
“Staying the course,” James said. “That’s all (coach Erik Spoelstra) talked about. Staying the course, staying the course, and we’ll get through everything.”
The Heat need a victory to finish with their highest win total since going 59-23 in 2004-05. They appear to have a very good chance to do so against the Raptors.
The Heat have taken all three meetings rather easily, winning by an average of 11.4 points. Bosh scored 25 in his first return to Toronto since joining Miami as the Heat won 103-95 in the latest meeting Feb. 16.
Andrea Bargnani scored 38 points in that game and is averaging 29.3 against the Heat this season, but he’s missed four straight and seven of the last nine contests due to a sore ankle.
The Raptors (22-59) used just eight players in a 93-86 loss to Milwaukee on Monday as Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa, Jose Calderon, Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems and Reggie Evans sat out.
It’s uncertain if any of them will play Wednesday.
Toronto struggled in the fourth quarter against the Bucks, committing six of its 20 turnovers.
“They wore us down in the second half,” coach Jay Triano said. “We didn’t drive as much in the second half as I would have liked. Our guys were just worn down a little bit.”
Jerryd Bayless scored 20 points and DeMar DeRozan added 17 for Toronto, but they went a combined 11 for 34 from the field. The Raptors shot 37.0 percent overall.
Miami has won four straight and six of eight against Toronto, but the Raptors have taken six of the last eight meetings at Air Canada Centre.
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