MIAMI (AP) — Another game, another close for the Toronto Raptors. They notice a trend.
Fred VanVleet scored 24 points, Pascal Siakam added 23, and the Raptors rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 98-90 on Monday night and split their two-game trip to South Florida.
“I think until we flatten the ship a bit, we’re going to have a lot of tight games,” VanVleet said. “At the end of the game, you have to be able to execute.”
Toronto’s first four games: a three-point win, a four-point loss, a three-point loss and now an eight-point win, all against teams expecting to be Conference contenders. East: Cleveland, Brooklyn, Miami.
Total score: Toronto 420, Opponents 416.
“The East is not for the faint-hearted,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 18 points, including a 3-pointer that gave Toronto a six-point lead with 22.6 seconds left. Precious Achiuwa grabbed 22 rebounds for the Raptors, the most ever by a Toronto reserve.
Jimmy Butler scored 26 points for Miami, which got 22 points and 15 rebounds from Tyler Herro. Bam Adebayo had 14 points and Duncan Robinson added 12 for the Heat.
Toronto outscored Miami 27-14 in the fourth quarter, getting five 3s in the final 12 minutes. The Raptors outshot the Heat 42-24 from 3-point range and 27-13 on fast breaks.
“They made shots,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They got some big shots down the stretch, even the ones we were defending pretty well.”
The Raptors were without reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, who sat out with a sprained right ankle and will be listed day to day. Miami was without Caleb Martin and Nikola Jovic, both suspended one game by the league for their role in a fight in Saturday night’s game. Martin, the league said, kicked off the event with Toronto’s Christian Koloko, and Jovic was suspended for leaving the Heat bench area.
Siakam started alongside Koloko for Toronto, the first time in NBA history that two Cameroon-born players have started for the same team in the same game.
TIPS
Raptors: Koloko got his first career start and became the 175th player to get at least one for Toronto. … VanVleet’s first 3-pointer of the night was the 802nd of his career, breaking a tie with Morris Peterson for the second-most in Raptors history. Kyle Lowry made 1,518. … Chris Boucher, making his season debut after recovering from a hamstring issue, had 10 points in 12 minutes.
Heat: The Heat were trying to get Butler back in the game in the fourth, but there was no stoppage and Miami had no downtime to burn. Butler only played 3:38 into the final quarter. … Miami went 1-3 in its season-opening four-game home game, allowing an average of 108.5 points. … Victor Oladipo (left knee) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle) have been sidelined and are yet to make their season debuts. … The Heat held Toronto to 40% shooting, but only shot 35%.
CONTRITE MARTIN
Martin opened up about his suspension, revealing that he called Koloko to apologize and promised him a future dinner. He accepted his punishment and said his only issue with the game and league penalties on Sunday was that Koloko had paid too high a price. “I don’t think Christian should have been kicked out or expelled anyway. He did what he had to do,” Martin said.
NEXT
Raptors: Host Philadelphia on Wednesday, then return Friday.
Heat: Visit Portland on Wednesday, the start of a three-game road trip. “It’s an opportunity for us to really start connecting and dealing with adversity on the road,” Spoelstra said.
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