The Miami Heat failed to get back in the winning column after a difficult outing against the Toronto Raptors, plus the latest updates on Nikola Jovic.
Miami, FL - The Miami Heat were finally back on the court after days of rest and practice sessions following their elimination from the NBA Cup to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, Dec. 9th, with a final score of 117-108. They were riding a four-game losing streak ahead of last night's matchup against the Toronto Raptors, who were experiencing the same thing. Both teams' seasons have been very similar, with this being their first meeting.
Tyler Herro was originally available, but was later ruled a late scratch after reaggravating his great big toe contusion injury. The All-Star guard has only appeared in six games this season, averaging 23.2 points, five rebounds, 2.3 assists, and a steal while shooting 50.5 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from three-point range, after recovering from offseason left ankle surgery. Also, second-year guard Pelle Larsson was sidelined due to a left ankle sprain, which was sustained in last Tuesday's game against the Magic.
Meanwhile, the Raptors were only without veteran guard RJ Barrett. Brandon Ingram has been excellent to start the season, averaging 21.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from three-point range, before last night's game.
The starting lineups:
Heat: Davion Mitchell-Norman Powell-Simone Fontecchio-Andrew Wiggins-Bam Adebayo
Raptors: Immanuel Quickley-Ochai Agbaji-Scottie Barnes-Brandon Ingram-Jakob Poeltl
Erik Spoelstra would insert Simone Fontecchio into the starting lineup for the first time this season following the Herro injury update.
It was time for tipoff and Andrew Wiggins was the first to punch the scoreboard with a three-pointer. The Heat were looking in rhythm, scoring a few shots from behind the arc to start the game. However, it didn't take long for the Raptors to crawl back into the game, but the next sequence would cause the city of Miami to hold still.
After attempting a fastbreak dunk, Nikola Jovic would fall on his right arm hard. It would appear as if he broke it. A stretcher was called, but instead, the young Serbian walked off the court at his own will with an air cast wrapped around it. The 22-year-old would not return to the game.
However, despite the events, there was still a game to play. After a moment of shock, it was back to basketball business. It was a tight first quarter, but what was troubling was the Heat committing eight turnovers. The offense clicked early, but the lack of ball control had them trailing after the first 12 minutes of the game, with a score of 23-22.
However, as the second quarter began, they threw a 14-0 punch, led by Norman Powell with a couple of three-pointers. It resulted in an 11-point lead, which would be their largest of the game. Then, the Raptors responded with a 13-2 run to regain control of the game, with various contributions.
The Heat's struggles from three-point range began to haunt again. Regardless, they still led going into halftime, with a score of 52-46. Ingram caught an early rhythm, scoring 18 first-half points, including three three-pointers made.
As the third quarter began, after a sluggish first half by Scottie Barnes, he began to leave an imprint on the game. The 24-year-old scored six points, making all three of his field goal attempts. Before, it was mainly Ingram being the offensive problem; the former All-Star was emerging.
The game began to slip away from the Heat. The Raptors remained in rhythm, and with every attempt to get back into the game, there was a response. Barnes solidified everything with a strong layup through contact, plus a foul.
After the final buzzer went off, the score was 106-96, extending the losing streak to five. Bam Adebayo finished the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 33 minutes. It's his 10th double-double of the season.
"It's that defensive end I'm really worried about," he said. "Even if [we] don't score 140, if we score 96, we can still win. That's obviously got to be a collective thing."
Norman Powell also had 20 points, but made only five field goals out of 15 attempts, 33.3 percent.
"I'm really confident," he said. "Coach won't rest, coaching staff won't rest until we get this right. We're not going to quit. We go through tough times. We're built on it, but it's going to be on us. It's going to be on the guys stepping on the floor and having that identity of who we're going to be every single night. It's going to have to start on the defensive end. Scoring 140 is great, but who are we going to be when we have nights like this, consecutive nights like this, and it's going to be a team that has to hold their hats on the defensive end, whether shots are going in, whether you're getting your looks, whether you're getting your average, whatever it is."
After the game, it was reported that Jovic's X-rays returned negative, which means nothing was fractured, and he will undergo an MRI to further learn more.
"Crazy Serbian, I couldn't believe he was smiling," Spoelstra said. "He was laughing when we all went up to him. I think that was his way of just lighting. He probably saw the look in all of our faces. It was a hard fall; it looks like we dodged a bullet on that one. He came down really hard and split his elbow open."
The Heat finished the game making nine three-pointers out of 31 attempts, 29 percent. It's the fourth time in the last five games that the team shot below 30 percent from behind the arc. They will now prepare for a three-game road trip, including a back-to-back between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. The challenge only gets tougher, but it's moments like these that define a team.
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