Written by James Herbert at CBSSports.com
Thursday morning, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra predicted that the Toronto Raptors would have an “incredible response” after losing Game 1 at home. He cautioned that there is a misconception about teams having “letdowns” in the playoffs when usually losses are more about the opponent playing well.
“They were second in the East, a game and a half away from having home-court [advantage] all the way through,” Spoelstra said. “They had eight more wins than us during the regular season for a reason. They’re a damn good team.”
Everything Spoelstra said was correct, even if the Raptors haven’t looked that damn good lately. If you didn’t watch Game 2, you might think that Spoelstra was prophetic and Toronto rose to the occasion to get the win it needed. If you did watch it, you know that would be an extremely generous reading of the situation.
Toronto saved its season on Thursday with a 96-92 overtime victory, but the performance was not particularly persuasive. The questions about the Raptors before playoffs were the same before this series — can their starting backcourt produce like they did in the regular season, can they play with poise when they need to, can they continue to count on their depth and their ability to draw fouls? — and they remain largely unanswered.
In the first quarter, the Raptors forced 11 turnovers, eight of them of the live-ball variety. The way the Heat were stumbling and fumbling, Toronto’s 10-point lead heading into the second quarter seemed small. Miami cut the deficit to just seven points by halftime almost by accident — it just stopped giving away extra possessions. In the second and third quarters, the Raptors shot a miserable 14 for 41 with two assists, and the Heat took a two-point lead into the fourth.
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