Raptors vs. Heat: Things We Learned From Game 1
Dwyane Wade steals the ball from DeMar DeRozan to seal a game 1 victory for the Heat
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
That was a weird game. Raptors looked to be in control in the first half, but let the Heat hang around. The Heat dominated the 2nd half, and somehow the Raptors found a way to send the game into overtime. Let's take a look at 3 things I saw from each team in game 1 that could have an impact the rest of the series.
Toronto Raptors:
1. The Raptors need to make Jonas Valanciunas the focal point of their offense. He was easily their best player tonight and it seemed like they didn't even look for him in the 2nd half. He finished the game with 24 points and 14 rebounds, played some great defense with 3 blocks, and showed that he can put some moves on Whiteside and score. DeRozan can't do it all by himself, and the rest of the team needs to put more faith into Valanciunas as he's the only guy this playoffs that hasn't had a poor performance yet. They're also lucky that he was able to play through the ankle injury he suffered late in the 4th quarter.
2. Terrence Ross finally showed up for the first good playoff performance of his career, that was until he allowed Wade to steal his lazy dribble. He seemed to take offense to Norman Powell taking a starting spot and finally showed his shooting stroke. If he can come in and score like that off the bench the rest of the series, that will obviously help. But the key for Ross is if he's going to get key minutes, he can't have mental lapses like he did tonight.
3. Kyle Lowry needs to play like an all-star again or the Raptors have no chance. While the half-court shot to send the game into overtime was awesome, he still finished the game shooting 3-13 for only 7 points. Word is that he was shooting in the practice gym immediately after the game ended so hopefully he can rebound. The only way to get out of a shooting slump is to keep shooting, and for the Raptors sake, they better hope he gets back on track quickly or the series might not last that long.
Miami Heat:
1. Dwyane Wade is still really freaking good. He had his way with the Raptors defenders in the 2nd half scoring 20 points. His experience showed tonight, and he also showed he can get his shot whenever he wants.
2. The Heat were lucky Whiteside's knee injury in the first half wasn't serious. Man did that look bad on the first look. He didn't fall on a wet spot, it was just an awkward landing, but the way his foot and his knee seemed to twist made it look worse than it actually was. If that had forced him to miss significant time, they'd have zero chance to stop Jonas Valanciunas the rest of the series.
3. Goran Dragic has built off of his game 7 performance against the Hornets. He drove his way right through the Raptors defense tonight and ended up with 26 points on 50% shooting. I didn't know he could hit pull up 3 pointers, but he hit a few of them tonight. If the Raptors are going to keep Norman Powell in their starting lineup, Dragic needs to be the person he guards.
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