Heat top Raptors 116-108 as roll continues behind Butler, Adebayo
Even as the winning continued, this was something closer to whole for the Miami Heat, something closer to what the Heat looked like during last season’s run to the Eastern Conference finals.
With Goran Dragic back in the mix for Erik Spoelstra’s team, with Andre Iguodala doing the 3-point things that Jae Crowder did during last season’s playoff run, the Heat offered another reminder of their possibilities Wednesday night, with a 116-108 victory over the Toronto Raptors at AmericanAirlines Arena.
So make it four consecutive victories and wins in 8 of the last 11, as the Heat again rode the contributions of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
With the victory, Spoelstra tied Red Holzman for fifth place on the NBA’s all-time regular-season coaching win list, at 667.
Butler, mixing in three 3-pointers in his performance, closed with 27 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, with Adebayo finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds. There also were 15 points from Dragic in his first game in three weeks and four 3-pointers from Iguodala.
Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet each scored 24 for the Raptors, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat led by 15 late in the second quarter, were up 66-56 at halftime and held an 11-point lead in the third quarter before going into the fourth up 92-85.
From there, Toronto closed within 100-98 with 5:24 left on a Norman Powell 3-pointer.
A 3-pointer by Butler followed, as did a steal and transition layup by Butler, for a 105-98 Heat lead with 4:36 to play.
The Heat then would go up 11 from there.
2. Says who?: Adebayo and Butler both made statements a night after failing to earn All-Star selection, after doing so a year ago.
For Butler it was another case of filling the box score, along the way securing the 2,200th defensive rebound of his career.
For Adebayo, it was a night when he moved him past Michael Beasley into 19th place on the Heat’s all-time scoring list, with his fifth defensive rebound moving him past Eddie Jones for 11th on the Heat’s all-time list.
3. Dragic back: Dragic made his return from a nine-game absence with a sprained left ankle when he entered with 5:35 left in the opening period, playing as the Heat’s sixth man.
He then scored in transition on his first shot, his first points since Feb. 5 against the Washington Wizards.
Dragic was up to 13 points at halftime.
4. Swing time: There was an interesting swing with 1:18 to play in the first half, when blocking foul on the Heat’s Kelly Olynyk was challenged by Spoelstra, with the ruling changed to the fourth foul on the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam. Siakam was not a factor after that stage.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse earlier in the second period lost a challenge on a foul called on Lowry that sent Butler to the line.
That meant both teams were out of challenges before halftime, although Spoelstra did save his timeout with the successful challenge,
5. Tiebreaker: With the Eastern Conference so tightly bunched, Wednesday night could come into play as a playoff tiebreaker, with the Heat now winning the completed season series 2-1.
The teams previously split a pair of Raptors home games in Tampa, where Toronto is playing this season due to Canadian pandemic border restrictions.
