By Canadian Press

VanVleet has 36 points, Raptors stretch win streak to six with win over Miami

Aug 3, 2020 | 1:43 PM

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Fred VanVleet scored a career-high 36 points and had a big deflection in the dying seconds to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 107-103 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday.

Pascal Siakam had 22 points, while Serge Ibaka had 15 and Kyle Lowry chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds as the Raptors (48-18) stretched their win streak to six games, and improved to 2-0 in the NBA’s restart after the COVID-19 hiatus. 

Goran Dragic had 25 points to top the Heat (42-25). Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, B.C., had 17 points, two nights after a big game against Denver that saw him score 20 points in the fourth quarter of a 125-105 win. Jimmy Butler, who’d missed Sunday’s practice sparking speculation he was in quarantine, had 16. 

The Raptors, who were slotted into Monday’s matinee spot because of the holiday in most of Canada, led for most of the afternoon and broke the game open with a 20-7 third-quarter run that put them up by 17 points. But Miami sliced the difference to 84-79 with one quarter to play.

Olynyk’s three-pointer midway through the fourth put Miami up by three, but Siakam’s three-pointer sparked a mini Raptors run and when Lowry dished off a short pass to Ibaka for a dunk, Toronto was back up by six with 6:11 to play.

niche amenities

Trio of community park projects advancing in Nanaimo

7h ago

final farewell

Family, friends and fans to gather at memorial for former B.C. premier John Horgan

8h ago

holiday vibes

Grizzlies spoil Clippers' teddy bear toss night

14h ago

Tyler Herro’s driving layup got Miami back within two. Free throws from Lowry and VanVleet had Toronto up by six, but a big Jae Crowder three-pointer and Dragic layup made it a one-point game with 41 seconds to play.

Lowry then drove hard to the hoop and missed, before giving officials an earful about what he thought was a missed call. Miami turned the ball over with 17.4 seconds left, Marc Gasol missed one of two free throws, but then VanVleet got his hand on Butler’s pass to seal the victory.  

VanVleet’s previous career high was 34 points versus New Orleans on Oct. 22. 

The Raptors had been stifled by the Heat’s zone defence in two low-scoring losses previously this season — 90-83 in Toronto on Nov. 29, and 84-76 at Miami on Jan. 2.

“I think we certainly had a really rough game for a lot of minutes down there last time,” said coach Nick Nurse. “That was a good learning experience for us. We probably practised a little bit more, put in a few more looks, worked on some different scenarios against not only that zone but other zones that we see, and may see. Just part of the learning process for us.”

Siakam, who’d struggled against the Heat — particularly Bam Adebayo — perhaps took it personally, hitting a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter. His alley-oop dunk from Norman Powell, followed by an Ibaka three-pointer, sent the Raptors into the second quarter up 23-17.

Miami had a brief lead in the second, but the Raptors regained momentum with an 11-2 run, punctuated by a Lowry block on Herro’s layup attempt, and capped by a Powell three. The Raptors led 48-44 at halftime.

The Raptors face the toughest opponents of the 22 teams in the NBA’s “bubble” at Walt Disney World. But their big 107-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers — in which they held the Lakers to a season-low 35 per cent shooting — in Saturday’s opener showed the Raptors aren’t concerned.

Toronto plays Orlando on Wednesday, then Atlanta Division rival Boston on Friday. After that, Toronto will have four seeding games left before the playoffs.

Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer and Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan were named co-winners of the NBCA’s coach of the year as voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches on Monday. Nurse, who is a favourite for the end-of-season coach of the year award, was one vote shy of making it a three-way tie.

“Those guys obviously did a great job,” Nurse said before the game. “You can’t argue with the Bucks’ record and how great OKC did after everybody had lower expectations for them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2020.

The Canadian Press