RAPTORS GET SCORCHED BY HEAT

The definition of an MVP is a player who best exemplifies a team game, makes his team better, and is a leader on and off the court.

Dwayne Wade is most deserving of that award, no matter what Kobe Bryant or LeBron James do the rest of the year. Wade is averaging 29 points a game, along with six rebounds and six assists. Without Wade, the Miami Heat are nothing, and last year was proof enough, when Miami only picked up twelve victories.

Tonight versus the Raptors, Wade played like an MVP with his 42 point performance and a paltry eight assists with six rebounds. It was the ninth time this season Wade scored forty or more points and was his second against the Raptors in Toronto.

Wade did it all tonight for the Heat en route to a 108-102 victory. Just like the season and the franchise itself, and the game tonight, where would the Miami Heat be? As a matter of fact, with all due respect to Chris Bosh, where would the Raptors be if they had drafted Wade?

Wade was slashing and driving the ball at will, and whenever he felt like, he would stick a jumper with a defender in his grill. If he got bumped on his way to the basket he would brush himself off and get back in position.

For instance, on one particular drive Wade got bumped hard and fell to the floor like a brick, but he didn’t make a scene, no trash talk either, and just got back up and went to the line for his free throws. There aren’t too many players like Wade in this league who don’t talk shit over a chincey foul and cry about it to the referees.

His leadership skills were on display as well when rookie Michael Beasley picked up his third foul in the first quarter and wouldn’t stop complaining about it. For that, Beasley was given a technical foul, and Wade on the bench sternly talked to him and calmed him down.

As for the game itself, it was another lackluster defensive effort from the Raptors team, and the same goes for the offense as well.

Chris Bosh was the only Raptor who was producing and ended the night with 34 points. Andrea Bargnani helped out too but cooled off after the first half where he had 13 points and ended with just 23.

Miami was able to get whatever they wanted offensively and easily won this game. On the rare occasion did the Raptors have good defensive sets, and were up after the first twelve minutes 24-22. After that, Miami, or more specifically Dwayne Wade, took over the game. But at the same time Miami was weak defensively as well, but they came up with a defensive stand when needed, and were also helped out by the Raptors by missing open jump shots.

The Raptors could’ve done some damage in the second quarter since the Miami front line was in foul trouble. Michael Beasley picked up three fouls in the first quarter, Udonis Haslem had two fouls in the first, and former Raptor Jermaine O’Neal had two fouls as well.

The Raptors for some reason shied away from going inside and bailed out the Heat, and the Raptors settled for plenty of jump shots, that were converted into made field goals for the Heat. The Raptors did go inside for a bit in the first quarter when they started out flat and missed their first seven jumpers, and were down 6-0. But they didn’t learn, and as soon as the game was close again, they went back to what got them in a hole.

Miami too isn’t the greatest defensive team either, they have their weaknesses like the Raptors, but the Raptors screwed around with what should’ve been a win.

By half time the score was in favor of the Heat at 56-50, a manageable score, but the Heat were shooting 54% and finished up shooting at exactly 50%. Even the Raptors shot 50%, but it all boiled to the Achilles Heel of the Raptors, which is perimeter defence. Man, did the Miami Heat take advantage of that by hitting ten three’s.

If the Heat didn’t take the jumper, they would drive and kick the ball out to an open player.

The Raptors had bright spots to in this game and scored 26 points in the final three quarters, but they also gave up 34 in the second, 30 in the third and 22 in the fourth.

In this game if the Raptors had some sort of scoring help they would’ve won this game because in the third quarter with the Heat up 73-66 with 4.54 left to play. Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani had 37 points combined, and the next best player on the team was Anthony Parker with ten points.

One player who has really regressed lately is Jose Calderon, and looks extremely fatigued. Tonight he was invisible and didn’t provide scoring help either, nor did he pass the ball around at peak efficiency, and had just three points and six assists.

Even the Heat had that problem throughout the night, as it was Wade alone doing whatever he could to get the victory. He was the only Heat player to be in double digit scoring along with Chris Quinn who had ten points in the first half off the bench. That stood until Beasley finished the game with twelve of his own points, and the Heat had five players finish in double figures.

Both teams lacked in scoring help, but defense was it, and not even perfect defense either. These two teams created such a safety net for each other that all they needed were a few defensive stands here and there, and that was all.

Toronto did pull themselves back in the game down by six with 1.04 left to go, but a superb Dwayne Wade fade away bank shot clinched the game for the Heat.

This game marked the returns of Jamario Moon and Jermaine O’Neal to the Air Canada Centre since being traded over the All-Star break. Neither player really shined, especially Jamario Moon who displayed his porous defence and was dunked on by Anthony Parker and couldn’t contain anyone. His weak jump shooting was on full display as well and Raptor fans all too well remember Moon’s ill advised three balls, and took four of them tonight, barely making good on one of them and had five points.

Jermaine O’Neal had a quiet night with eight points, a few blocks and eight rebounds.

Since that trade, the Raptors have gone 2-6 and the Heat 5-4.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu was signed before the game for the rest of the year and really brought something to the game in his fifteen minutes of game action. Included were a thunderous one handed slam, a nice tip in on the offensive glass and surprisingly led the team in rebounds with ten. To put that in perspective, Chris Bosh had the next highest rebound total on the team with seven in forty minutes of action.



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