DeMar DeRozan Has 38 Points, Raptors Beat Heat 96-94
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TORONTO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heat 96-94 on Friday night in their final home game of the regular season.
DeRozan broke Vince Carter's franchise record with his 31st 30-point game of the season, shooting 14 of 32 from the floor. Carter set the mark in 2000-01.
Cory Joseph added 14 points, and Kyle Lowry had 12 in his second game back form an injury.
James Johnson had 22 points for Miami against his former team. Goran Dragic added 18 for the Heat. They remained ninth in the Eastern Conference with three games to play.
Behind since the 9:24 mark of the first quarter, the Heat finally tied it with 4:43 remaining on Hassan Whiteside's alley-oop dunk. But the Raptors' Serge Ibaka countered with a 3-pointer to put Toronto up 85-82.
Whiteside closed the gap to a point with a hook shot seconds later, but the Raptors scored the next five points through Lowry and DeRozan, who finished a driving spinaround layup to increase Toronto's lead to 90-84 with 1:52 to go.
A foul on DeRozan sent him to the line to add another two points, and though another two free throws and a layup from Johnson cut it to 92-88. DeRozan's layup with 25.4 seconds put the Raptors back in control. A 3-pointer from Miami's Tyler Johnson with 1.2 seconds left capped the scoring.
TIP-INS
Heat: F Luke Babbitt (hip) missed the game. Miami players have missed 312 games due to injury or illness, the most in the NBA.
Raptors: Toronto won the season series against the Heat for the third straight season. Before the final regular-season home game, DeRozan addressed the fans from center court to thank them for their support this season. For the sixth and final time this season, the Raptors wore their blue-and-white Toronto Huskies jerseys, commemorating the 1946-47 Basketball Association of America franchise. Toronto is 6-0 while wearing the throwback uniforms.
JOLTIN' JOE
The Toronto Blue Jays' home opener isn't until Tuesday, but Blue Jays legend Joe Carter, whose walk-off home run ended the 1993 World Series, was in attendance on Friday. After being presented with a personalized Toronto Huskies shirt, Carter threw signed mini basketballs into the crowd.
UP NEXT
Heat: Visit Washington on Saturday knowing a win will secure the season series over the Wizards.
Raptors: Visit New York on Sunday aiming for a seventh straight win over the Knicks.
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