Wade Comes Up Big For Heat In Game 1 Win Over Raptors
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TORONTO (CBSMiami/AP) — For a team that has had its issues on the road, the Miami Heat sure looked comfortable in Toronto on Tuesday night.
Goran Dragic scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade had seven of his 24 in overtime after Kyle Lowry's halfcourt shot tied it at the buzzer, and the Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 102-96 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Joe Johnson scored 16 points and Josh Richardson had 11. Hassan Whiteside had 17 rebounds for the Heat.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Toronto.
Lowry's improbable 3-pointer from his own side of the halfcourt line capped Toronto's six-point comeback in the final 20 seconds of regulation, but the Raptors couldn't deliver in the extra session. Toronto went scoreless for the first 3:46 of overtime before DeMar DeRozan hit a jumper.
Dunks by DeMarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas made it 99-96 with just over 10 seconds to play. Toronto got the ball back after a Miami turnover on the inbounds play, but Wade stripped the ball from DeRozan and sealed it with a three-point play.
Wade (3,638) moved into 16th place on the NBA's playoff scoring list, passing Elgin Baylor (3,623). Scottie Pippen (3,642) is in 15th place.
Valanciunas had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and DeRozan added 22 points for the Raptors, who dropped to 1-9 in the opening game of a postseason series. Five of those defeats have come at home.
DeRozan connected on his first three field goal attempts of the game, then made only six of 19 the rest of the way.
Lowry also struggled, going scoreless in the first half and finishing 3 of 13 for seven points.
Toronto's Terrence Ross set a career playoff high with 19 points and Cory Joseph had 10.
Miami led 86-81 after a 3 by Dragic with 40 seconds left, but Toronto trimmed the deficit to 89-86 on a 3 by Ross with 6.5 seconds remaining.
Luol Deng threw the ball away on the inbounds play and Ross was fouled. He made the first but missed the second, and Whiteside was fouled as he grabbed the rebound. Whiteside missed the first but made the second, giving Miami a three-point edge with 3.3 seconds to go.
Lowry then was given time and space by the Heat to let go his long-range attempt and it went through for his first made 3 in six attempts, sparking a wild celebration in front of the Toronto bench.
Whiteside strained his right knee when he slipped and fell with 4:54 left in the first quarter. He limped to the bench and left for the locker room but returned at 9:01 of the second.
TIP INS
Heat: Miami had three 24-second violations in the opening quarter. ... The Heat outrebounded Toronto 52 to 41.
Raptors: Norman Powell started for first time since Game 1 of the opening round against Indiana. ... Ross scored 11 points in the second. ... Lowry missed his first five shots before making a pull-up jumper with 7:18 left in the third.
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