(Photo Credit: Ron Turenne)
The Miami HEAT used a strong fourth quarter to pull away from the Toronto Raptors on Sunday afternoon. The victory is the HEAT's 22nd in a row, which ties for the second longest streak in NBA history. The HEAT look to number 23 tomorrow against the Boston Celtics.
Impact Performance of the Night: Dwyane Wade has been on a tear over the course of the HEAT’s winning streak. He kept it up today, finishing with 24 points, nine assists and three rebounds. When Wade was on the floor, the HEAT outscored the Raptors by 30 points, a team high. Wade shot 75 percent from the floor, helped by 8-of-10 shooting in the painted area.
The Deciding Run: The Raptors erased a large HEAT lead and tied the game at 77 just one minute into the fourth quarter. From that point on, the HEAT dominated. Over the last 11 minutes of play, the HEAT outscored the Raptors 28-4. The closing run was one of the HEAT’s finest runs of the season.
Play of the Game: The long lob highlights keep on coming. This time is was Norris Cole finding Dwyane Wade over two Toronto Raptors defenders for an alley oop. Both Cole’s pass and Wade’s finish were on point. It’s can be easy to take these plays for granted when they happen so often, but search around the league and you’ll find that nobody does it quite like the HEAT.
Quote of the Day: “Open the door, Shane, we’re here.” – LeBron James on the HEAT joining the 2009 Rockets with 22 straight wins.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 120.3; Defensive Efficiency: 99.7
Trend to Watch: The HEAT got outrebounded by 21, but still got the win. Traditional rebound margin is a highly flawed statistic and today’s game is an example as to why. The HEAT shot the ball well enough to have the rebounding not matter. The Raptors missed 52 shots, giving them a number of offensive rebounding opportunities. The HEAT just missed 26 shots. The HEAT remain unorthodox and their ability to win games in a variety of ways is unique. Today’s win may be more impressive than the win over the Timberwolves earlier this season because the HEAT didn’t force nearly as many turnovers.
The Takeaway: Once. That’s the number of teams in NBA history to have longer winning streaks than the HEAT’s current 22-game game streak. The HEAT locked up their 22nd straight victory with a fourth quarter that may be the finest of the season. The Raptors manage four points over the last 11 minutes while the HEAT scored almost at will. The superlative well has just about run dry at this point. Today’s victory is another nice road win in what has been a remarkable run.
Notes: LeBron James finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Chris Bosh added 18 points. Ray Allen scored 20 points off of the bench. Juwan Howard and Jarvis Varnado were inactive.
Infographic:
Party City HEAT Win:
