Game 6 Preview: Raptors @ Heat
Posted: May 12, 2016
Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Series: Raptors Lead 3-2
After a 99-91 Game 5 victory at the ACC on Wednesday, the Raptors hope to take advantage of the opportunity to close out their second-round series against the Heat in Miami on Friday night. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 59 points in Game 5, including 20 of the team’s 24 fourth quarter points.
Tip-off: 8 P.M. ET
Broadcast Info: SNET, ESPN, TSN1050
Ford Fanzone open: 6 P.M. ET
Pregame Show: 6:30 P.M. ET on NBATV Canada
LESSONS LEARNED
Movement matters
After the Raptors got caught holding onto the ball, resulting in stagnant offence down the stretch of the team’s Game 4 loss in Miami, head coach Dwane Casey stressed the importance of movement. With and without the ball.
“The key is we've got to move,” Casey said. “We can't stand. There are so many clips, if you watch where we were standing. When we pass the ball you've got to move, move the ball, move your body.”
Toronto got off to a good start in the first quarter of Game 5, getting out in transition for easy buckets, as well as racking up 11 assists in the first half, after managing just 12 total in Game 4. Looking ahead to Friday’s game, the Raptors need to continue moving the ball — and moving without the ball — to ensure open looks.
Biyombo as game changer
Bismack Biyombo started his second consecutive game in place of the injured Jonas Valanciunas. Biyombo was on the bench down the stretch in the fourth quarter and overtime of Game 4 because the team elected to go with a small lineup. In Game 5, he made it nearly impossible to take him off the court with the energy he brought on both ends of the floor. Although Biyombo’s stat line was modest — 10 points, six rebounds and a playoff career-high four blocked shots — his teammates, along with the ACC crowd, fed off his non-stop energy.
“He’s been tremendous,” Casey said. “The thing with Bismack is he’s accepted his role, he knows who he is, he’s ready in his role. If he comes off the bench he comes off the bench. If he starts, he starts with the same energy and focus defensively, [and] he’s making his free throws which is huge.”
GAME 6 TALKING POINTS
Carroll questionable for Game 6
DeMarre Carroll injured his left wrist when he crashed to the floor and landed awkwardly after colliding with Goran Dragic on a drive to the basket. Carroll remained on the floor in a considerable amount of pain before immediately leaving the game and undergoing tests on the wrist. The team announced on Thursday that tests were negative and that Carroll would be treated symptomatically for a left wrist contusion with his availability for Game 6 being listed as questionable.
While Carroll hopes to be cleared to play on Friday, he’s relieved the injury wasn’t as bad as he feared immediately after hitting the ground.
“Initially I thought I broke it ‘cause my whole wrist went numb,” Carroll said.”[I thought], ‘Here we go again.’ But I tried to stay positive. I got to the back, stayed positive and eventually after a couple minutes, the numbness in my wrist just kind of went away.”
Carroll said the training staff is doing treatment “day and night” on the wrist, including mobile, stimulation and ice, or “any treatment you can name.” Whether he’s cleared to play on Friday will be up to the medical staff, but tests coming back negative is welcomed news for a Raptors team already shorthanded with Valanciunas out. In the event that Carroll doesn’t play in Game 6, Casey is ready to go to his bench.
“Like we’ve always said, next guy up,” Casey said. “All guys are in play, all 13 guys that are healthy or however many it is are in play and everything’s on the table. I thought Jason Thompson came in and gave us a good boost off the bench [in Game 5], he hadn’t played and was ready to go. Whoever it is has to be ready, professional and our guys are doing a good job, our coaching staff is doing a good job of working with those guys at night time before practice, after practice, keeping them ready.”
Shoelace magic
DeMar DeRozan has been battling a sore thumb in his shooting hand since injuring it at the end of Game 1. Cameras caught Raptors director of sports science Alex McKechnie tightly wrapping the thumb in a red shoelace when DeRozan was on the bench. The treatment seemed to help DeRozan’s thumb as he had his strongest effort of the postseason, scoring 34 points on 11-for-22 field goals, including a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line, with 13 of his 34 points coming in the fourth quarter.
After the game, as McKechnie walked by DeRozan in the locker room, DeRozan joked with him that he’d have to start selling shoelaces. When DeRozan was asked about the surprising assist the shoelace provided, he kept things short and sweet.
“Thousand-dollar shoelace” he said. “That’s all I can say.”
DeRozan did hit his thumb in the game and had to go into the locker room to have the training staff look at it, but returned to action and said after the game that it’s just something he’ll have to continue to deal with.
"It was interesting,” Casey said of the shoelace. “It was an excellent method, I guess, from Alex McKechnie. I'd never seen it before. Whatever works. Whatever means necessary. Alex is one of the best. That's why he's one of the best in the business, with his methods. I had never seen that before."
While it’s unknown if he’ll be able to have a repeat performance in Miami, what is certain is that DeRozan and the training staff will be doing everything they can to have him ready to play his game.
Raptors-Miami Heat: Game 6 game preview
Game 7, if necessary, is Sunday at 3:30 p.m., at the Air Canada Centre.
By Chris O’LearySports Reporter
Thu., May 12, 2016
This matchup is the perfect example of how injuries have come to dominate this series.
If Miami is missing Deng — they already are missing Hassan Whiteside in the paint — the scoring burden will only increase on Wade. That’s why who the Raptors have guarding him will be so important. If it’s Carroll, he’ll have a long night, especially with a sore left wrist. If Carroll sits, a heavy responsibility shifts to a combination of players, including Norman Powell, who has looked his most rookie-like in the playoffs guarding his idol. Patrick Patterson has chipped in on defence and Carroll’s injury could see the return of James Johnson, who got in for five minutes in Game 2.
Need to know: Carroll remains questionable for Game 6 with a left wrist contusion. Deng, also suffering from a wrist injury accrued in Game 5, appears to be a game time decision . . . Whiteside (right MCL sprain) is expected to miss Game 6 . . . Friday’s game marks the eighth time in team history the Raptors have had a close-out opportunity. They’ve won two of those seven previous games . . . DeMar DeRozan matched a playoff career-high with his 34 points in Game 5 . . . Kyle Lowry’s 25 points and 10 rebounds in Game 5 gave him his second career playoff double-double.
Up next: Game 7, if necessary, is Sunday at 3:30 p.m., at the Air Canada Centre.
