Tyler Herro scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler got a triple-double in the game’s final moment and the Miami Heat held off the Toronto Raptors 104-99 on Monday night.
Bam Adebayo, in his first game back after missing six weeks following thumb surgery, scored 14 points and made a pair of free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining.
Butler finished with 19 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds — the last of those coming as time was expiring, when Fred VanVleet’s 3-point try missed.
Gabe Vincent scored 15 points for Miami, which pulled into a virtual tie with Chicago for first in the Eastern Conference.
VanVleet finished with 22 points for Toronto, which got 23 from Chris Boucher and 18 points and 10 rebounds from Pascal Siakam. Scottie Barnes scored 16 points, OG Anunoby scored 14 and former Heat forward Precious Achiuwa grabbed 15 rebounds for Toronto.
WATCH | Undermanned Heat hold off Raptors:
Miami did not have the services of former Raptor Kyle Lowry Monday, but handed the Raptors a 104-99 loss. 4:21
Siakam scored off a turnover with 1:48 left to get Toronto within 99-96, but PJ Tucker made a corner 3 with 20 seconds left — off Butler’s 10th assist — to help Miami hold on.
The game was expected to be the first time that Heat guard Kyle Lowry faced the Raptors since leaving Toronto for Miami this past season. Lowry helped Toronto win the 2019 NBA title on his way to claiming to the unofficial moniker of GROAT — the Greatest Raptor Of All-Time.
Lowry missed the game for personal reasons.
“I wanted to see him, obviously,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “I guess I don’t know how I feel about it. I think that you go in here and you always want to compete against the best players. I was kind of looking forward to seeing what that was going to be like.”
WATCH | Are the Raptors playoff contenders?:
The resurgent Toronto Raptors have started 2022 with a bang, with 6 wins in 7 since new years eve. CBC’s Vivek Jacob and Jevohn Shepherd discuss whether the Raptors can reach a guaranteed playoff spot after a rocky start to the season. 5:51
Lowry missed a pretty good one.
There were 22 lead changes and 10 ties in the first 35 minutes, putting the teams knotted at 75-75 late in the third. Herro scored the last five points of the third quarter, then had the first bucket of the fourth to put Miami up by seven.
The Heat wouldn’t trail again. Anunoby made a 3-pointer with 6:57 left to get Toronto within two, but Miami scored the next seven points in a span of 59 seconds — a basket by Adebayo, a corner 3 from Max Strus and a driving layup by Caleb Martin for a 98-89 lead.
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