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 Miami's reserves ignited the Heat to 96-76 win on Sunday night at
AmericanAirlines Arena, outscoring their counterparts 33-14.
"We played inspiring basketball," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of
his team's second half. "Our second unit really sparked our energy.
It was hard not to like it."
Whiteside, 26, had 20 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, outplaying
Jonas Valanciunas, 23, in a battle of young centers. Valanciunas had
17 points and five rebounds, but he was held to just one point in
the second half.
The Heat (4-3) also got contributions from Bosh (23 points, eight
rebounds) and shooting guard Dwyane Wade (12 points). Wade passed
former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen for 51st place on the NBA
career scoring list.
Bosh, who tied a career high with four 3-pointers, is now 12-0
against the Raptors, his original NBA team.
Toronto, which started its season with five straight wins, is now
5-2, losing two games in Florida -- at Orlando and now Miami.
"This is one of our stinkers of the year," said coach Dwane Casey,
who last week became the Raptors career leader in wins. "We're going
to get better -- I promise you that.
"It's disappointing. We held them to 42 percent shooting, but we
only shot 39 percent."
The Raptors star backcourt of point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting
guard DeMar DeRozan played well overall but could not bring down the
Heat. Lowry had 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists, and
DeRozan had 16 points.
DeRozan said the Heat's 19-4 advantage on second-chance points was a
major key but not the only factor.
"We started fouling," DeRozan said of the difference in the second
half. "They started scoring off our turnovers.
Early on, it was all Raptors -- Toronto scored the game's first
seven points. In fact, the Raptors never trailed in the first
quarter and led 24-22 heading into the second period.
After a back-and-forth second quarter that featured five tie scores
and two lead changes, the Raptors emerged with a 47-44 halftime
lead.
Bosh said his team's effort was lacking in the first half.
"Xs and O's don't mean anything if you're not playing hard," Bosh
said.
Miami responded in the third quarter, outscoring Toronto 30-16 to
take control of the game. That gave the Heat a 74-63 lead.
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"We got blindsided in the third quarter," Casey said. "They came out
with more aggressiveness."
Early in the fourth quarter, Toronto cut its deficit to seven
points, but Miami responded with a 10-0 run to put the game away.
During key second-half stretches, the Heat was often using four
reserves -- guards Mario Chalmers and Tyler Johnson and forwards
Josh McRoberts and Justise Winslow.
In fact, Winslow, a rookie first-round pick, led the Heat with 32
minutes played, finishing with nine points and five rebounds.
Johnson had 10 points, making four of five shots, including two of
two on 3-pointers. Chalmers had nine points, seven rebounds and six
assists. And McRoberts added five points, three rebounds, three
assists and a game-high three steals.
"This is what's going to be the success of our team -- our depth,"
Wade said. "There are games when we (the starters) don't have it,
but we can bring in guys off the bench to get us going."
Wade said he delighted in dunks from Winslow, Johnson and McRoberts.
"As teammates, you have to be just as excited as if you were doing
it," Wade said. "We love to see each guy succeed. (The reserves)
played unbelievable during that run, especially on defense. It was
exciting to see."
NOTES: Raptors SF DeMarre Carroll missed his first game of the
season Sunday. He has dealt with a foot injury for about 10 days,
and Raptors coach Dwane Casey said it has affected his jumper and
his defensive movement. ... SF James Johnson started in place of
Carroll -- the first disruption in the Raptors starting lineup this
season. ... Heat SG Gerald Green missed his fourth straight game but
was reportedly released from a Miami hospital on Saturday. The Heat
has not commented on Green, who was hospitalized on Wednesday after
police were called to his Miami condo, reportedly finding him
bleeding and combative. ... Sunday was the start of Miami's
season-long seven-game homestand. ... Heat SG Dwyane Wade, plagued
by leg injuries for the past few years, switched trainers in the
offseason and has yet to miss a game. ... Raptors C Lucas Nogueira,
a 23-year-old native of Brazil, made his season debut, scoring three
points in three minutes off the bench.
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