Game 67 Toronto Raptors vs Miami Heat: Getting More Comfortable With Teammates

Finally, Jeremy Lin had a breakthrough making his first 3-point shots after missing 17 threes against New Orleans Pelicans. Lin completed his best game as a Raptors to finish with 14 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound with 6-9 shooting, 2 out of 3 from 3-point line in 22 minutes played.

After the game, Lin stated it was good to get the monkey off his back and credited his coaches and his old coach, Doc Scheppler, to continue with the motto of making the next one.

It is good to get his 3s working again as Lin and the Raptors will visit the surging Miami Heat who have won four in a row as many injured players such as Dion Waiters, Goran Dragic, James Johnson have recently returned. It will be good to see how Lin continues to get comfortable with his teammates as he still had communication issues with Ibaka resulting in 2 early turnovers in the previous game.

The Toronto Raptors are playoff bound, while the Miami Heat are in a scramble to earn a postseason position in the Eastern Conference.

The visiting Raptors defeated New Orleans Pelicans 127-104 Friday night, bolstered by Kyle Lowry’s triple-double, and will continue their pursuit of the No. 1 postseason seed in the East — currently held by the Milwaukee Bucks — when they visit the Heat on Sunday.

The Heat, meanwhile, also won Friday, 126-110 over Cleveland Cavaliers, to open a five-game homestand and maintain their grip on the eighth place and the final playoff spot in the East.

The Raptors (47-19) had lost two in a row before Friday.

The Heat (31-34) have won four in a row, and a win Sunday would match their season-best winning streak.

“We’ve been playing good basketball for a while,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “We just weren’t able to close out some of those close games. It’s nice obviously to get the result.”

The Heat have a full lineup after the return of players such as Dion Waiters (out the first half of the season after ankle surgery), Goran Dragic (out two months after knee surgery) and James Johnson (sprained shoulder).