Kyle Lowry had 24 points and 10 assists, Pascal Siakam scored 20 and the Toronto Raptors tied a franchise record with 21 three-pointers on the way to beating the Miami Heat 125-104 on Sunday.
Toronto finished with eight players in double figures. Danny Green scored 15 points, all on three-pointers. Norman Powell also scored 15, and OG Anunoby and Jeremy Lin each scored 11.
Toronto’s only other game with 21 threes was against Philadelphia in 2005. The Raptors were 21 of 40 from deep, and 21 of 34 from inside the arc — shooting 57 per cent.
Bam Adebayo scored 19 for the Heat, who had won four in a row prior to Sunday’s game. Dion Waiters and Dwyane Wade each scored 15, and Rodney McGruder added 13.
The Heat were outscored 63-24 from thee-point land.
Kawhi Leonard missed the game — “load management” the cited reason — and hasn’t appeared in more than two consecutive Raptors games since playing in five straight from Jan. 25 through Feb. 5.
It hasn’t hurt Toronto: The Raptors are now 14-5 when Leonard doesn’t play, and he’ll sit a few more before the playoffs.
“We’ve kind of looked at it all the way through now, and I think there’s maybe a few games yet that he’s going to probably stay out,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We’re just super happy with where we are with it. We kind of feel like we’re ahead of the game.”
The Raptors set the tone early, going seven for 10 from three-point range in the opening quarter.
They cooled off, albeit only slightly.
By halftime, Toronto was up to 12 makes from beyond the arc, helping send the Raptors into the locker room with a 68-54 lead. They had a 14-0 run late in the second quarter, and then the threes just kept coming.
When Miami closed within 10 on a dunk by Adebayo early in the third, Green made a three to snuff out the mini-rally by the Heat. Miami got within 11 early in the fourth, and Lowry connected from deep. Jeremy Lin connected not long afterward from deep, and then Lowry ended any doubt by making his sixth of the game for a 105-89 lead.
This was the third straight Sunday game for the Raptors, and Leonard has missed them all. They play in Detroit next Sunday, and on his current schedule Leonard might be in line to sit that one out as well.
Toronto is now 55-1 since December, 2013, when having a 14-point lead or better at the half. The loss came last season in Cleveland.
Miami didn’t block any of Toronto’s 74 shot attempts. The last time the Heat didn’t block a single shot was Nov. 1, 2017, against Chicago — 145 games ago, including playoffs. That ends the fifth-longest such streak in team history.
The Raptors went with a new starting five, putting Patrick McCaw on the first unit for the first time this season. It was McCaw’s first start since March 29, 2018, for Golden State. His first start, oddly enough, was also against Miami for the Warriors back in 2017. McCaw scored 10 points, going three for three from three-point range.
Toronto’s next game is in Cleveland on Monday night against the Cavaliers.