Toronto Raptors hope to avoid a series sweep against Miami Heat: NBA Preview
The Miami Heat has locked away the second seed in the Eastern Conference and will close out their regular season against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night. The prolific trio LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are firing on all cylinders as the Heat makes their way into the postseason.
The Raptors will be playing their last game as well and after a season of major lows and few highs, they will be looking to end their season on a high note. However, they could not have been more unlucky with the opponent in their last game as they will take on the red hot Heat, who lead the season series 3-0 and will be rearing to make into the post-season on the back of four straight victories.
In their last game, the two times reigning MVP LeBron James was absolutely impeccable against the struggling Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. He racked up a game-high 34 points and gathered 10 rebounds to spearhead Miami for a thrilling 98-90 victory.
Despite of a smashing performance from the All-Star LeBron James, the Hawks’ bench stunned the Heat in the fourth quarter with an outstanding strike back. Atlanta coach Larry Drew did not involve his starters throughout the final period as the home team roared back from 20-points deficit to escalate a tie 88-88, with 3:28 minutes remaining in the final buzzer. However, James surged with layup shot followed by two three’s from James Jones’ as Miami clinched a breathtaking victory.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. "They went to the zone and took us a little bit out of the rhythm . . . but we found a way to grind it out and make some stops there at the end. Finally, I just turned to the bench and got our zone killer [Jones] in there. We were able to calm down. We hadn't seen a zone in a while, and it kind of caught us off guard. [Jones is] a professional and he has ice in his veins."”
Miami holds the second spot in the East with 57 victories and 24 defeats. The team carries the best away record in the Conference with 27 wins on the road meetings. On the other hand, the Toronto Raptors are standing at the 14th spot in the same Conference with 22 victories and 59 defeats. The Raptors have managed to win only two games in the last 10 meetings
In their last game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Bradley Center, Toronto lost control in the second half. Despite of having all of their starters in double figures, the Raptors failed to sustain their momentum when the Bucks took the charge after halftime and nabbed an electrifying 93-86 victory.
On Wednesday night, the Raptors will set foot on the court for the last time in the 2010-2011 seasons. Beating the Miami Heat is a hard task for any team, let alone one of the minnows this season. However, the Raps might face a Heat outfit without their big-3. Miami’s coach Erik Spoelstra has indicated that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh might receive the much required rest in Heat’s last outing before the playoffs.
This might open a window of opportunity for the Raps to avoid a season series sweep.
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