Game thread: Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat

As the Toronto Raptors take on the Miami Heat tonight on the second game of a back-to-back, it’s somewhat natural to feel disappointed in their current 1-1 record. After all, last night’s game — a loss to the Brooklyn Nets — was imminently winnable. Two starters (O.G. Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr.) didn’t deliver much offensive support. The bench was a complete non-factor. An incredible Pascal Siakam performance was wasted — but even he was a disappointing 5-9 night from the free throw line.

So yeah, the loss stings.

But! It was a heck of an entertaining game, right? And it was the second Raptors game in a row that was close wire-to-wire, that featured two teams that looked evenly matched, that could have gone either way in the final minutes.

The Eastern Conference looks much improved over last year, so I think we can expect a lot of games like this. The Raptors won’t win them all, but they should be great to watch!

Which brings us to the Miami Heat. These are two top Eastern teams so you’d think this would be another great game, right? But both teams are on the SEGABABA, and it’s early in the season when no one’s conditioning is at optimal levels. And these two teams have a history of ugly, low-scoring slugfests.

All of which is to say — this might be a great one, but it might be also be one of those games that leaves you with your head in your hands wondering why you spent your Saturday night watching it.

Let’s hope for the former!!

Where to watch:

TSN, 8:00pm ET

Lineups:

Toronto – Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., O.G. Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam

Miami – Jimmy Butler, Cody Martin, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro

Injuries:

Toronto – Otto Porter Jr. (hamstring – out), Chris Boucher (hamstring – out)

Miami – Victor Oladipo (knee – out), Omer Yurtseven (knee – out)