Brandon Ingram dazzles with huge scoring performance as Raptors go perfect in double-header with Heat
Clearly unhappy with the Heat’s performance and compete level in the front end of the double-header matchup, Erik Spoelstra didn’t mince words on his way out of pre-game media availability: “We’re the Miami Heat. Everyone knows what we’re about. We were embarrassed. It won’t happen again.”
In the first game, the Raptors delivered a drubbing. They scored well, they defended better, and they took home an extremely important win. Every game looms large at this point in the season, especially with how close the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture has become. The potential tie breaker scenarios are dizzying. The Raptors can make things quite simple by winning out. No easy task, but obviously a second matchup against the Heat is a part of that.
It took about 2 minutes for Coach Darko Rajakovic to loose one of his timeouts as the Raptors started the game in a 7-point hole. Jakob Poeltl was having a rough start to the game. Passive on offense, out of place defensively; the Heat did well to manufacture buckets in the opening. Before the game I talked to Coach Darko about the different look that Collin Murray-Boyles can help provide and the Raptors shot caller was eager to highlight how Murray-Boyles adds a level of tenacity and switch-ability to the outfit. The Raptors rookie was pivotal to the Raptors big run towards the back end of the first quarter. A run that saw the Raptors climb fully out of the hole and start to dig one for the Heat. Offensively, the Raptors wouldn’t have been there without a healthy dose of aggression from both RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram.
The Raptors took a 6 point lead into the second quarter, and did so while only getting 3 minutes of play from Scottie Barnes in the opening quarter. That trend continued in the second quarter as the Raptors stalled out with a lot of Barnes led possessions. Miami slowly crept back into things, but once the transitional lineup led by Ingram, Barrett, and CMB got going again, the Raptors busted off a massive run. With Barnes on the bench, the Raptors supercharged their lead from 47-44, to 62-46. A 15-2 run isn’t so bad where I come from, and especially with your best player getting a rest on the bench. Ingram, in particular, was fantastic when it came to turning his attention toward driving the ball downhill. His shot making and aggression was a major driver of what the Raptors wanted to do.
As for CMB and his multi-purpose impact, I believe Louis put it quite well:
“Murray-Boyles was one of the youngest players to appear in the game for either side, yet he defined the game. And in the hunt of the playoffs proper rather than the play-in, the Raptors have another must-win game against the Heat in two nights. They’ll need to ensure their identity follows them into that contest.”
The Raptors took a commanding 19 point lead into the second half, 69-50.
Near the 11 minute mark of the third quarter, Ingram dribbled toward the 3-point line with significant intention, careless of who would come meet him (turns out two Heat made the trek to contest his shot) and launched away for points 26, 27, and 28 to put the Raptors up by 26. A huge burst of scoring from the Raptors leading scorer and an early attempt at a knockout punch against the Heat. Of course, the Heat wouldn’t allow a knockout so early, and especially after Spoelstra’s passioned call out before the game. A charged up Barnes got a technical, after Bam Adebayo cashed a three, for jawing at Pelle Larsson and the technical foul that Adebayo made as a result of that jumpstarted a big run from the Heat. A huge run of triples from the Heat that helped bring the game back within 6. That’s right, they snapped off a 25-8 run, and in very short order.
It wasn’t that the Raptors weren’t scoring in return, they were. It just so happened that the Raptors were manufacturing 2-point shots while the Heat were raining from downtown nearly every possession. Variance swings, and violently so at times. Even so, the Raptors kept pushing the boulder up the hill. A bucket here and there, a touch shot, a halfcourt drive, a push in transition. Ingram was just as important in the close of the quarter as he was in the opening. In the midst of a dazzling scoring performance, and one that required a lot of diversity in the types of shots he was taking. Hard charging to the basket, pulling up audaciously, or even hunting his own misses, he was grinding out there. That aggression was what led to a Heat double and a kick out to Quickley for a triple. Bending the defense with ease. Ingram had a hand in the last handful of baskets the Raptors made to close the third and head into the fourth with a 12-point lead.
A quick stint of scoring — that was long awaited and a sight for sore eyes — from Barnes helped the Raptors open up the fourth quarter with authority. A nice bump to shepherd them through the front end of the quarter that Ingram typically sits during. The Heat, without the 3-point glitch in operation, didn’t find scoring as easy vs. the Raptors.
The finishing blow may very well have been an and-1 from Murray-Boyles on the back end of a play where he literally landed a blow on Davion Mitchell (via screen) and sent him tumbling to the floor for the duration of the possession. Jamal Shead dished the ball to a rolling Murray-Boyles who finished through contact and sent the Raptors up by 22 points with roughly 6 minutes to go. The only thing left to watch for was health, and a to see if Ingram would creep up to a 40-ball.
Of course, the 40-ball didn’t come. Ingram finished with 38 points on a blistering 13-23 from the field to go along with 7 assists and 7 rebounds. The Heat circled him, doubled him, and stuck to him like a shadow as the game crept down to its finish and Ingram was comfortable finding the open man. The benches cleared and he left the game with 38 points, and a win.
With this win the Raptors moved into the 5th seed with a tiebreaker over the Hawks. They control their destiny for their seed, and they can go as high as 5th. Win against the Knicks and Nets to close out the season and they’ll be looking comfortably at a playoff series. We’ll see how it goes.
Have a blessed day.
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