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Heat lose to Raptors in OT, series tied 1-1

Xinhua, May 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Miami Heat were unable to beat Toronto Raptors in overtime again, falling 96-92 in game two of their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series on Thursday night.

After scoring the first 8 points in game one's overtime period, Miami struggled in game two during the extra frame, failing to score a point for the first four minutes and 36 seconds of overtime.

"That's the playoffs. Things can happen in one game and will look totally different in another game," said Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra following the loss in Toronto. "Nothing is guaranteed, momentum doesn't carry over."

Miami started out the game poorly, committing 11 of their 21 turnovers in the opening quarter. In total, Toronto managed to score 24 points off the turnovers.

"Those are a lot of possessions to give up in the postseason," said Spoelstra. "They are a good disruptive team, they protect the paint but also have some quickness, so we have to make the adjustment."

Spoelstra's squad also struggled in game one where they had 20 turnovers that resulted in 22 Toronto points.

Despite the repeat turnover issues, Miami were still in positions to win on Thursday evening. With 6:51 remaining in the game, Heat were up 77-70, their highest lead of the game.

The 7-point margin was short lived following an 11-1 Toronto run that saw the home team take an 84-80 lead. Miami needed a game-tying three-pointer from guard Goran Dragic in the final 10 seconds of the quarter to send the game into overtime.

"We feel like we should have won this one so it is a little bit of a bad taste in our mouth," said Dragic following his team-high 20 points. "Sometimes the opposite team makes plays, sometimes you don't make the right decision."

Dragic isn't the only Heat player that isn't satisfied with returning home with one road win. All-Star Dwayne Wade shared his sentiments after the game.

"We had an opportunity to go up 2-0. You want to lock-in, but they got back into the game," said Wade following his 17-point performance. "In overtime, I don't think we did a good job of executing on the offensive side. They came out and blitzed us early. We feel like we gave this one up."

Wade, Dragic and the rest of the Heat will have to make adjustments if they hope to win the series.

"Our spacing has to be better," Spoelstra stressed. "These last two games were not two of our better ball movement games, which we'll have to correct."

The series now shifts to Miami for game three on Saturday and game four on Monday before returning back to Toronto for game five on Wednesday. Endit