Heat vs. Raptors: Game 7 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

Game after game, bricked shot after bricked shot, watching the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors play basketball over the past two weeks has at times been a laborious slog. Good thing the Raptors saved their best punch for last.  

Kyle Lowry scored 35 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 28 as the Raptors moved on with a 116-89 win over the Heat in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series Sunday.

Toronto will be making its first conference finals appearance in franchise history. Founded in 1995, the Raptors had exactly one postseason series victory before these playoffs. And far too often, through 14 hard-fought playoff games, these Raptors appeared on the brink of throwing away a season that saw them win a franchise-record 56 games.

Lowry wouldn't allow it to happen.

Reviled in some circles for his shortcomings against the Indiana Pacers in the first round and early in this series, Lowry ended with a bang. He scored 96 points over the final three games against Miami, including runs in Games 5 and 7 where he single-handedly willed his team to victory.

The All-Star point guard saved his most efficient game for last, making 11 of his 20 shots and getting to the line 11 times. Toronto was a whopping plus-31 with Lowry on the court, and he added nine assists and seven rebounds for a solid all-around effort. Raptors Republic went all cat emoji with its affection:

Raptors HQ was also pleased with the floor general's performance: 

Game 7 was by far the highest scoring of the series, which had featured three overtime games and a mid-'90s grind-it-out mentality. Toronto shot a solid 45.9 percent from the field and got to the line 43 times compared to 23 for Miami.

The Heat shot 44.4 percent themselves with all five starters scoring in double figures. Dwyane Wade closed the series with a disappointing 16-point effort, and Goran Dragic added 16. Joe Johnson (13 points), Luol Deng (12 points) and Justise Winslow (14 points) all battled their way to double-digit efforts, as did Josh McRoberts (10 points) off the bench.

But the final game of this series came down to what these battered Heat could not do. Their offense died in the fourth quarter, as a gassed starting lineup felt the weight of two straight seven-game series. Fatigue reared its ugly head in a number of ways, mostly bricked mid-range jumpers and bad offensive possessions. 

Then there was the rebounding factor.

With Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside on the mend, head coach Erik Spoelstra once again went with the rookie Winslow at center. In Game 6, the offense opened wide, and the Heat kept their head above water on the boards. In Game 7, their lack of size became a huge problem.

Toronto out-rebounded Miami, 50-30, as Toronto head coach Dwane Casey turned Bismack Biyombo into an unstoppable rim-runner. Known for his stone hands and available on the free-agent scrapheap last summer, Biyombo came through with 16 points and 17 rebounds. He struggled as the Heat tested him at the line (5-of-12), but he left to a standing ovation.

Ben Swanson of the Denver Broncos' official website put it succinctly:

Patrick Patterson (11 points, 11 rebounds) also had a double-double, and DeMarre Carroll added 14 on 4-of-5 shooting. All five Raptors starters were in double figures. It took 29 shots for DeRozan to reach 28 points and his struggles carried over to the charity stripe, but he added eight rebounds and ceded to Lowry when needed.

Despite dealing with an injured thumb, DeRozan amassed 85 points over the final three games of the series. Some of them came via ill-advised volume shooting. Others, though, were in situations where the Raptors desperately needed a basket as their half-court offense faded. Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford contextualized DeRozan's effort:

The only Raptor who didn't come through with a solid performance was Cory Joseph, who went 0-of-8 from the field. 

While this is rightfully a reason to celebrate in Canada, what awaits in the Eastern Conference Finals starting Tuesday might not be.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are firing on all cylinders in these playoffs, pulling off back-to-back series sweeps of the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, respectively. LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving appear to be on the same page for the first time since they all got together, and the East has been viewed as a mere NBA Finals stepping stone to Cleveland all season.

Some will point to Toronto's 2-1 regular-season record against Cleveland, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Both of Toronto's wins came at home by a combined six points. In the first, Irving wasn't back from injury. The second took a Herculean 43-point effort from Lowry, and LeBron missed a game-winner.

Winning this war of attrition is a moment in history for the Raptors. In a few days, though, they might be wishing they were on a beach somewhere. 

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Postgame Reaction

Casey commented on the struggles of his two stars, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:

"

There were some moments, ‘gosh are they ever going to make a shot? But you knew deep in your heart that you believed those guys would come around. They’re not going to forget how to score. I’ve been in this thing a long, long time, and I’ve never seen scorers forget. They may have a bad couple of weeks, a month, but it’s going to come back around. They did. It was great to see. Hopefully, they can keep that momentum going on the offensive end and don’t forget about the defensive end.

"

He did say he never lost faith: "We never doubted Kyle and DeMar. They’re our guys. They’re All-Stars, and I thought they both played like it tonight. They both stepped up and carried us."

NBATV provided videos of Wade and Lowry discussing the series:

Wade also had hopes of facing former teammate LeBron James in the conference finals, per Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald: "I did what I could."

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.