The Rаptors trіumph аgаinst the Mіamі Heаt, brіngіng аn offіcіal end to the Pаscаl Sіakam erа

That’s one way to wrap out the season’s first half, anyhow.

By essentially guaranteeing that the second half must begin better.

Midway through their season, the Miami Heat, at 24-17, took a game that seemed like theirs to win and dominated it on Wednesday. That evening, they overcame a franchise-high 35-point halftime deficit to lose 121-97 to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

The Heat produced their second straight disastrоus first half, this time leaving the deficit too big to duplicate their comeback against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night to begin this two-game trip, while the Raptors were shorthanded as they attempted to complete the trade of Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers.

Is the glass halfway full? With three wins in their last four games, the Heat wrapped up the first half of their season.

Is the glass halfway empty? The Heat had a 5-5 record in their last 10 games at the conclusion of the first half of the season—the kind of mediocrity that gets you into the play-in round.

The Heat ended the game 6 of 28 from beyond the arc, while the Raptors finished 20 of 38. This was a long cry from the league-leading 3-point shooting that had been turning into something much less.

For the Heat, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo each scored sixteen points.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 28, RJ Barrett scored 26, Scottie Barmes scored 20, and Immanuel Quickley scored 19 points for the Raptors.

From the game on Wednesday night, five degrees of heat:

1. Game flow: The Heat had the worst halftime deficit in their 36 seasons, trailing 78-43 at the break after trailing 41-18 at the conclusion of the first quarter.

The bright side? The Bucks set a record in December 2020 with 83 points against in the first half.

After cutting their deficit to 19 points in the third quarter, the Heat trailed 94-73 heading into the fourth.

With 8:46 remaining, the Heat closed the gap to 96-83, but two 3-pointers from the Raptors put an end to the game.

In 2:21 of the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra decided to bench his starting rotation players, and the team lost 118-92.

2. Horrible from the start: Did you find the first half of Monday night’s game in Brooklyn, when the Heat started the game 0 for 13 on 3-pointers, to be bad? Rethink your thoughts.

This time, the Heat trailed by that 41–18 score at the conclusion of the first quarter, making just three assists on 7 of 21 field goals and 1 of 7 3-pointers.

In comparison, the Raptors shot 15 of 24 from the field and made 7 of 10 3-pointers with 14 assists during that time.

With Quickley scoring 10 points and Barrett scoring 8, both players Toronto acquired from New York in the deal for OG Anunoby last month, the score was essentially 18–18 Former Knicks vs. Heat at the conclusion of the first quarter.

With Herro and Adebayo at minus 23, all eight Heat players that played in the first quarter were at least down 11.

3. Three for all: The Raptors’ 42-3 advantage over the Heat in 3-point shooting, with Toronto going 14 of 22 and the Heat going 1 of 16, was maybe the most revealing statistic of the first half.

Herro ended the Heat’s 1 of 7 from beyond the arc in addition to having the team’s only 3-pointer of the first half. In the first half, neither Duncan Robinson nor Kyle Lowry made any of their three 3-point attempts.

In addition to their Monday’s setback in Brooklyn, the Heat finished the first two games with a 1 of 28 record.

4. Jovic once more: Nikola Jovic started for the Heat for the eighth time in a row, beginning the game with Adebayo, Herro, Butler, and Lowry for the second time in a row.

Jovic had a difficult day since he was friends with the son of Dejan Milojević, the assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors and a former coach of the Serbian national team, who passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday due to a heart аttаck.

Before Wednesday night’s game, there was a pregame quiet, as there were across the league.

When Spoelstra began his pregame remarks, he expressed the Heat’s sympathy.

5. What comes next: After facing the somber facts of Wednesday night, the Heat will retire Udonis Haslem’s No. 40 at Kaseya Center on Friday night. There will be a lengthy 25-minute halftime at the 8 p.m. opener versus the Atlanta Hawks.