For the third time in less than two weeks, the Toronto Raptors will face off against the Miami Heat.
Each team has defended its home court so far, which is a positive sign for Miami as they play host this Thursday.
The Raptors have been struggling, with three straight losses and a dismal 1-11 record on the road. Their sole road victory came against New Orleans on November 27.
RJ Barrett is leading Toronto in scoring with an average of 23.6 points per game. He also ranks second in assists with 5.8 and third in rebounds with 6.6. Barrett is coming off a 30-point performance on Monday against the New York Knicks, the team that drafted him in the first round in 2019. This was Barrett’s seventh 30-point game of the season.
Unfortunately, the Raptors will be without Scottie Barnes, who sprained his right ankle against the Knicks and is expected to be out for at least a week. Barnes leads the team in assists (7.4) and ranks second in points (20.6) and rebounds (8.4).
Another key injury for Toronto is Immanuel Quickley, who has been sidelined with an elbow injury since November 10. Quickley, 25, averaged a career-high 17.0 points last season and is considered a part of Toronto’s young core, which includes Barrett (24), Barnes (23), Gradey Dick (21), Ochai Agbaji (24), Davion Mitchell (26), and Ja’Kobe Walter (20). All seven players were first-round NBA draft picks.
While the Raptors are in a rebuilding phase, with Chris Boucher being the only remaining player from their 2019 NBA title-winning team, the Heat are in win-now mode. Miami is on a season-best three-game winning streak, having defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and Cleveland Cavaliers—all teams with winning records. The Cavaliers currently hold the best record in the NBA.
Miami’s top three scorers—Tyler Herro (24.2), Jimmy Butler (19.0), and Bam Adebayo (16.0)—have been playing together for six consecutive seasons since uniting in the summer of 2019. Herro was Miami’s first-round pick (13th overall) in the 2019 draft, and Butler was acquired via trade on July 6 of that year. Adebayo had already been on the roster since being a first-round pick in 2017.
In addition to their star trio, the Heat have a reputation for uncovering hidden gems. This season, Dru Smith is emerging as a key player. The 6-2 guard, who went undrafted in 2021 after playing college ball at Evansville and Missouri, has faced multiple knee injuries that derailed his seasons in February 2022 and November 2023.
Smith signed a two-way contract with the Heat on July 1, 2024, and is finally beginning to make an impact. In Miami’s past two games, Smith played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter each time, logging a career-high 29 minutes against the Suns and 26 minutes against the Cavaliers. Over these two games, Smith recorded 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block.
