In the biggest and most important game of his professional career, Kyle Lowry completed his re-emergence from a demoralizing shooting slump that has haunted him the entire postseason and made him question everything he thought he knew about his ability to play basketball.
With the Raptors’ season on the line, Lowry was absolutely brilliant as he led the charge with 35 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and four steals to send his team to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in franchise history.
As expected, Game 7 was a war of attrition for three-plus quarters as two implacable teams mired in stagnate offense, yet buttressed by grimy defensive efforts, slugged it out until the Heat were finally, mercifully forced to yield on the Raptors’ homecourt.
DeMar DeRozan chipped in 28 points and eight rebounds but once again struggled from the floor, making just 12-of-29 shots. Still, all five Raptors starters scored in double figures. With no Jonas Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo filled in nicely once again as he’s done all series with his solid two-way play as he finished with 17 points, 16 rebounds, and a pair of blocks. DeMarre Carroll added 14 points on hyper-efficient shooting as he missed just one of his five shot attempts.
The Raptors dominated the offensive boards 20-7, as they were finally able to exploit one of the main pitfalls of the Heat’s super-small lineup that featured Justise Winslow at the five. Despite having six players in double-digit scoring – led by Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic, who had 16 points apiece – the Heat weren’t able to get it done in Game 7.
Joe Johnson, who’s been in a cryogenic freeze for most of the postseason, finally thawed out a bit in the first half, scoring six straight points for the Heat at one point in the second quarter to help them take the lead. But that would prove to be short-lived as he was rendered mostly a nonentity down the stretch.
Things got chippy midway through the fourth quarter as Toronto started pulling away. Josh McRoberts and Biyombo got tangled up on a play that sent McRoberts to the floor, then McRoberts immediately retaliated on Biymobo with a hard foul at the rim that the refs eventually deemed a Flagrant 1. Cooler heads would prevail, however.
With the lead nearly pushed to 20 late in the fourth, the Heat turned to the Hack-a-Biyombo strategy, but it was ultimately too-little-too-late. The Raptors will now move on to a much-anticipated showdown with the No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers, which will tip-off Tuesday on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.
