The Miami Heat will visit the Toronto Raptors on Friday night looking to snap a four-game losing streak and start a push for playoff positioning.
The Heat return from the All-Star break sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference while the Raptors are 13th after losing five of their past six games.
“The last (29) games are really important for everyone,” Miami guard Tyler Herro said. “We dropped the last (four) heading into the break. We’ve got a new group, in a sense. We’re going to hit the ground running. It’s going to happen fast and everything is going to matter throughout this next month and a half.”
The Heat have a different look since their 114-104 home win over the Raptors on Dec. 12 in which Herro scored 23 points and Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 16 rebounds.
They have added Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and former Raptor Davion Mitchell after the Feb. 6 deal that sent Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors.
“We’ve been searching for clarity and consistency to our roster, too,” Herro said. “So it’s been working through a bunch of different moving parts. But we have a great group now. We love just what we got and we’re excited for this next stretch after the break. We have clarity now. We got a lot of clarity.”
The Heat have 18 home games remaining so the schedule could help them.
“It’s just a matter of consistency. Putting together a good month and half here going into the playoffs is really going to be big for us,” Herro said.
The Heat are 2-1 this season against the Raptors, having a split a home-and-home set on Nov. 29 and Dec. 1.
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said his goal is to use the rest of the season to develop players on a rebuilding roster.
“All the guys made it back in time (despite snow conditions),” Rajakovic said after a light practice Wednesday, coming off the All-Star break. “We had great energy today. It was a very much needed rest and a lot of positive energy for the rest of the year.
“I have only one goal. I told the guys today, my goal is that every single player on the roster improves through this stretch of 27 games. That means we need to give an opportunity for a lot of players to be on the court to get those valuable minutes. To grow through those games and to set up really good momentum going into the summer.”
Toronto dealt Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Mitchell before the trade deadline two weeks ago and acquired Brandon Ingram, who is out with a sprained ankle. Rajakovic said Ingram is not close to returning.
Jakob Poeltl (hip pointer), who missed the five games before the break, said he feels the team has the ability to make a run at a play-in tournament spot, but is also looking to the future.
“Even if we don’t make the play-in tournament, I think we can still have a successful rest of the season if we grow as a team, if we really get our chemistry right, if we keep this attitude and work ethic that we’ve been working with this whole season,” Poeltl said.
Toronto signed Jared Rhoden to a 10-day contract Wednesday and announced that rookie Ulrich Chomche (knee) is out for the rest of the season.
–Field Level Media
