For the third time in less than two weeks, the Toronto Raptors will play the Miami Heat.
So far, each team has won on its home court, which may bode well for Miami as it plays host Thursday.
The Raptors, who have lost three straight games overall, are just 1-11 on the road. Their only road win was at New Orleans on Nov. 27.
RJ Barrett leads Toronto in scoring (23.6), and he ranks second in assists (5.8) and third in rebounds (6.6).
He is coming off a 30-point game on Monday against the team that drafted him with a first-round pick in 2019, the New York Knicks. It was Barrett’s seventh game of the season with at least 30 points.
Unfortunately for the Raptors, Scottie Barnes sprained his right ankle against the Knicks. Barnes, who is expected to be out at least one week, leads the Raptors in assists (7.4), and he ranks second in points (20.6) and rebounds (8.4).
The other key injury regarding Toronto belongs to Immanuel Quickley (elbow), who has been ruled out. Quickley, 25, hasn’t played since Nov. 10. However, he averaged a career-high 17.0 points last season, and he is regarded as part of Toronto’s young core.
That core includes Barrett (age 24), Barnes (23), Gradey Dick (21), Ochai Agbaji (24), Davion Mitchell (26), and Ja’Kobe Walter (20).
All seven of those players were first-round NBA draft picks.
“We believe in what we can do,” Barrett said following that tough 113-108 loss to the Knicks on Monday. “We’ve seen in little segments what we can build upon.”
But while the Raptors are rebuilding — Chris Boucher is the only player on the roster remaining from the team that won the NBA title in 2019 — the Heat are in a win-now mode.
The Heat have won a season-best three straight games, beating, in order, the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers. All three of those opponents have winning records.
In fact, the Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA.
In other words, the Heat are on their best roll of the season. Miami’s top three scorers are Tyler Herro (24.2), Jimmy Butler (19.0), and Bam Adebayo (16.0).
The trio of stars is in their sixth straight season together after first uniting in the summer of 2019. Herro was Miami’s first-round pick (13th overall) in that June’s draft, then the Heat traded for Butler on July 6. The two joined Adebayo who had been on the roster since being a first-round pick in 2017.
But as good as those three players have been for Miami, the Heat has long been known as a franchise that uncovers hidden gems.
It is happening again this season with Dru Smith, a 6-2 guard who played his college ball at Evansville and Missouri, going undrafted in 2021.
Unfortunately for Smith, his pro career has been slowed by knee injuries that ended his season in February of 2022 and again in November of 2023.
On July 1, 2024, Smith signed a two-way contract (G League/NBA) with the Heat, and he is just now — finally — beginning to make his mark.
In Miami’s past two games, Smith played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter each time. He logged a career-high 29 minutes against the Suns, and he was used for 26 minutes against the Cavaliers.
In those two games, Smith totaled 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
Said Adebayo following the win over the Cavaliers: “Dru comes in and he changes the game (with his defense).”