![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\nToronto (44-35) tightened its grip on the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the win. <\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Miami (41-38) was 10th in the East, holding the fourth seed in the conference\u2019s play-in tournament, three games back of the Raptors.<\/p>\n
The two teams meet again Thursday at Scotiabank Arena.<\/p>\n
Immanuel Quickley (plantar fasciitis, right foot), Sandro Mamukelashvili (left knee soreness) and rookie centre Collin Murray-Boyles (right quad contusion) were all game-time decisions, but were made available to play for Toronto less than an hour before the opening tipoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cLong season, man. It\u2019s hard. It\u2019s tough,\u201d said Murray-Boyles, who had six points and eight rebounds but was plus-17 against Miami. \u201cObviously, this is like three (collegiate) seasons, all balled into one. <\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely tough, but I think it helps me for the future, knowing how to really prepare myself for these type of moments, especially at the end of this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray-Boyles had two blocks and a steal as the Raptors turned in an impressive defensive showing. <\/p>\n
The Heat have been held to fewer than 100 points just six times this season, but three of those times were against Toronto.<\/p>\n
On top of dealing with his right-quad contusion, Murray-Boyles has been managing a sprained left thumb throughout the season. Although it takes a beating in every rebound, block, steal and deflection, the 20-year-old said he has no intention of slowing down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be playing if I did that. That\u2019s my identity, being aggressive,\u201d said Murray-Boyles. \u201cYou know, being a defensive pest out there, being active and stuff like that, that\u2019s what I made a name off of. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quickley started against Miami, scoring three points and adding four assists and four rebounds in 18 minutes of play.<\/p>\n
Rajakovic said that, despite the dominant win over the Heat, Toronto still isn\u2019t playing to the best of its abilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019re really banged up still,\u201d he said. \u201cSeveral guys played banged up, played through a lot of pain. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the NBA. That\u2019s the part of the season we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2026.<\/p>\n
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto (44-35) tightened its grip on the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-590050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}