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Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat dribbles against the Toronto Raptors during the first half at the Scotiabank Arena on April 9, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n
Mark Blinch<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat\u2019s 128-114 loss to the Toronto Raptors (45-35) on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena to drop to 0-2 on its three game trip. The Heat (41-39) now travels to face the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on Friday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) to complete the trip and back-to-back set:<\/p>\n
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra labeled Tuesday\u2019s loss to the Raptors as \u201cembarrassing.\u201d Thursday\u2019s loss to the Raptors wasn\u2019t much better for the play-in tournament bound Heat.<\/p>\n
After defeating the Heat by 26 points on Tuesday, the Raptors swept the back-to-back set in Toronto with a 14-point blowout victory over the Heat on Thursday.<\/p>\n
With Thursday\u2019s win, the Raptors also clinched a four-game sweep of their regular-season series against the Heat for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.<\/p>\n
Miami will finish the regular season with a combined 0-13 record against the Raptors (0-4), Orlando Magic (0-5) and Boston Celtics (0-4).<\/p>\n
While the Heat was able to do more damage in the paint on Thursday with 58 paint points after scoring just 34 paint points in Tuesday\u2019s loss, the Raptors dominated the possession battle on their way to another rout. Toronto closed with four more field-goal attempts and 20 more free-throw attempts than Miami behind a 10-6 edge in offensive rebounds and nine fewer turnovers than the Heat.<\/p>\n
After the Heat pulled ahead by eight points in the first few minutes of the game, the Raptors took control of the contest and never let go.<\/p>\n
Toronto closed the first quarter with a six-point lead and entered halftime with a 19-point advantage.<\/p>\n
The Raptors built their lead up to 26 points early in the third quarter, but the Heat made a push to try to get back in the game and avoid another rout.<\/p>\n
The Heat exploded for a 33-13 run behind a barrage of three-pointers to cut the deficit to six with 3:11 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the closest the Heat would get, as the Raptors closed the third quarter on a 13-7 run to enter the fourth quarter ahead by 12 points.<\/p>\n
And the Raptors continued to add on to their lead, opening the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to grow their lead to 22 points and regain full control of the game.<\/p>\n
The Raptors ended up pulling ahead by as many as 25 points in the final minutes.<\/p>\n
After the Heat got hot to shoot 9 of 12 on threes in the third quarter to cut into the Raptors\u2019 lead, the Heat cooled off to 2 of 9 on threes in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with a game-high 38 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 10-of-11 shooting from the foul line.<\/p>\n
Bam Adebayo was the only Heat player to reach the 20-point mark on Thursday, finishing with 24 points.<\/p>\n
The Heat has now lost 10 of its last 13 games after reaching a season-best nine-game above .500 on March 12.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s loss locked the Heat into the play-in tournament for the fourth straight year. Thursday\u2019s loss made it more likely that it will need to win two straight play-in games to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Heat remains in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with a 41-39 record, and is now two losses behind the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets (43-37).<\/p>\n
Finishing in 10th place in the East would require the Heat to win two straight road games in the play-in tournament just to make the playoffs as the conference\u2019s No. 8 seed.<\/p>\n
Moving up to ninth-place would still require the Heat to win two straight play-in games to qualify for the playoffs as the East\u2019s No. 8 seed. But the difference is Miami would host the first play-in game as the ninth-place team.<\/p>\n
If the 76ers lose to the Houston Rockets on Thursday night, there\u2019s still an outside chance the Heat could move up to No. 8 in the East. But that\u2019s the furthest the Heat can move up the standings in the final days of the season.<\/p>\n
How does the play-in tournament work?<\/p>\n
The seventh-place team in each conference hosts the eighth-place team in a play-in game. The winner of this matchup earns the seventh playoff seed.<\/p>\n
The ninth-place team in each conference hosts the 10th-place team in another play-in game. The loser of this matchup is eliminated from playoff contention, while the winner of this matchup goes on the road to take on the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game for the right to the eighth playoff seed.<\/p>\n
The teams that are eliminated in the play-in tournament before getting to the playoffs are seeded into the NBA Draft lottery based on regular-season record.<\/p>\n
The play-in tourney will take place from next week from Tuesday through Friday.<\/p>\n
The Heat has escaped the play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons to qualify for the playoffs as the East\u2019s No. 8 seed. Last season, Miami became the first 10th-place team in the play-in tournament era to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Heat has just two games left to play this regular season. The final day of the NBA regular season is Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Heat couldn\u2019t get the bounce-back win, but Adebayo produced a bounce-back individual effort.<\/p>\n
Adebayo turned in one of his worst offensive performances of the season in Tuesday\u2019s loss to the Raptors, finishing the defeat with just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field, 1-of-7 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds and three assists.<\/p>\n
It went down as Adebayo\u2019s third-lowest scoring performance of the season. Tuesday also marked just the second time in Adebayo\u2019s NBA career that he has scored seven or fewer points while taking at least 13 field-goal attempts in a game.<\/p>\n
But Adebayo was much better on Thursday, finishing with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, 11 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and two blocks in 37 minutes.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t matter, though, because the Heat\u2019s defense continued to struggle. Miami has given up more than 120 points in 11 of the last 13 games during this dismal 3-10 stretch.<\/p>\n
The Heat continued to stagger the minutes of its top two scorers, as Tyler Herro again started and Norman Powell again played off the bench.<\/p>\n
Herro, who has played five games as a reserve this season, made his 27th start of the season on Thursday. The Heat went with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Pelle Larsson, Andrew Wiggins and Adebayo for the fifth time in the last six games.<\/p>\n
Herro finished the start with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting on threes, four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes.<\/p>\n
Powell, who was the Heat\u2019s lone All-Star this season, played as a reserve for the second straight game and for the fifth time this season on Thursday. He started in his first 49 appearances this season before this recent stint as a reserve.<\/p>\n
Powell, who is playing through a lingering right groin injury, recorded just seven points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 shooting on threes, zero rebounds and zero assists in 17 minutes off the bench.<\/p>\n
Powell was part of a Heat bench rotation that also included Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel\u2019el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and Keshad Johnson on Thursday. Miami then emptied its bench late in the lopsided loss.<\/p>\n
With Herro and Powell playing in different units, their time on the court together was again limited. This is seemingly an intentional move by the Heat, as Miami had been outscored by 6.9 points per 100 possessions in the 257 minutes that Herro and Powell played together this season ahead of Thursday\u2019s contest in Toronto.<\/p>\n
The Heat was only without Nikola Jovic (left ankle sprain), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Dru Smith (right foot soreness) on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Raptors were missing Chucky Hepburn (right knee surgery recovery) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (illness).<\/p>\n
The Heat came out with an intent to play with a more physical approach on Thursday after Tuesday\u2019s blowout loss. But it resulted in early foul trouble for a pair of Heat starters and a lot of free throws for the Raptors.<\/p>\n
Wiggins was called for his second foul with 5:40 left in the first quarter, and didn\u2019t re-enter the game until the start of the second quarter. But Wiggins was immediately called for his third foul just 20 seconds into the period and spent the rest of the first half on the bench.<\/p>\n
Wiggins was limited to just seven first-half minutes., as Johnson got some rare early playing time with Wiggins in foul trouble.<\/p>\n
Herro was called for his second foul with 4:28 left in the first quarter, and didn\u2019t re-enter the game until there was 7:45 left in the second quarter. But a frustrated Herro was called for his third foul with 1:58 left in the period, and he was called for a technical foul after making a comment to an official on his way to the bench for the rest of the first half.<\/p>\n
Herro was called for his fourth foul with 6:21 left in the third quarter, but he remained in the game without committing another foul until being subbed out with 2:39 left in the period.<\/p>\n
Foul trouble limited Wiggins to 22 minutes and Herro to 28 minutes, which is below their season average. Both are averaging more than 30 minutes per game this season.<\/p>\n
All of the fouls also allowed the Raptors to take 20 more free throws than the Heat and close with a 27-8 edge in points scored at the foul line.<\/p>\n
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