Tonight at 7:00 p.m. E.T. the Miami Heat (2-2) will try to quell talks about team chemistry issues and a championship hangover when they take on the Toronto Raptors (2-1) in the Air Canada Center. Live stream the game here; Heat fans can listen to the game on 560 WQAM, while Raptors fans can catch the radio broadcast on SportsNet 590 The Fan.
The Heat looked like they were in championship form in a season-opening win over the Chicago Bulls, but then dropped two straight before returning to their winning ways against the Washington Wizards.
Dwyane Wade said that the Heat had gotten "too comfortable" after their back-to-back titles and needed to "regain their edge." Against the Wizards, head coach Erik Spoelstra was pleased with his team's bounce back effort. "The intensity was better and the consistent ball movement was better than it's been," coach Erik Spoelstra said.
LeBron James also felt as if the win over the Wiz proved what Miami is really about. "That's what we do," James said. "We understand that it's easy for everyone when we move the ball, share the ball and we play like that."
The Raptors are also flourishing because of ball movement through three games. In their last win over Milwaukee five Raptors reached double-figure scoring. "Everybody made a concerted effort to try to get the ball from side-to-side and get everybody involved early," point guard Kyle Lowry said.
To get a win tonight, though, they may need their "star," small forward Rudy Gay, to duplicate or exceed his 18-point, 15-rebound showing against the Bucks. "I'm just trying not to be one-dimensional," Gay said. "I still wanted to make an effort on defense and the glass ... just make myself be part of the game."
Miami is scoring 105 points per game, while Toronto's giving up just 93, so something will have to give.
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