Heat force Game 7 behind Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade
The Miami Heat always seem to thrive in these situations.
Goran Dragic scored 30 points and Dwyane Wade added 22 as the Heat avoided elimination Friday night with a 103-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra improved to 8-1 in home games when facing elimination. Among coaches with at least five such games, only Al Cervi (9-0) has a better record in those situations.
The Raptors are now 0-7 in franchise history when leading in a playoff series and fell to 2-6 in potential close-out games all time.
Here’s a look at how the Heat forced a Game 7:
Dragic attacks
Dragic set a postseason career high in points on 12-of-21 shooting, with 14 of those attempts coming in the paint.
Dragic drove to the basket 21 times, his most in a game this postseason. The Heat scored 26 points off of those drives, tied for the second-most points off a player’s drives this postseason. Prior to Game 6, the Heat were averaging 6.6 points per game on shots where Dragic drove to the basket.
Dragic made at least one field goal against six different Raptors primary defenders. He exploited the mismatch of Bismack Biyombo, shooting 4-of-4 for nine points, his most against any defender in a game this series.
Wade steps up again
Wade consistently steps up his game when his team’s back is against the wall. Wade scored eight of the team’s 21 points in the final quarter to help the Heat hang on for the win.
Wade now averages 25.4 points per game in his playoff career when his team is trailing in the series. That’s the fourth-best mark among active players behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
According to Elias Sports Bureau research, Wade has won 10 series in his playoff career with his team trailing (in games) — only Derek Fisher and Robert Horry have won more in NBA history. Wade has a 22-12 record in playoff games when trailing in the series.
Heat go small
The Heat started no bigs Friday, going with Dragic, Wade, Joe Johnson, Luol Deng and Justise Winslow. When the Heat went all small, they outscored the Raptors by three and limited them to 37.3 percent shooting.
In the series, the Heat are now outscoring the Raptors by a 117-89 margin when Miami does not have a big man on the floor. Hassan Whiteside has confirmed he will not play in Game 7, so the Heat may be going with a small lineup then, as well.
Josh McRoberts was the only big to play minutes on the Heat in Game 6. When he was on the court, the Heat shot 58.8 percent, nearly 19 percentage points better than their all-small lineups.
