Raps Down Heat In Last Home Game, To Face Magic In First Round Of Playoffs

Orlando it is.

The Toronto Raptors clinched the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 91-75 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday, sending them to Orlando to face the Magic in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Raptors win combined with Cleveland’s 91-89 win over Philadelphia clinched the sixth-place finish for Toronto.

Rasho Nesterovic had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Toronto.

Chris Bosh added 15 points for the Raptors (41-40), who swept their season series against the struggling Heat for the first time in the Raptors’ 13-year history.

Anthony Parker chipped in with 13 points, while T.J. Ford and Jason Kapono had 11 apiece, and Jose Calderon added 11 assists.

Daequan Cook topped the Heat (14-67) with 22 points.

Heat forward and Montreal native Joel Anthony finished with four rebounds.

The Raptors were playing for position in their penultimate game of the regular season, heading into the game tied with Philadelphia for sixth in the East.

For a team looking to gain some steam heading into the playoffs though — the Raptors had lost 16 of their previous 24 games before Monday– this game wasn’t much help.

The Heat led for a good chunk of the first half, and it wasn’t until the third quarter that the Raptors managed to put any distance on their visitors. Ford had nine points in the quarter and the Raptors outscored the Heat 27-17 to take a 70-64 lead into the fourth.

It was all Raptors all the way to the final buzzer, as the Raptors held the Heat to just 11 points the fourth, and stretched their lead to 18 points on a basket by Bosh with 2:24 left.

The team went to centre-court to salute the crowd after the final buzzer.

The Raptors wrap up the regular season at Chicago on Wednesday.

Bosh, who called out the crowd last week for being too quiet, posting a plea on YouTube for fans to get behind the team, addressed the fans before Monday’s game, saying, “we need your support for the playoffs, so keep cheering.”

The woeful Heat have lost 21 of their last 24 games, and with a game to go, are guaranteed to at least match the worst single-season record in franchise history, set by the 1988-89 expansion team that went 15-67.

Before the game though, Raptors coach Sam Mitchell cautioned against taking the lottery-bound Heat too lightly.

“I tell you guys all the time, there’s two things to play for this time of year: Playoffs or a job,” Mitchell said. “And those guys are playing for jobs, they’re playing to make an impression on (coach) Pat Riley and they’re playing for jobs.”

The Heat raced out to a 10-4 lead in an ugly opening quarter for both teams. The Raptors led several times but never by more than two points, and the Heat took a 28-25 lead into the second quarter.

Miami led for all of the second, and a jump shot by Cook put the visitors up by seven points. A three by Parker cut the Heat’s lead to 47-43 at halftime.

A basket by Stephane Lasme put the Heat up by eight points early in the third before the Raptors finally found their game, outscoring the Heat 27-13 to the end of the quarter to take a six-point lead into the fourth.