Ingram, Murray-Boyles have Raptors on verge of playoffs after beating Heat

TORONTO - As much as could reasonably be hoped for, really. More actually. 

It’s not just that the Toronto Raptors swept the second installment of their potentially season-defining two-game home series against the Miami Heat with a 128-114 win that was improbably more impressive than their win on Tuesday, which was also a blowout. 

That would have been at the top of any Raptors fan’s wish list when the week began. 

It was who was front and centre in the cause. 

Did anyone expect Brandon Ingram to play his best game of the year in his 75^th start after playing just 18 games a year ago, and averaging 52 games per season in the previous eight years? 

Did anyone expect 20-year-old rookie Collin Murray-Boyles to be an instant opponent game-plan wrecker? A 250-pound chaos agent with a sky-high basketball IQ. As impactful a rookie as almost anyone the Raptors have ever put on the floor, outside of Vince Carter and Scottie Barnes? 

Can anyone honestly say they predicted that? Hoped for it, maybe. Dreamed of it. 

But that’s what has come to pass. 

Perhaps sensing the playoffs nearing, Ingram seemed to be on a mission, a sleepy-eyed assassin determined to steal the Heat’s weak will sooner rather than later. He had 23 points at halftime and had earned his way to the free-throw line 11 times as he constantly turned the corner and headed into traffic. 

“I'm able to survey the basketball floor, make the right passes on the floor,” said Ingram, who finished with a season-high 38 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists. “But getting downhill and trying to search for arms and shoot over the top of other guys, you know, just a part of the game. I think I see more openings around the paint than ever tonight, and I just wanted to continue to attack.”

As for Murray-Boyles, for the second straight game against the Heat and for the umpteenth time this season, the burly rookie entered the game and changed it, making one positive play after another — some big, some small — that shifted the momentum in his team’s favour. 

In the first quarter, he checked in and forced a turnover on an inbounds pass that led to an Ingram bucket. He then scored after rebounding an Ingram miss, won a race to a 50-50 ball with Heat big man Bam Adebayo, got fouled and made both free throws, got another offensive rebound, and then blocked a Heat forward at the horn. He was +8 in less than six minutes. 

There were more plays like that in the second quarter as the Raptors took a 69-50 lead into halftime. He finished with 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting, eight rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot and was +21 in 22 minutes completely on merit. 

Not surprisingly, his coach is a fan: 

“Collin is outstanding. You know, to be honest with you, I am getting surprised,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “First of all, how much he's giving himself to the team, and all the little things that he's doing for us. Eight rebounds, 17 points, guarding their best drivers, guarding Adebayo, guarding pretty much anybody on the opposing team. So, I'm very, very impressed with him.”

The Raptors' only hiccup was a stretch in the third quarter when the Heat cut what was a 26-point lead all the way down to seven. But a surge by RJ Barrett (22 points) stopped the bleeding, another bucket by Ingram and a late three by Immanuel Quickley — giving the Raptors good minutes on his ginger right root — pushed the lead back to 15. A Scottie Barnes three and dunk, and another three by Quickely (11 points, four assists in 23 minutes) pushed it to 22, wilting Miami’s spirit. 

The win improved Toronto’s record to 45-35 and lifted them into fifth place. The Heat fell to 41-39 and will finish 10^th. A win by Toronto against either New York on Friday or the hapless Brooklyn Nets in the last game of the season on Sunday should lock in a top-six finish and a playoff spot. Fifth place is still very much on the table, given the Raptors have the tiebreaker over the sixth-place Hawks and seventh-place Orlando Magic, who are two games up on eighth-place Philadelphia.

But how did the Raptors get here? How have they pulled themselves within an eyelash of locking up a playoff spot? Who led the way?

That’s what makes this resurgence so fun and hard to predict. 

When the Raptors went to training camp, there was optimism around what Ingram could bring to a 30-win team that struggled to score. And there were some positive early feelings about what Murray-Boyles might be able to add as the ninth overall pick in the draft — the Raptors' ‘prize’ after a poorly executed tank last season saw them finish with the league’s seventh-worst record and then slip down to the 9^th pick after the draft lottery. 

But expecting that Ingram would deliver the Raptors a ‘dig deep’ offensive outing in his 75^th start of the season? That was probably a stretch.

But he’s now played more games than in any season since his rookie year and keeps building on his personal bests for minutes played and points scored. He set out this year, determined to prove he was capable of being durable and capable of leading a team to the playoffs. He’s very near to realizing both goals, but isn’t ready to call it a day yet.  

“Well, I say it's a good time to be in rhythm, going into these playoffs,” was as far as he would go. “We take it game by game, try to get better, try to figure out what schemes we want to do for the playoffs, and how we attack each and every game and have a sense of urgency on both sides of the basketball. I think these last two games, it's a chance for us to have a focus and take things serious leading up to and into the playoffs."

And as for Murray-Boyles? Rookies aren’t supposed to contribute to winning, and they certainly aren’t supposed to be counted on in the playoffs. But the 6-foot-7, 250-pound block of granite isn’t your typical rookie. 

The playoffs might be his bag. His game, he believes, will translate. 

“I wouldn’t be on the team if it wasn’t supposed to,” he said in a boisterous Raptors locker room. “I wouldn’t be playing as much as I am if that wasn’t the case. But I have high energy, I know how to be in the right spot, and I’m trying to make the right play on both ends of the court. It’s very important. Especially when every possession counts on the post-season.”

It’s hard to argue with any of that. Not after Murray-Boyles went and did all of those things and then some in a crucial pair of games against Miami. 

And it’s hard not to be impressed with Ingram, who has exceeded everyone’s expectations except perhaps his own. 

Two wins against Miami don’t guarantee playoff success. But they almost guarantee the Raptors will be in the playoffs. Can’t hope for much more than that.

Three-point Grange

Barrett barrels his way to the paint:  The seven-year veteran made a season-best nine free throws (on 10 attempts) against the Heat and was a big reason why Miami couldn’t get out and run: Barrett kept attacking the paint with his 6-foot-7 230-pound frame and drawing fouls, stopping the game and stifling Miami’s transition. Barrett is always willing to drive into contact, but it was at another level Thursday night as he scored 22 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists without a turnover.

Why?

“I’ve been playing like a punk the last couple of games, and I don’t like that. I came in trying to hit people today. I’m a physical guy. I got to use that to my advantage.” Was being self-critical even after a comfortable win over Miami on Tuesday one of the reasons the Raptors were so successful Thursday? “Absolutely. I don’t think we were satisfied. We talked about it yesterday; we talked about it this morning. We knew they were going to be extra aggressive, especially at the beginning, and we weathered that storm pretty well.”

That won’t happen again, will it?  Early in the first quarter, the Heat were putting a little run together. They executed a perfect sidelines out-of-bounds play to get Tyler Herro a wide-open look in the near corner with only a couple of ticks on the shot clock. Cash. The Heat were up 12-4. But a few possessions later, some good news: Upon review, Herro’s shot had come after the shot clock had expired, and the bucket was wiped off the board. Just as in-arena announcer Herbie Kuhn was passing along the information to the crowd, the Raptors got hit with another foul. The Heat took the ball out of bounds from almost the same spot. They ran the same play. Kuhn had barely got the words out of his mouth about the previous three being wiped away when Herro’s second shot from the same spot went down. Ah well. Third time’s a charm, they say.

Oh! Hey, Andrew: I was walking to the court through the tunnel just before the anthems and took a glance over my shoulder because you never know which massive human is in a hurry to get to the floor. Someone was coming, but he was not in a hurry. In this case, it was Andrew Wiggins, the Heat forward from Vaughan, whom I first met when he was in Grade 9 at Vaughan Secondary School. He was — by far — the most spectacular high school player I’ve ever seen in person. Somehow, Wiggins is now 31 years old and in his 12th season? Like, how?

Anyway, Wiggins was not rushing anywhere, which tracks. He was munching on something crunchy out of a bag — it couldn’t have been potato chips, could it? It was dark, so I couldn’t see. Anyway, we exchanged a handshake and some hellos. How are the kids? “There’s three now,” he said. “Getting big.” And then he strolled out to play a crucial regular-season game in his hometown like he was going to play at the ‘Y’ in Thornhill with his brothers. 

I could only shake my head: I’m pretty sure the fame or the money hasn’t changed Wiggins one bit. He was chill as the highest profile basketball prospect Canada has ever had, and more than 15 years later, he’s chill as an NBA vet. He may not have reached the individual peaks his raw talent suggested as the No. 1 pick in 2014, but he played the best basketball of his life during the 2022 NBA playoffs and was as important as anyone other than Steph Curry to the Golden State Warriors' title that year. He’s carved himself a niche as a high-end role player and is quietly having one of his best seasons in Miami, shooting a career-best 42 per cent from three and his near career marks in steals and blocks. He led the Heat with 24 points on Tuesday but had five points and one rebound on 2-of-6 shooting in 22 minutes on Thursday.