Heat Aim To Inflict Damage In Raptors
The Miami Heat will host the Toronto Raptors at Kaseya Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat (45-36) are looking to avoid the Play-In Tournament, but they enter Sunday in eighth place in the standings. If nothing changes, they will visit the Philadelphia 76ers for a one-off elimination game at Wells Fargo Center. However, a win Sunday, coupled with losses from the 76ers and the Indiana Pacers, could push the Heat to sixth place and out of the Play-In tournament. Ergo, the Heat could face different scenarios that range from playing a one-off elimination game on the road to securing a berth in the first round of the postseason. Still, Miami must focus on Sunday’s task and defeat the Raptors. Otherwise, what happens in other games won’t matter. The Heat enter this game fresh off a 125-103 win over the Raptors on Friday, but their 3-2 record in their last five games doesn’t inspire confidence.

Duncan Robinson (back) is questionable to play Sunday. Terry Rozier (neck) is out. Josh Richardson (shoulder) is out for the season.

The Raptors (25-56) have nothing to play for in this season finale. Aside from being out of playoff contention for quite some time, Toronto can’t move up or down in the standings, as they have locked the sixth-worst record in the league. As things stand now, the Raptors organization will look forward to start preparing for the 2024 NBA Draft. The Raptors would hope to end the season on a high note with a win, but their recent results simply haven’t been good, as they enter this game on a three-game losing skid following the 125-103 loss to the Heat on Friday. Furthermore, Toronto also owns a negative 2-8 mark across its last 10 games while going 11-29 on the road throughout the campaign.

Jakob Poeltl (finger), Chris Boucher (knee), Jontay Porter (personal), Immanuel Quickley (groin), Scottie Barnes (hand), D.J. Canton (ankle) and Mouhamadou Gueye (thumb) are all out for the season finale.
Posted on: 4/13/2024 9:20 PM