Miami
Kyle Lowry made sure the losing stopped there.
Shaking off playoff struggles, Lowry scored five straight Toronto points to break a late tie and lift the Raptors to a 95-91 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Lowry finished with 33 points on 11-for-19 shooting to help the Raptors take a 2-1 series lead after the teams split overtime games in Toronto.
Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas limped off with a sprained ankle in the third quarter. Miami lost starting center Hassan Whiteside to a knee issue of still-unclear severity in the second quarter.
DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points, and Valanciunas had 16 points and 12 rebounds in just 22 minutes.
Dwyane Wade had 29 of his 38 points after halftime and had eight rebounds for Miami. Goran Dragic scored 12 points, and Joe Johnson had 10.
Game 4 is Monday night in Miami.
It was tied at 82 when Lowry hit a 3-pointer, then followed that up with a pair of free throws on the next Toronto possession. Miami answered with four straight, a layup by center Udonis Haslem, followed by a nifty Eurostep in the lane by Wade that led to another score.
The Raptors went to Lowry, and his pullup from the right wing with 31.7 seconds left was pure — giving Toronto an 89-86 lead. Wade got a layup to get Miami within one, but Toronto restored the three-point edge when DeRozan made two foul shots with 23.9 left.
Johnson missed an open 3 on the next Miami possession, the Raptors went back to the line and the Heat crowd started filing to the exits.
Miami lost a game, and maybe much more.
Whiteside’s right knee buckled early in the second quarter as he got in position for a rebound and fell back awkwardly. It appeared his knee may have been inadvertently hit from the side and back by Toronto’s Cory Joseph and Heat teammate Luol Deng as he went down, and it didn’t take long for Miami’s medical staff to determine that Whiteside would not be returning.
With him gone, the Raptors attacked the basket at will. They shot 7 for 9 from the paint in the second quarter alone, had a 49-40 lead at the half and, after Lowry made a pair of quick 3s when play resumed, Toronto’s lead was quickly up to 13.
And that was the margin when Valanciunas got hurt, immediately grabbing at his right ankle. The Raptors didn’t even need the results of X-rays before announcing that he would not return, either.
Memphis, Tenn.
The team was battered by injuries and finished the regular season at 42-40 before being swept in the first round by San Antonio.
The Grizzlies used an NBA-record 28 players this season. Center Marc Gasol’s season ended in February with a broken right foot, and point guard Mike Conley’ was done in early March with left Achilles tendinitis. Memphis signed eight players to 11 10-day contracts before its playoff ouster.
Memphis becomes the fourth NBA team currently without a coach, joining the New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, who fired coach Frank Vogel on Thursday. Memphis is starting its search immediately.
Joerger had been with Memphis since before the 2007-08 season. He was promoted to replace Lionel Hollins after the Grizzlies were swept in the Western Conference finals in 2013. Joerger is 147-99 overall, 9-13 in the postseason.