(Toronto) Pascal Siakam had 26 points as the Toronto Raptors posted their third straight win on Tuesday, beating the Miami Heat 106-92.
Siakam provided 12 points in the third quarter for the Toronto club (38-38), which went .500 for the first time since Dec. 9. The team then had a 13-13 record.
Toronto led 31-20 in the third quarter, after finishing the half up 53-47.
Scottie Barnes had a career-high 12 assists and 22 points — the same total as OG Anunoby, who went 4-for-9 on three-point shooting.
The Raptors missed their first 10 three-point shots; it was Anunoby who broke the bad spell, midway through the second engagement.
Barnes scored 12 points in the first quarter, including a steal and dunk combination that made it 24-23 with a second to go. Nick Nurse’s group finished the first quarter with an 8-0 lead.
Barnes also racked up three robberies.
Fred VanVleet scored 12 points, including 10 in the second half. Precious Achiuwa also provided 12 points.
Used less than usual (a fourth early foul), Jakob Poeltl nevertheless grabbed 10 rebounds.
He and Chris Boucher had two blocks apiece, helping their club win 8-3 at this level.
Gary Trent missed his fourth straight game with a stiff right elbow.
The Raptors will play again Friday night in Philadelphia. It will be the start of five away games in a row.
The Raptors remain ninth in the East. Victorious on Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks have the same record as them, but the deadlock is in their favor.
In 10e place are the Chicago Bulls, a game and a half behind. The Bulls will host the Lakers on Wednesday.
The Heat are in seventh place, two games ahead of Atlanta and Toronto.
At the half, the Raptors were just 1-for-16 on three-pointers.
They had a lot of success in the bottle dominating 62-36 in that aspect, for the whole game.
The Raptors started the third quarter very well, especially after Siakam converted an offensive rebound.
Shortly after, VanVleet and Anunoby skillfully circled Bam Adebayo, causing him to exceed the time limit allowed to shoot. The sequence led to a basket from Barnes, followed by a shot from Siakam away from the basket. The Raptors took a 63-52 lead.
Later in the third quarter, Nurse called a timeout. The answer from his team was a dunk from Achiuwa and a three-point shot from Anunoby, which made it 84-65.
Late in the final quarter, Poeltl calmed things down with a running shot, after the Heat had seven straight points to reduce the margin to 10 points.
Tyler Herro led the Heat with 33 points, including six 3-pointers.
Bam Adebayo had 21 points, but no other Heat player had more than seven.
The Heat’s leading scorer, Jimmy Butler, was out with neck pain.