SUMMARY
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LOS ANGELES, USA – The Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat finally wrapped up first-round series victories to set up an Eastern Conference semifinal showdown.
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and the Raptors held off the Indiana Pacers 89-84 to win their first-round series 4 games to 3, while the Heat thumped the Charlotte Hornets 106-73 in game 7 of their series.
Toronto’s first post-season series triumph since 2001 ended the longest active drought between playoff series wins.
It was also the Raptors’ first win in a 7-game series, rather than a 5-game set.
“I think everybody wrote the Raptors off and gave us up for dead,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said of the reaction to the Raptors’ failure to close out the series in game 6.
“But that locker room is full of fighters and scrappers.”
The Raptors needed that fight in the fourth quarter, when a 16-point lead dwindled to three with 2:36 to play.
The Pacers had the ball with 26.9 seconds remaining and the Raptors’ lead still at three, but Toronto got a defensive stop. DeRozan made two free throws to build the lead to five with 6.5 seconds remaining.
“We stunk it up in the fourth quarter,” admitted Casey, who thought the emotion of the game might have added to his players’ fatigue. “It wasn’t pretty, but our defense carried us down the stretch.” – Rappler.com
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