Raptors Rediscover Their Shot - and Maybe Themselves - in Gritty Win Over Heat
What is shot making, really? In the NBA, it’s often shorthand for skill - the kind of skill that separates the elite from the average.
But it’s also rhythm, confidence, timing, and yes, sometimes just plain luck. For the Toronto Raptors, shot making hasn’t just been elusive lately - it’s been a full-blown identity crisis.
But in a gritty, grind-it-out win over the Miami Heat, they finally started to answer the question that’s been haunting them: can this team generate - and finish - quality offense?
At first, the signs weren’t promising. The Raptors opened the game with a made three from Sandro Mamukelashvili, but the possession that led to it was disjointed - no paint touches, no movement, just a shot that happened to fall.
It was a make, sure, but not the kind of make that signals a functioning offense. It was more like a band-aid on a broken system.
Still, the early shots were falling. Brandon Ingram buried a corner triple after an offensive rebound left him wide open.
Toronto jumped out to a double-digit lead. On the surface, things looked fine.
But underneath? The half-court offense was stagnant, lacking creativity and cohesion.
There was effort - no one could question that - but the Raptors looked like a team searching for answers they didn’t yet have. They weren’t just missing shots; they were missing a blueprint.
Possession after possession, the Raptors failed to get into the paint. There was little north-south action, no real dribble penetration to collapse the defense.
Instead, they settled. Ochai Agbaji airballed a wide-open corner three.
Gradey Dick and Immanuel Quickley missed pull-up threes in transition. Dick even blew a layup at the rim.
It wasn’t just poor execution - it was a team unsure of where good shots were supposed to come from.
But then, something shifted.
Jamison Battle knocked down a corner three. Jamal Shead lobbed a perfect pass to Collin Murray-Boyles for a dunk in the half court, then found him again in transition for an easy layup.
Mamukelashvili drew two defenders with a rare paint touch and dished to Battle for a clean-cut dunk. Suddenly, the Raptors were getting easy looks - and converting them.
The shots weren’t just going in; they were being created the right way.
Mamukelashvili stayed hot, hitting three triples in the first half - half of Toronto’s total from deep over that stretch. His looks weren’t any cleaner than his teammates’, but he knocked them down.
Sometimes, shot making is just that simple: make-or-miss. And while Toronto’s 28.6 percent from deep in the first half wasn’t anything to celebrate, it was better than Miami’s 22.2 percent.
The Raptors’ defense, especially from Ingram and Quickley, played a big role in that. Both guards had standout moments protecting the rim and disrupting Miami’s flow.
Then came the third quarter - and with it, the best offensive stretch the Raptors have had in weeks.
Mamukelashvili drilled another contested three, again off a broken possession. Ingram sliced into the paint and finished a tough layup with a step-through move that looked like it came out of nowhere.
Quickley found Mamukelashvili on a slick underhand bounce pass in the pick-and-roll, who then dropped it off to Scottie Barnes for a dunk. Ingram followed that with a three of his own.
This wasn’t just shot making. This was offense.
Real, sustainable, well-executed offense. The kind that doesn’t rely on miracle shots or broken plays.
The kind that breathes life into a team.
And it didn’t stop there.
Shead found his range from deep. Barnes attacked the paint, got to the line, and converted.
With their offense clicking, the Raptors were finally able to set their defense - and that’s when the steals and transition buckets started coming. Barnes got loose for a few layups.
Murray-Boyles grabbed offensive rebound after offensive rebound - nine in total, the most by any Raptor this season. He was relentless, giving Toronto extra chances and keeping possessions alive.
Was that shot making? Technically, no - grabbing a missed shot isn’t making one.
But the effort, the positioning, the awareness? It was every bit as important.
It was the kind of hustle that changes games.
Toronto, who had managed just 81 points in a sluggish loss to Brooklyn, put up 82 through three quarters against Miami - and that was with only a few minutes of real offensive rhythm in the first half. By the fourth, the Raptors were rolling.
Quickley lobbed another alley-oop to Barnes out of the pick-and-roll - a connection that’s suddenly becoming a reliable weapon. Barnes posted up, then whipped a pass to Battle for a clean three.
On the next trip down, Quickley directed traffic, sent Barnes back into the post, caught the skip pass after a double-team, and calmly drained a three. That’s leadership.
That’s feel. That’s smart, situational basketball - and yes, that’s shot making.
Then Barnes took over. A jumper.
A dunk. Another dunk off a drive.
And then, a two-handed hook off the glass through contact. It wasn’t just that Barnes was scoring - it was how he was doing it.
With poise. With control.
With purpose.
Toronto didn’t light up the scoreboard - 112 points is modest in today’s NBA - but this win wasn’t about the final number. It was about the process.
The Raptors rediscovered something they’d been missing: how to build good offense from the ground up. How to create shots, not just take them.
How to trust the system, trust each other, and let the game come to them.
They answered a few lingering questions in this one. For now, at least, the Raptors have found a way to breathe again.