Kyle Lowry, Raptors secure Game 3 victory over Heat

MIAMI — The Toronto Raptors took advantage of Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside’s game-ending knee injury in the second quarter.

Then, the Heat took advantage of Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas’ game-ending sprained ankle in the third quarter.

Then, Heat guard Dwyane Wade took over. And finally, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry took over, propelling the Raptors to a 95-91 victory over the Heat in Game 3 on Saturday.

"The way it was going, Wade was himself and Kyle was himself," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Both guys were putting their stamp onto the game. ... Those guys try to impose their will into the game. Luckily for us, our guys came out ahead."

Lowry had his best game of the series, scoring a team-high 33 points, and his jumper with 31.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave Toronto an 89-86 lead. He had 14 of Toronto’s final 24 points and scored 12 consecutive Raptors points during a key stretch in the fourth quarter.

"It looked like a 6-4 and under league out there at the end of the game," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Kyle Lowry was terrific tonight. I didn't think we played him that poorly either. ... They made the bigger plays."

Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan, who had 19 points, helped Toronto secure the win, making 5-of-6 free throws in the final 23.9 seconds.

The Raptors took a 2-1 series lead, and Game 4 is Monday (8 p.m. ET, TNT).

"What we have is a very competitive series," Spoelstra said. "Each game that potentially looked like this one went into overtime. I don't think either team looks like how they looked in the regular season. So this is just fierce competition."

As ESPN’s Jon Barry said before the game, this series hasn’t been aesthetically pleasing. But it has been competitive with overtimes in the first two games. Spoelstra thought Game 3 had a chance to go to overtime as well.

This game passed the eye test more than the first two as Lowry rediscovered his offense and Wade continued his strong postseason play.

Lowry entered the game in a horrible shooting slump and made just 2-of-14 three-pointers in the first two games. But he was 5-of-8 from that distance — 11-of-19 from the field — on Saturday.

The Raptors located their missing-in-action offense and shot 55.6% in the first half, marking the first time they shot better than 50% in a half in the series.

The Raptors built a 55-42 lead early in the third quarter and Valanciunas had 16 points and 12 rebounds. DeRozan found a little offensive life, too, and the Raptors led 64-54 with 4:00 left in the third quarter. Miami closed the quarter on a 14-4 run, and Wade scored 10 of those points.

Wade finished with a game-high 38 points, his first 30-point game in the playoffs since 2013.

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.

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