Heat vs. Raptors: Game 7 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

Game after game, bricked shot after bricked shot, watching the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors play basketball over the past two weeks has at times been a laborious slog. Good thing the Raptors saved their best punch for last.  

Kyle Lowry scored 35 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 28 as the Raptors moved on with a 116-89 win over the Heat in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series on Sunday.

Toronto will be making its first conference finals appearance in franchise history. Founded in 1995, the Raptors had exactly one playoff series victory before these playoffs. And far too often, through 14 hard-fought playoff games, these Raptors appeared on the brink of throwing away a season that saw them win a franchise-record 56 games.

Lowry wouldn’t allow it to happen.

Reviled in some circles for his shortcomings against the Indiana Pacers in the first round and early in this series, Lowry ended things with a bang. He scored 96 points over the final three games against Miami, including runs in Games 5 and 7 where he single-handedly willed his team to victory.

The All-Star point guard saved his most efficient game for last, making 11 of his 20 shots and getting to the line 11 times. Toronto was a whopping plus-31 with Lowry on the court, and he added nine assists and seven rebounds for a solid all-around effort. Raptors Republic went all cat emoji with its affection:

OMG LOWRY ????????????

— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) May 15, 2016

Raptors HQ was also happy with how things went: 

We’ve come to the Kyle Lowry Saves Us portion of the evening. Welcome.

— Raptors HQ (@RaptorsHQ) May 15, 2016

Game 7 was by far the highest scoring of the series, which had featured three overtime games and a mid-’90s grind-it-out mentality. Toronto shot a solid 45.9 percent from the field and got to the line 43 times compared to 23 for Miami.

The Heat shot 44.4 …

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