Winderman’s view: A night of painted misery for Heat in loss in Toronto

Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 106-92 loss to the Toronto Raptors:

– At just about every turn, the Miami Heat have avoided the next big thing.

– Jae Crowder at power forward worked.

– Trevor Ariza didn’t.

– P.J. Tucker at the four worked.

– Caleb Martin only nominally so.

– Kevin Love was brought in, but he certainly doesn’t play big.

– Omer Yurtseven returned, then was benched.

– Haywood Highsmith got a chance.

– Now Cody Zeller is back, but only in token minutes.

– And then you glance at the stats monitor as the Raptors opened their third-quarter lead and the numbers were stark.

– Points in the paint at the end of the third period: Raptors 54, Heat 24.

– Granted plenty of that was dribble penetration.

– But the Heat are small, and opponents are attacking.

– With no back line of defense.

– Bam Adebayo as on-ball defender? Darn good.

– As rim protector? Not so much.

– Granted, without Jimmy Butler it is unfair to make rash assessments.

– But perhaps something bigger going forward?

– With Butler unable to play due to neck soreness, the Heat inserted Victor Oladipo into the starting mix.

– It was Oladipo’s second start of the season, first since a Dec. 20 home loss to the Bulls.

– Oladipo had been held out of the previous three games due to coach’s decision, as well as four of the previous five for that reason.

– He likely will remain in the rotation Wednesday in New York, with Kyle Lowry expected to be given the night off for knee management.

– The other four starters Tuesday night were Adebayo, Love, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent.

– Vincent was listed as questionable just prior to game time due to back spasms.

– In addition to Butler, also listed as inactive were Nikola Jovic, Orlando Robinson and Jamal Cain, with the latter two playing Tuesday night in the G League playoffs for the Heat affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

– Max Strus was first off the Heat bench, entering for Herro.

– Martin then followed, entering for Love.

– Lowry and Zeller then followed at the top of the second period for nine deep.

– With Duncan Robinson getting a look at the top of the fourth quarter.

– With the appearance, Lowry passed Charles Barkley and Byron Scott for 97th on the NBA all-time regular-season games list.

– Lowry’s first assist moved him past Muggsy Bogues for 24th on the NBA all-time list.

– Lowry’s second steal moved him past Randy Smith and Clifford Robinson for 60th on the NBA all-time list.

– Love’s fifth rebound moved him past Elton Brand for 54th on the NBA all-time list.

– Strus’ first shot was the 1,500th of his career.

– Herro’s fourth 3-pointer tied Goran Dragic for sixth on the Heat all-time list.

– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said games such as Tuesday night’s are about embracing the moment.

– “It’s for competitors only,” he said. “That’s what our focus is right now. You can’t hide from the competition. Nothing is going to be gifted to not only us, but any of the teams right in this [seeding] vicinity.”

– He added, “This is what you want out of this league. Even when it doesn’t necessarily go your way. You want the competition. You want to prove yourself under pressure.”

– With Lowry making another Toronto return, his third since he left the team in 2021 free agency, Spoelstra was asked pregame about their relationship.

– “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with him,” Spoelstra said. “He’s just a super likable, high-quality guy. I got to know him originally coaching in the Africa Games and that’s how we started to develop a relationship.”

– Spoelstra added, “I just feel grateful that we’ve been able to continue that relationship through this beautiful game of basketball.”

– With Miami-Toronto a possible play-in preview, Raptors coach Nick Nurse was asked about the rivalry.

– “What I do know is every game we play them is usually super-intense, super-physical, just very hotly contested, very hard play start to finish,” he said. “Little bit of everything in ‘em: We’ll press, they’ll press; they’ll zone, we’ll zone. We’re really fighting each other out there.”

– He added, “I think that the ability to keep fighting and playing no matter what the score is, is certainly a characteristic of both teams.”