The Miami Heat lost a heartbreaker on Wednesday night versus the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors, and Dwyane Wade has put some of the blame for that loss on himself.
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“We should have won this game tonight,” Wade said following the game.
He missed several opportunities to put the ball through the hoop as the seconds wound down. He missed a heavily guarded jumper and a tip-in on the same possession.
What hurt the most, however, was the mistake Wade made on the other side of the basket seconds before. A Justise Winslow layup had put the Heat up, 104-103. That lead didn’t last for long, however, as Danny Green hit a 3-point shot with 22.7 seconds left in the game to give the Raptors a 106-104 lead.
Green was wide open, and Wade was the Heat player that should have been guarding him.
“That was on me,” he said of the defensive mistake that left Green open.
Considering how close the Heat were to winning this one, it might be the toughest loss of the 2018-19 season so far. Not only did Miami lead by double digits for much of the night, it also missed out on the chance of extending a season-best six-game winning streak.
The good news is that even in defeat, Wednesday night’s game proved how far Miami has come in the last 30 days. The previous matchup against the Raptors took place on Nov. 25, and Miami lost that game, 125-115.
Wade and company will now have to wait until March to try to exact revenge and get their first win of the season versus the Raptors.
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