Marco Belinelli had a solid road trip for the Toronto Raptors coming off the bench. (Steve C. Wilson/Associated Press)The Toronto Raptors return to the friendly environs of the Air Canada Centre on Friday to take on the Miami Heat.
Toronto (5-7) comes in having lost the last three games of a four-game road trip. They've been much more capable at ACC, going 3-1.
They'll play the second of a three-game homestand Sunday against Orlando (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 12:30 p.m. ET).
Toronto finished the trip with a 113-91 loss in Utah. The Raptors were solid for much of the game, but starting and finishing poorly won't result in too many NBA wins.
In the last seven games, the Raptors have scored more points in the second half than the first just once.
Chris Bosh scored 32 points and pulled down a season-high 17 rebounds against the Jazz. He is now second in the NBA with an average of 12.3 rebounds.
Guard Marco Belinelli had 19 points, raising his point average for the trip to 15.2.
A couple of Raptors will look to bounce back on Friday. Forward Andrea Bargnani had a double-double on Wednesday, it's true, but also just 22 points over the last two games, down from his standard so far this season.
Jose Calderon had his worst outing of the season, shooting just 29 per cent and committing a couple of turnovers.
Antoine Wright will be a game-time decision after missing two of the last three games.
Toronto is in the bottom half of the league in rebounding and will face a Heat team that is in the top 5 in limiting opposition rebounds.
Miami (7-4) got off to a torrid start but lost the last two games by double-digit margins.
As Dwyane Wade goes, so do the Heat. Wade has converted just 20 of 54 attempts over the last three games (37 per cent), dropping his average to a still potent 27.6 points per game.
The guard committed 10 turnovers in the two losses, putting him tied for eighth in the NBA in that undesirable category.
Wade scored 42 points in his last trip to Toronto as the Heat beat the Raptors 108-102 on March 6. The Raptors had won the previous seven games against Miami.
The Heat trailed Atlanta by 17 at the half on Wednesday, rallied in the third to make it close, but ultimately fell 105-90. Michael Beasley led Miami with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Miami are dealing with injuries up front, too. Udonis Haslem sat out the Atlanta game while Quentin Richardson left early.

