THE Toronto Raptors entered the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history by downing the Miami Heat 116-89 in Game 7 Sunday afternoon. The 116 points marked the most the Raptors scored in eight postseason trips and 56 total playoff games.

    All-Star Kyle Lowry had another brilliant performance in the win, notching 35 points, while fellow All-Star and backcourt mate DeMar DeRozan added 28. Though all five Heat starters finished in double digits with guards Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic tying for the team lead with 16, the Heat were kept at arm’s length all game prior to the Raptors opening things up in the second half.

    The No. 2-seeded Raptors won 56 games this season and held the home-court advantage, but Miami became the latest team to steal Game 1 and said advantage at the series’ outset, and the Raptors failed to close the conference semifinals out with a Game 6 defeat Friday evening.

    That loss featured 36 points from Lowry, but it also marked a turnaround performance for the point guard as it came on the heels of 35.5 percent shooting from the floor in the first five games of this series.

    Working mostly from the free-throw line, Lowry scored 16 first half points in Game 7 on just eight shots, with DeRozan joining him with 15 points despite missing 11 of 17 shots. Toronto as a whole knocked in 10 more free throws than Miami over the first two quarters, while maintaining a significant rebounding advantage that would sustain for the rest of the contest: Toronto outre bounded the Heat 50-30.

    Raptors coach Dwane Casey did well to stagger the minutes of DeRozan and Lowry, two players who have battled injuries this spring. DeRozan’s one-on-one play to end the third quarter, with Lowry sitting, allowed Toronto to maintain its lead and not let the fear of a collapse enter into things. Late in a series of possessions DeMar hit several pull-up jumpers in isolation sets to keep the nerves at bay.

    “I just wanted to go out there with a chip on my shoulder,” DeRozan told NBA TV after the game. “We all had to.”

    (SD-Agencies)