Raptors roll past Heat 121-95, an outcome that locks Miami into the play-in tournament

News > Sports News

Miami Heat's Kasparas Jakucionis, right, strips the ball from Toronto Raptors' Ja'kobe Walter (14) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Toronto on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Raptors' Scottie Barnes (4) scores between Miami Heat's Jaime Jaquez Jr., left, and Bam Adebayo, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Toronto on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) — Miami Heat's Kasparas Jakucionis, right, strips the ball from Toronto Raptors' Ja'kobe Walter (14) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Toronto on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Audio By Carbonatix

8:59 PM on Tuesday, April 7

The Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Scottie Barnes scored 25 points, Brandon Ingram finished with 23 and the Toronto Raptors beat Miami 121-95 on Tuesday night, an outcome that locked the Heat into the play-in tournament for a fourth consecutive season.

Jakob Poeltl scored 17 points for the Raptors (44-35), who moved within a game of idle Atlanta for the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. Toronto is aiming for its first playoff trip since 2022 and leads Philadelphia (43-36) by one game in the race for the sixth and final guaranteed berth in the East.

RJ Barrett scored 16 and Jamal Shead had 11 assists off the bench for Toronto.

A 19-2 run by the Raptors in the first half turned a two-point deficit into a 13-point lead, and Toronto maintained the double-digit margin virtually the entire rest of the way.

Andrew Wiggins scored 24 points for Miami (41-38), which now likely needs to win its final three games to have any realistic chance of escaping the No. 10 seed going into the play-in tournament for a second consecutive year.

Tyler Herro and Norman Powell each scored 14 for the Heat. Bam Adebayo — who had an 83-point game for Miami last month against Washington — was held to seven points on 2-for-14 shooting, and the Heat lost for the ninth time in their last 12 games.

Toronto improved to 3-0 against the Heat this season. The Raptors have swept Miami in a season series only twice before — going 4-0 against the Heat in 2007-08 and 2018-19 — and will aim to do so again on Thursday when the teams finish a two-game series in Toronto.

The Raptors improved to 13-4 against Southeast Division teams this season.

Up next

The teams play again Thursday in Toronto.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba