DeRozan ties playoff career high with 34, Raps a win from advancing
TORONTO - DeMar DeRozan matched a playoff high with 34 points, Kyle Lowry had 25 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heat 99-91 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Bismack Biyombo had 10 points for the Raptors, who can clinch their first conference finals berth with a win in Game 6 in Miami on Friday.
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It was DeRozan's franchise-best 13th 20-point game in the playoffs and his sixth this postseason. He sealed the game by going 4-for-4 on his free throws in the final 21 seconds.
DeRozan + Lowry in #RAPTORSvHEAT G4 loss
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 12, 2016
19p on 6/28 FG's
DeRozan + Lowry in G5 win
59p on 20/47 FG's pic.twitter.com/pdSrveE7XH
DeRozan jammed his sore right thumb while fouling Miami's Tyler Johnson with 8:19 remaining in the fourth.
''It felt like a blowtorch on my hand,'' said DeRozan, who headed to the locker room for treatment but returned four minutes later.
Related: The logic behind DeRozan having a shoelace tied around his thumb
Said coach Dwane Casey: ''We didn't know if we were going to get him back. Luckily he fought through it and came back and knocked down some big free throws.''
Dwyane Wade scored 20 for Miami, Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson each had 13.