Professionals have got to be professionals, as Kyle Lowry told it in Miami on Thursday, and that means having an effect on the game however Raptors coach Nick Nurse lines you up.
OG Anunoby and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson have been the two players most affected by Nurse’s lineup juggling in the past few days.
It was Hollis-Jefferson who got the start in Tuesday’s home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to end 2019, replacing a slumping Anunoby in the starting five. He was widely expected to remain in the starting mix against the red-hot Heat on Thursday night — with Nurse telling reporters at shootaround in Florida and again pre-game that he hoped to combat Miami’s size and strength with some size of his own.