Three heroes and Terrence Ross

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will deservedly garner all the headlines after combining for 59 points in Game 5, but don’t sleep on Bismack Biyombo.

Bismack Biyombo is both the drummer and the drum itself. He sets the tone with their intensity on defense, he never complains, and he’s always there to big up his troops.

Biyombo will always be heard from, and we definitely heard him loud and clear tonight. He made sure of it.

It was Biyombo who brought the Air Canada Centre to its feet with the most breathtaking sequence of the night. After throwing down a massive putback jam, Biyombo followed with a spine-tingling block of Dwyane Wade, wagged the finger at the fallen future Hall-of-Famer who cried in vain for a foul (it wasn’t a foul), before racing up the court for yet another dunk.

That put the Raptors up 53–34. The ACC went wild. Jurassic Park lost its mind.

If for nothing else, that play stood out for this reason: It showed everyone that Wade was mortal, and that Biyombo wasn’t afraid.

Maybe the spiritual aspect of it only applies for fans, but if we’re being fully honest, no matter how old he is, Wade still terrifies us. He’s been amazing in the playoffs and he’s a killer in the clutch. I wouldn’t blame the players for being afraid, either.

But Biyombo wasn’t shook. He never is. He made that clear from Game 5 of the season when he stood toe-to-toe with Russell Westbroook, then iterated after the game that he wasn’t going to get punked. Look, the Raptors get punked a lot, so to have someone stand up for the team, that was huge. He’s kept that mentality all year, and I truly believe it’s made the team mentally tougher.

Wade was a 34-year-old trying to dunk from the dotted line against one of the best shot blockers in the league and he got his ass handed to him. Not only that, Biyombo had the gall to wag the finger. Wade wasn’t going to punk the Raptors, not that time. Not on Biyombo’s watch.

Nobody is going to punk Biyombo

Or maybe that’s all bogus. Then let’s just focus on the tangibles.

Biyombo was incredible on defense. He had four blocks and two steals, he contested a game-high 15 shots and the Heat only scored on six of their baskets that he challenged.

As a team Miami made just 45.4 percent from inside the restricted area. But that doesn’t even tell the whole story — Heat players were afraid to drive to the basket when they knew Biyombo was lurking.

After having his shot blocked, Wade looked like an awkward teenager trying to sneak into a club with a fake ID — he had to gather his courage before inevitably getting bounced by Biyombo.

Whenever the Heat tried to gain penetration coming off high screens from their slashing guards, or when the likes of Luol Deng, Joe Johnson, and Wade tried to bully their way in the post, they would find themselves engulfed by the 7-foot-6 wingspan of Biyombo, who broke up everything down low.

That had trickle-down effects. With the confidence that Biyombo would cover, the Raptors’ guards got into their assignments to forced a handful of turnovers that built their massive lead.

Having watched his team fall apart after an untimely substitution in Game 4, Dwane Casey even had the confidence to leave Biyombo on the court when Miami went small. And to Biyombo’s credit, he was just fine. He read the scouting report, understood that he could leave Justise Winslow and Josh McRoberts (combined 0–3 from deep) open for jumpers to double drivers, and helped the Raptors secure key rebounds down the stretch.

Most importantly, Biyombo was able to sustain his energy for 38 minutes — an impressive feat for a bench player that mostly watched Games 1–3 from the sidelines. Just as he did during the regular season, Biyombo has stepped up in the wake of Jonas Valanciunas’ ankle injury, and he’s given the Raptors a bedrock of defense to rely on.

Good luck getting around this dude’s screens

The knock against Biyombo will focus around his shortcomings on offense. He can’t shoot. He can barely catch the ball. He makes things very difficult.

There’s ways to make Biyombo useful — it’s just damn hard — but Casey played it smart. He leveraged Biyombo’s incredible screening ability to generate offense for his guards.

Some of it was basic stuff, like when Biyombo flattened Dragic to pop Lowry open for a three. Other times Casey had to get more creative. He had Biyombo set a screen for DeRozan at the high-elbow area for a pick-and-roll that negated the defenders’ ability to sag, while also getting DeRozan open for his bread-and-butter in the middle of the floor.

Biyombo had eight screen assists (baskets made after a screen) in Game 5. That’s twice as many as the Heat had as a team. He also chipped in with three offensive rebounds (two for putbacks), and threw in two tough layups for 10 points on 4–5 shooting.

Again, nobody would confuse Biyombo for a talented offensive player. But he truly morphs into a dominant force when he can create extra possessions, catch lobs, and get his guards open with screens. He did that tonight.

Keeping them focused

Again, the story of the Game 5 isn’t Biyombo. If Lowry and DeRozan didn’t have throwback performances, nobody would care about all the little things Biyombo did.

But I still can’t get away from how the team rallied around him.

Aside from the Wade block, the moment that stuck in my mind was Biyombo’s halftime interview. The Raptors had just conceded an ugly 10–0 run to end the second quarter which totally took the wind out of their sails.

Before he stepped to the microphone, Biyombo unleashed a primal yell, a thunderous roar of frustration. He knew the Raptors had relapsed into their silly habit of taking their foot off the pedal, and he wasn’t happy about it.

Biyombo was sharp and direct during the interview. By all accounts the Raptors had a fantastic start to the game, but all Biyombo talked about was focus and intensity as if they trailed by 30. He had just witnessed how a slight let-up could lead to a giant unraveling, and he wanted to nip it in the bud.

Beyond the defense, beyond the rebounding, it’s mental toughness that Biyombo has brought to this team. To be centered by a player as fearless, as focused, and as selfless as Biyombo — that transcends the boxscore.

The Raptors came out of halftime with a renewed focus. They took Miami’s best punch and pushed the lead back to 13, before closing it out to snag a Game 5 victory.