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TORONTO — Well, that’s one way to end the first half of the season.

By virtually assuring that the start of the second half has to be better.

Now 24-17 at the midpoint of their season, Miami Heat took a game seemingly there for the taking and kicked it away Wednesday, on a night they had a franchise-record 35-point halftime deficit on the way to a 121-97 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

“I can’t say I would have predicted that from our prep,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It was an avalanche at the beginning.”

With the Raptors shorthanded as they worked to finalize a trade of Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers, the Heat created their second consecutive disaster of a first half, this time the hole too deep to recreate their comeback of Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets at the start of this two-game trip.

The glass half full? The Heat ended the first half of their season with three victories in their last four games.

The glass half empty? The Heat ended the first half of their season 5-5 in their last 10, the type of mediocrity that lands you in the play-in round.

With what had been league-leading 3-point shooting proving to be something far less, the Heat closed 6 of 28 from beyond the arc, compared to 20 of 38 for the Raptors.

Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo each scored 16 for the Heat.

“We’ve got to find a way to get our pace going,” said point guard Kyle Lowry, with the Heat held below 100 points for the third time in four games.

The Raptors got 28 points from Gary Trent Jr., 26 from RJ Barrett, 20 from Scottie Barnes, and 19 from Immanuel Quickley.

“They got comfortable,” Herro said of the Raptors, “and from there, they got confident.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat trailed 41-18 at the end of the first period and 78-43 at halftime, the largest halftime deficit in the Heat’s 36 seasons.

The silver lining? The record for most first-half opponent points remains 83 by the Bucks in December 2020.

The Heat then trimmed their deficit to 19 in the third quarter, before going into the fourth down 94-73.

From there, the Heat moved within 96-83 with 8:46 to play, but a pair of Raptors 3-pointers then effectively ended it.

“Once we got it to 13, we had a chances,” Spoelstra said. “I just felt we needed to get it to single digits.”

Spoelstra then pulled the plug with his primary rotation players with 2:21 to play and the Heat down 118-92.

“We just didn’t have any of the spirit we’ve shown over the last three games,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat having carried a three-game winning streak into the night.

2. Awful at outset: So you thought Monday night’s first half in Brooklyn was bad, when the Heat were down 45-31 at halftime, a game the Heat opened 0 for 13 on 3-pointers? Think again.

This time the Heat trailed by that 41-18 count at the end of the first period, at 7 of 21 from the field and 1 of 7 on 3-pointers, with just three assists.

The Raptors, by contrast, were 15 of 24 from the field and 7 of 10 on 3-pointers in the period, with 14 assists.

It effectively was 18-18 former Knicks vs. Heat at the end of one, with Quickley with 10 points in the period and Barrett with eight, two players Toronto acquired from New York in last month’s trade for OG Anunoby.

Each of the eight Heat players who saw action in the first quarter was at least minus 11, with Herro and Adebayo minus 23.

“Our starters definitely did not set the tone,” Spoelstra said.

3. Three for all: Perhaps the most telling stat of the first half was the 3-point shooting, with the Raptors outscoring the Heat 42-3 from beyond the arc, with Toronto 14 of 22 and the Heat 1 of 16 in the first 24 minutes.

“We didn’t make them miss.” Butler said.

While Herro had the Heat’s lone 3-point conversion of the first half, he also closed the Heat 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. Lowry and Duncan Robinson both were 0 of 3 on 3-pointers in the first half.

“We couldn’t score,” Lowry said, “and they shot the heck out of the ball.”

Combined with Monday’s struggle in Brooklyn, it left the Heat 1 of 28 in the first halves of the two games.

“That’s very low on my list of priorities,” Spoelstra said of the 3-point shooting. “I thought we got some good clean looks.

“Our game does not need to be dependent on whether we can make 3-pointers or not.”

4. Jovic again: Nikola Jovic made his eighth consecutive start for the Heat, opening for the second consecutive game alongside Adebayo, Herro, Butler and Lowry.

It was a sad day for Jovic, who is friends with the son of Dejan Milojević, the Golden State Warriors assistant and former Serbian national-team coach, who died Wednesday from a heart attack.

There was a pregame moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game, as there was around the league.

Spoelstra offered condolences on behalf of the Heat when he opened his pregame comments.

5. What’s next: The Heat now go from the sobering realities of Wednesday night to Friday night’s retirement of Udonis Haslem’s No. 40 at Kaseya Center. That 8 p.m. start against the Atlanta Hawks will have an extended 25-minute halftime.

CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes’ basketball team has achieved new heights over the previous two seasons, but one accomplishment still eludes them: beating rival Florida State at home.

The Seminoles (11-6, 5-1 ACC) came to the Watsco Center having won five straight games in Coral Gables, and they extended that streak to six with an 84-75 win over Miami (12-5, 3-3 ACC) on Wednesday night.

“It’s like a chess match, and Leonard (Hamilton) got me in checkmate,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said.

The Hurricanes struggled with the Seminoles in the first half, falling behind by 10 points as the first half came to an end.  The deficit got wider early in the second half, as FSU went up 53-37 early in the second period.

“They’re playing really, really well, they pay together,” Miami guard Nijel Pack said. “(Darin) Green came out, made a couple of threes that got them going outside. They got into the paint; we knew that’s what they like to do, and they were able to get there. And then when they missed, they were able to clean it up, as well, so it was kind of clicking for everything for them.”

Miami fought back in the second half, going on an 8-0 run to cut into FSU’s lead and getting within two points of Florida State. But the Seminoles held off the Hurricanes’ advance and held onto their lead.

A Norchad Omier basket put Miami back within two points with five minutes left in the second half, but Florida State once again kept UM at bay.

“Pretty much, that whole first half, I would say we were on our heels, and then we turned into the aggressor,” Pack said. “That’s what changed the game for us.”

The Seminoles, who have won five straight games, dominated Miami in the paint, outscoring UM 52-34. FSU’s size advantage helped it beat Miami 41-35 on the boards, as well.

UM ended the game shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc, below their season averages of 49.2 percent and 40.7 percent, respectively.

“They executed their game plan very well, and we had a very hard time — at both ends of the court — executing our game plan,” Larrañaga said. “Why? Because, defensively, they disrupted us, and offensively, they’re just so tall.”

The Hurricanes also had an uncharacteristically poor night shooting from the free-throw line, making just 58.3 percent of their shots. They entered the game shooting nearly 79 percent on foul shots.

Nijel Pack led the Hurricanes with 19 points, while Omier and Wooga Poplar added 15 each. Omier also racked up 15 rebounds. Matthew Cleveland, facing off against his former team, scored two points.

“I’m going to worry too much about Matthew Cleveland,” Larrañaga said. “He’s having a great season. … I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

The Hurricanes picked up a key addition for their secondary Wednesday night.

Washington starting defensive back Mishael Powell committed to the Hurricanes via the transfer portal, announcing his decision on social media.

Powell started 14 of 15 games for the national runners-up, primarily playing cornerback but also spending time at free safety. He played 477 snaps at slot cornerback, 34 at wide cornerback, 122 at safety and 165 in the box, according to Pro Football Focus.

Powell racked up 38 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions last year, scoring one touchdown. In three seasons at Washington, he had 92 tackles with four tackles for loss.

Pro Football Focus gave Powell a 69 defensive grade with a 73.9 grade in coverage last season.

Powell, who spent five seasons at Washington, likely has one year of eligibility remaining.

Powell is the third defensive back that UM has added through the transfer portal, joining safeties Savion Riley (Vanderbilt) and Isaiah Taylor (Arizona).

#Coast2Coast

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said, marking the fourth time in days it has directly targeted the group in Yemen as violence that ignited in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war continues to spill over in the Middle East.

The strikes were launched from the Red Sea and hit 14 missiles that the command deemed an “imminent threat.” The strikes followed an official announcement Wednesday that the U.S. has put the Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing.

“Forces conducted strikes on 14 Iran-backed Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired in Houthi controlled areas in Yemen,” Central Command said in a statement posted on X late Wednesday. “These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time, prompting U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves.”

Despite the sanctions and military strikes, including a large-scale operation Friday carried out by U.S. and British warships and warplanes that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen, the Houthis are continuing their harassment campaign of commercial and military ships. The latest incident occurred Wednesday when a one-way attack drone was launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen and struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

The U.S. has also strongly warned Iran to cease providing weapons to the Houthis. On Thursday a U.S. raid on a dhow intercepted ballistic missile parts the U.S. said Iran was shipping to Yemen. Two U.S. Navy SEALs remain unaccounted for after one was knocked off the vessel by a wave during the seizure and the second followed the overcome SEAL into the water.

On Wednesday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the U.S. would continue to take military action to prevent further attacks.

“They are exploiting this situation to conduct attacks against the ships and vessels from more than 50 countries … around the world. And so we’re going to continue to work with our partners in the region to prevent those attacks or deter those attacks in the future,” Ryder said.

There have been several incidents since the Friday joint operations. The Houthis fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward a U.S. Navy destroyer over the weekend, but the ship shot it down. The Houthis then struck a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday and a Malta-flagged bulk carrier in the Red Sea on Tuesday. In response Tuesday, the U.S. struck four anti-ship ballistic missiles that were prepared to launch and presented an imminent threat to merchant and U.S. Navy ships in the region.

Hours later, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zografia. The ship was hit, but no one was injured and it continued on its way.

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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.