By Peter D. Walker

It was a strange record-setting night indeed, as the Raptors returned from an atrocious western road trip sporting a nasty five game losing streak.

MLSE billed this as a Premium Game which meant higher than normal ticket prices because the Toronto fans could expect to see an elite team with some marquee names. It just didn’t work out that way.

                       

Problem was that the Heat’s lineup looked more like a D-League squad with Shaq having been traded and Wade, Mourning and Haslem sidelined with injuries. Even newly acquired Shawn Marion was not dressed. The Heat played only 7 bodies and not one was a member of their championship team of two years ago.

The strangeness began before the opening tip when Andrea Bargnani came out wearing a Rip Hamilton style face mask to protect his injured nose and a jaw still hurting from a root canal earlier in the day. The mask wasn't all bad, as Andrea responded with a game high 14 points in only 27 minutes where he scored on four emphatic drives to the hoop.

So while the sell-out crowd of 19,800 saw no stars on the Heat side, Toronto’s own superstar Chris Bosh returned after a ten game absence and the result was never in doubt. Miami took a 2-0 lead and that was as good as it got for the Heat.

The end result was a very easy 96-54 Toronto Raptor victory over the Miami Heat that was chock full of records, career highs and franchise lows!

1. Fewest Points Allowed: Miami’s 54 points was the fewest points ever allowed by a Raptor opponent. The previous opposition low was 68, accomplished twice, most recently in the 2002 season opener against Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards.

2. Lowest Point Total In Heat History: Miami's point total was the lowest in their history and tied for the third-lowest mark in NBA history since the league began using a shot clock in the 1954-55 season.

3. Biggest Margin of Victory: The Raptors’ 42-point margin of victory was the biggest ever for Toronto, beating the previous mark of 39 – which most recently occurred last month again versus the Wizards.

4. Biggest Raptor Lead: The Raptors took their biggest lead in franchise history — 43 points — on a basket by Kris Humphries with 1:01 left in the game.

5. Can't Put The Ball In The Ocean: The Heat shot 25.6 percent, lowest in the franchise's 20 seasons, and scored only nine fourth-quarter points. One wonders if they could have hit the ocean from South Beach?

6. Full Moon Career High: Rookie Jamario Moon set a career high with 14 rebounds.

7. Earliest Salami & Cheese: Chuck Swirsky set a remarkable record by opening the fridge door and pulling out the Salami and Cheese with over 4 minutes left in the second quarter. ONIONS BABY ONIONS!

If that wasn't enough, how is this for very strange and unusual? If the Raptors had not scored a single point in the second half they still would have defeated the Heat by four points! So I guess the early Salami & Cheese was appropriate!