Raptors drop pre-season opener 129-105 to Heat in first-ever NBA game in Quebec City

The Toronto Raptors had their six-game winning streak in Quebec snapped with a 129-105 pre-season defeat against the Miami Heat in the first-ever NBA game in Quebec City on Saturday at Centre Vidéotron.

The game, played in front of a sellout crowd of 18,474, was part of the NBA Canada Series which sees a second game in Vancouver on Oct. 10 when the Raptors will meet the Los Angeles Clippers.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic didn’t dress star forward Kawhi Leonard and will not in Vancouver as well. Leonard is still nursing an injury and Rajakovic won’t rush the two-time NBA Finals MVP.

As for the Heat, head coach Erik Spoelstra started star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks. Antetokounmpo scored nine points Saturday night.

Both head coaches had their lone Canadians as starters for the game: R.J. Barrett for Toronto, and Andrew Wiggins for the Heat. 

Barrett and Tyreke Key led the Raptors with 15 points each, while Tim Hardaway Jr. with 14, led the Heat in scoring.

Rajakovic said a lack of experience showed with many of his players competing in their first professional game, but was pleased with some details in the game.

“Defensively, we forced the Heat to 25 turnovers, which was a good job by our team, but in some instances, we lacked discipline when we had to get back on defence,” Rajakovic said.  

He added that the team will need to work on getting more defensive rebounds as Miami grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.

Rajakovic wasn't impressed with the offence.   

“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, and even though we took more three-point shots, we only shot 29 per cent from the three-point line”.

The Raptors will continue their training camp in Toronto this week, before heading to the West Coast next Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2026.

By Luc Lang | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.