Raptors fall 129-105 to Heat in first-ever NBA game in Quebec City

The NBA played its first-ever game in Quebec City on Saturday night, and the hometown-adjacent Toronto Raptors came away with a 129-105 loss to the Miami Heat before a sellout crowd of 18,474 at Centre Vidéotron.

The exhibition contest, part of the NBA Canada Games 2026 presented by Bell, made Quebec City the seventh Canadian city to host an NBA game. "This year's Canada Games will mark an exciting new chapter as we welcome the Heat and Raptors to Quebec City," said Arnon de Mello, the NBA's managing director for Canada and Latin America.

RJ Barrett and Tyreke Key each scored 15 points to lead Toronto, which shot just 29 percent from three-point range and committed costly turnovers down the stretch. Tim Hardaway Jr. paced Miami with 14 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 9 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists in a limited preseason workload, according to a Globe and Mail account of the game.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic pointed to defensive pressure as a bright spot, noting his team forced 25 Heat turnovers, but said the offense let Toronto down. "We didn't shoot the ball well tonight, and even though we took more three-point shots, we only shot 29 percent from the three-point line," he said, in remarks carried by TSN.

Star forward Kawhi Leonard did not play as the team continues to manage a lingering injury, and he is expected to sit out again when the Raptors travel to Vancouver on October 10 for the second leg of the Canada Games, a preseason matchup against the LA Clippers. The result has no bearing on the regular season, which opens later this month, but it offered an early look at both rosters and underscored the league's continued push to grow the game in Canadian markets beyond Toronto.