What a special night that took place in South Beach tonight. The Miami Heat picked up the big time 142-132 win over the Indiana Pacers, improving to 11-8 on the season and snapping their 3 game losing skid.
#HEATWin final – Miami 142, Indiana 132
🔥 Butler: 36pts, 10rebs & 3asts
🔥 Jaquez Jr.: 24pts & 5rebs
🔥 Richardson: 19pts, 4rebs & 3asts
🔥 Robinson: 16pts (4 3s)
🔥 Lowry: 15pts (3 3s), 3rebs. & 4asts
🔥 Martin: 14pts, 5rebs & 3asts pic.twitter.com/TrlquQisGV— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 1, 2023
This game was crazy in so many different aspects. The Pacers, led by superstar Tyrese Haliburton came out swinging offensively. They lead the league in most points scored as a team per game, and they had that offensive dominance on full display from the very beginning.
This was a serious performance from the Miami Heat tonight🔥💯
Bam leaves the game early, down double digits most of the night… just to take over as a team and click on all cylinders in this 4th quarter
HEAT NATION WE BACK
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) December 1, 2023
Indiana jumped to an early double digit lead and kept that lead pretty much the entire night. Bam Adebayo went back to the locker room before halftime with his ongoing hip pain and did not return. Even though this has been a lingering injury for Adebayo all season, it still doesn’t seem like it is major.
Spo provides an injury update on Bam, saying he took it upon himself to tell the All-Star big man to sit out the 2nd half and the hip injury, thankfully, isn’t something serious. pic.twitter.com/i4XPtae3iJ
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) December 1, 2023
However, Jimmy Butler put the team on his back and lead his Heat squad to this resilient victory. It all really started with his dominance after halftime where the superstar started to take over and heat up, literally and figuratively.
It was all Jimmy in Q3 to swing momentum our way.
He led us tonight with 36 points, tying his season high. pic.twitter.com/WwaKyRmCsL
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 1, 2023
Butler led all Miami Heat scorers with 36 points and 10 rebounds on 50% shooting and an extremely impressive 18/20 from the free-throw line. When Butler is being aggressive and drawing fouls like that, it brings Miami to another level.
The JIMVP is the only player this season across the league with 36+ points, 10+ rebounds and 20 free throw attempts in a single game (via HeatMuse).
Come 4th quarter, where the real action went down, it was the Butler and Jaime Jaquez Jr. show. This talented rookie put up 24 points and 5 rebounds on 8/13 shooting and 7/7 from the line. Jaquez Jr. just keeps proving night in and night out that he is the real deal.
A new career-high 24 points with 14 in the 4th? Sheeeesh @jaquez_jr 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/5RgENee5Pc
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 1, 2023
The last 5 games, he is averaging 18.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.0 STL on absolutely absurd shooting efficiency numbers; 56.3% FG, 47.1% 3P and 93% FT.
Miami stormed back from being down double digits all night, to winning by double digits after a strong 4th quarter performance. Very encouraging sign, as the Heat have struggled to close out games recently.
It was Butler and Jaquez Jr. who stole this show, however, this was a complete team effort tonight.
6 players scored in the double digits. Kyle Lowry continues his strong stretch as of late, Duncan Robinson is splashing big 3-pointers as if it’s 2020 again, Caleb Martin is finally in his 2023 ECF groove offensively, and Josh Richardson is now acclimated and back into a consistent rhythm shooting the ball.
J-Rich brought the energy off the bench along with 19 points 👌 pic.twitter.com/9kIzqu1TY8
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 1, 2023
This game just gave so many positives across the board for Heat Nation.
After coming out scorching offensively, the Pacers wound up having a lower field goal percentage for the full game compared to the Heat. Miami shot the ball at 56% compared to Indiana’s 51%.
The Heat also shot 38% from 3 compared to the Pacer’s 26% and 84% from the charity stripe compared to their underwhelming 66%.
With a team in Indiana that has an All-Star caliber big man in Myles Turner and Adebayo leaving the game early, the Heat won the rebounding battle 47-34.
66 total bench points from the Heat as their team depth continues to shine this season.
The Heat get an opportunity to get another win streak going with a back-to-back matchup against the Pacers in Miami again Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET.
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Just saying again…”Heat did it with Lowry missing some of 3rd qtr and all of 4th qtr, again proving that the Heat does not need another pg to compete with the best”…not to mention that Bam and oh yeah , Herro were missing.
All Heat needs is making the necessary in game adjustment timely. Last night, in the late 3 rd qtr and whole of 4th qtr, Heat adjusted to Pacers’ fast tempo offense. All those open 3s, the Pacers had in the 1st half that their shooters got by getting to their spots sooner, all went away in late 2nd half. As the Heat defenders matched their speed, those 3s got contested and were no longer falling. Haliburto who blew past his defenders on drives to the paint before the half no longer could, as the help defense was quicker to get to him. His 3s were contested and he was forced to take 3s from longer range. On the flip side, Heat offense sped up, moved the ball around quicker and was able to find players under the basket before Pacers defense was set. Pacers were forced into fouling as they tried to defend. This is what I call brilliant adjustment by the Heat. The best I had seen recently. Wished they were quick to adjust to the Knicks 2nd half come back, when the Knicks stopped going throughRandal for their offense in the 2nd half.
Great late 2nd half adjustment by Spo, the coaching crew and players.
Go Heat, Go!
If this Heat team can get itself fully healthy, the sky is the limit in my opinion.
Great win!
Let’s Go Heat!
It’s great having JRich back on our team. JJJ plays like a vet for the most part. Duncan is untradeable. Amazing how KLove gets the pass into Jimmy. Kyle is a different man from last season. Bam is a MFing beast! Caleb is a low key all star. This team is just… Wow!
That first half, we looked so slow. We were getting cooked! Kudos to the team for being able to keep it within ten points, because it could have easily been a blowout. That second half was a totally different story. This game was probably my most satisfying to watch, so far. I love come from behind victories.
JRich and Jaquez seem to work very well together on the second unit. If you have Herro, and a seasoned Jovic and ORobinson join them later on during the season, they will be able to do a lot of damage against opponents’ second units.
Someone mentioned how they thought the Pacer’s gm/management has done a good job putting that team together. How can you say that without mentioning the job Riley, Andy & co have done? The Haliburton trade has worked out great for them. But last night, of the Pacer players who played, 7 were first round picks and 2 were second. And some of them were top 10. Not counting Love and Lowry, the Heat played 3 first round picks and 2 second rounders, and none picked higher than 14! Kudos to our management team!
Preach it! Love our own! Go Heat!
Good call. Bam, Tyler, and Jamie all drated in the teens. Jovic and J-Rich drafted in the 20s and 30s. Throw in the Skyforce guys (Duncan, Highsmith, O-Rob, Cain, and Dru) and that’s a playoff team. Throw in Jimmy Butler and two vets with championship rings, and that’s a team that can win the East (again)
What an amazing second half and one hellacious 4th quarter by the ROY, JJJ. So great to pull this win out with Bam out. Hope he can finally get that hip issue straightened out.
Crap Bam went down with hopefully a minor injury but otherwise a great game, an excellent win with resiliency and very good adjustments from Spo and everyone. Jimmy showing playoff form so we need to stack wins and have him rested by regular season’s end. Almost 20 games but still hard to analyze this team. We haven’t beaten teams above us in the standings both east and west. But the Heat are trending upward. Let’s get another win at Pacers expense. Again.
Great all around game. Jimmy and Jaquez grabbed the bull by the horns in the third and fourth quarters. Jaquez is better than Jimmy was at his age. I can only imagine what his ceiling will be once he gets his sea legs. With Bam, Jimmy, Jaquez, Herro, Caleb, Duncan, JRich you have a very good core. Just need a trade (or two) to create a championship contender.
GO HEAT!!!
That’s how I see it also. A little more help to make Jimmy a champion. JJJ is the big surprise. It’s really fun to watch a rookie emerge as it doesn’t often happen.
I believe Jovic can be part of that future core if Spo gives him a chance to start next to Bam.
Their games seem to compliment each other really well.
Remember how good KO and Bam looked playing next to each other?
Well Jovic’s size and play style is similar to KO’s and I really believe him and Bam would thrive playing next to one another.
On another topic, I don’t know what the fk Spo sees in Bryant.
There’s no way that dude should be starting ahead of ORob when Bam is out.
He has more experience than O but that’s all.
O is the much better all-around player
What are those pacers eating. They were running circles around Miami for 3 qt. Then Heat happened.
Haliburton is an unreal player.
I think Haliburton been eating halibut.
He said, what the hell I’ll eat some for the… “halibut”
If Jamie the Hawk can be the second scorer next to Jimmy in the 4th quarter, he will officially be the second best rookie in Heat history
For context:
The Heat have only had 4 top-8 picks in their history. Glen Rice, Steve Smith, Dwayne Wade, and Michael Beasley. They’ve also drafted 5 all-stars in their history. Glen Rice, Steve Smith, Dwayne Wade, Caron Butler, and Bam Adabayo.
All that said, Miami has drafted three times in the teens in the past six years: Bam Adabayo, Tyler Herro, and Jamie Jaquez Jr. They’ve drafted twice in the twenties, Precious Achuwa and Nicola Jovic.
The point is, the Heat never had high draft picks, but have usually succeeded when they draft good players. In the past decade or so, they’ve gotten much better at drafting in the middle of the first round and developing those players.
Short story long, Jamie Jaquez Jr has the potential to be an all-star, and there is no reason to believe otherwise.
Agree, Bam, Herro, JJJ have been consecutive good picks since they moved away from looking only at defense ready picks to looking at players with both defense and offense ready potentials. I will attribute that to Spo having a more flexible mindset with experience.
They call him Juan wick for a reason lol
Awesome win!… man I tell you them pacers are no joke, especially Haliburton sheesh. Miami is so resilient, coming back from that deficit without bam, this team loaded with depth. Everyone played well, but the star’s of the game was Jimmy buckets and JJJ. Jimmy was unreal tonight, practically living at the ft line, was gassed, and still killing them. JJJ IS UNBELIEVABLE, his spark really helped us out in a big way, team’s are surely kicking themselves for not drafting him. ROY might be wemby or chet, but idc JJJ telling them not so fast…I’m here too and more clutch then them. Miami heat jrich Is back and better, been playing great the last 5 or 6 games. He was part of the big 3 tonight, and was a menace on D. Duncan was good came through with big shots in pivotal moments, Martin was solid, klove passing is still elite, and Lowry played good too. Lastly get well soon bam.
All the players you mentioned, have been making big contributors lately. I just want to applaud one in particular, JRich, who has given us more than I ever expected.
As previously noted, I think he’s playing as well or better than I’ve ever seen him.
Jrich is looking like a great free agent signing, he makes are bench better, and can start In a pinch. All he had to do was get his rhythm back. His passing is getting better too.
This is what I call brilliant in game adjustment by the Heat.
1.Played a fast tempo offense from last few minutes of 3rd qtr and whole of 4th qtr to match the Pacers.
2.Make a Pacer not named Halliburton beat you.
3.Heat did it with Lowry missing some of 3rd qtr and all of 4th qtr, again proving that the Heat does not need another pg to compete with the best.
4.Rememebr that the Pacers are the highest scoring team in the NBA this season but with average defense.Tonight against the Heat their defense was suffocating yet the Heat found a way.
5.As I have always said all season, when the bench plays to its full potential, the Heat comes away with a win. As the bench goes, so goes the Heat.
This is where JRich has helped so much, along with Caleb and even JJJ, so much so that we didn’t really need Lowry in the fourth, as we completed the comeback.
Reason why I keep repeating it, “as the bench goes, so goes the Heat”