The Miami Heat secured back-to-back wins against the Charlotte Hornets by fighting through a sloppy start and staying in command the rest of the way to a final score of 115-104 on Wednesday Night at the Kaseya Center.
The Heat’s 13 first-half turnovers were the most by the team for any half this NBA season but the Hornets’ inability to take advantage of the home club’s errors kept Miami within striking distance.
Following a close back-and-forth between both Southeast Division teams for most of the first two quarters, a 13-0 Heat spurt built on long jumpers from Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, and Caleb Martin in the final minutes of the second period provided Miami the separation to stay in control of the contest.
Charlotte went on a last hurrah midway through the final period but the Heat, who have struggled in fourth quarters this NBA season, were able to keep them at bay.
Duncan Robinson led the winning team with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting while impressive rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. contributed 17 points, a career-high 8 assists, and 6 boards in 33 minutes off the bench.
Jimmy Butler registered 15 points, a season-high 10 assists, and 6 rebounds in only 29 minutes of action while Kyle Lowry contributed 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting in only 24 minutes. Neither player had to play in the fourth quarter with the supporting cast keeping the Heat’s lead secure, which is an encouraging sign for Miami given that they play the second game of a back-to-back against the visiting Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
The Heat won despite the absence of Tyler Herro (ankle), Bam Adebayo (hip), Haywood Highsmith (back), and Josh Richardson (headache). They are now 14-10 in the standings and remain undefeated in games against Southeast Division teams.
The Heat shot an efficient 47.7% from the field, 15/30 from downtown, and 18/19 from the foul stripe. Their 22 turnovers were a blemish but they recorded 29 assists on 41 made field goals. Miami also won the rebounding battle 47-31, including 17 offensive boards.
They improved to 14-10 and now get ready to play the visiting Chicago Bulls tomorrow night.
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Redoing the past lottery after seeing them play Jaime is well within the top ten.
Interesting article on Duncan. He had to experience the depths of being out of the rotation to realize the secret to his newfound success.
https://heatnation.com/team-news/miami-heat-duncan-robinson-turned-to-sports-psychologists-during-rough-stretch-after-signing-contract-extension/
That was ugly first half except last 2 or 3 minutes.
I m glad for Bryant and Cain. JJJ is most consistent Heat player after Goran.
Fun game. Hornets were missing a couple of their best players, but so were the Heat. A real playoff team should have an easy night, and the Heat had an easy night tonight. A good sign moving forward.
Lowry has been playing really well all season. He doesn’t always score points, but he rarely makes mistakes, and he and K-Love are the Captains of Vibes on this team. Jamie had a sluggish first half but he really picked it up in the second half. The holidays are usually when the rookies start to hit the wall. That said, he is starting to hit that corner-3, and I think his worst case scenario is a 10-year career as an above-average 3-and-D player. Cain was good but he’s still a year away. Glad to see him get some burn tonight, I would love to see him get more minutes, but he’s not going to be a playoff rotation player, at least not this season. Thomas Bryant was great, he’s a classic backup Center. A huge upgrade over Zeller from last season. And J-Rich has been playing well lately, but I really really enjoyed a game without him.
I’d like to repost my comment on Cain looking really good, but not being in the rotation…..
So the point is, Cain got an opportunity and made the most of it. He belongs. But who would you have Spo remove from the rotation?? Everyone else has played well enough to continue. Bam, Butler, Duncan, Herro (soon), Lowry, Martin, Love, Jaquez, Richardson, Highsmith, O Robinson, Bryant. That’s 12. So, the reality is Cain must wait his turn for now.
It’s why I still feel strongly that the Heat need to pull off a 2 or 3 for 1 trade. We have many C (solid rotation player) to B+ (very good 3rd or 4th option player) players. If we could package Herro or Duncan, plus Highsmith plus Jovic, plus one pick, we should get an A level player in return. Then we could also elevate Cain to a full contract.
I agree trades must be made. Timing is everything.
If we make 2:1 or 3:2 trades, we can open up roster spots. The problem is, at this point, who do you trade?
Bam- NO
Butler- NO
Jaquez – NO
Lowry – NO (Expiring contract and still productive/mentor)
Love – NO (Cheap contract and still productive/mentor)
Herro – Maybe (If return is good 2:1, 3:1 or 3:2)
Duncan – Maybe (If return is good 2:1)
Caleb – Maybe (If return is good 2:1)
JRich – Maybe (in 2:1 package)
ORob – Maybe (in 2:1 package)
Highsmith -YES (as filler in 2:1 package)
Bryant – YES (as filler in 2:1 package)
Jovic – YES (as filler in 2:1 package)
Smith – Yes (as filler in 2:1 package)
Examples/Something to chew on:
Duncan, Jovic, Smith, pick for Rozier
Duncan, Smith, pick for Anunoby
Herro, Martin, Jovic, pick for DeRozan, Caruso
Herro, Martin, Smith, pick for Markkanen and Sexton
The Heat should just wait until Bam, Herro and Highsmith are back and see how well Cain, Robinson and Hampton are developing to decide what to do at the trade deadline. Meanwhile, if a “too good to be true” opportunity comes up, Pat should jump on it.
The next 8 weeks before the trade deadline should be very interesting. After the upcoming two Chicago games, the team has a brutal 12 game stretch (from Dec 18 – Jan 12). We should all find out what this year’s team is made of by then.
Meanwhile, keep the faith!
GO HEAT!!!
Excellent post. I agree except I would avoid trading Martin or ORob. Caleb has skillsets that are in short supply on this team. And ORob may have upside. Would love to get Anunoby, but doubt he gets moved. But Rozier or DeRozan would improve us if we made the trade with Duncan or Tyler being our centerpiece going out, giving up less for Rozier. We are going to see a lot of DeRozan starting today, get to see just how good he is and how much he would help us.
I like Caleb. But his situation is like Strus last year. He’s looking to get paid next year. At 6’5″ he’s more a SG/SF than a PF. We already have Butler, Jaquez, Cain (SF), and Herro, Duncan, JRich (SG), for those spots.
He’s playing PF because Highsmith is out and Spo doesn’t trust anyone else in that spot (unless you pair Love with Bam or ORob with Bam). If Caleb could be part of a trade for a starting PF, I would go for it, especially if we can get a PG too. See Markkanen/Sexton scenario above.
Sexton, Robinson, Butler, Markkenan, Bam
Lowry, Richardson, Jaquez, Love, ORob
Hampton, Cain, Highsmith, Jovic, Bryant
Works for me.
Team gms, owners are cautious of Riles and the Heat. I bet they’re thinking if Miami can go to the finals with a “rag tag” personnel, what can they accomplish with an additional A level guy? Maybe not 2, not 3…we know the drill, hehe. With Dunc improving well Id hate to see him go but the team comes first.
Yup. You know I’m a Herro and Duncan fan and I am not advocating for either to be traded. But if the right deal comes along, like SunMan’s proposals, and it makes the team better, then you do it. The great thing about our depth is it has created real trade chips that can be combined to work with a non contending team like the Jazz or Bulls.
Question is, what teams like Bulls, Hornets, Wizards, Detroit, Utah, Portland, Memphis, SA has to trade for.
In my opinion, the following players could be available, probably not too expensive and should be considered:
-Derosan
-Hayward
-Bogdanovic
-Brogdon
-Smart
Smart would be an excellent pick up
Smart isn’t the player he was. Poor 3 point shooter. Makes same $ as Duncan. I would pass.
http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2990992/marcus-smart
On Jimmy and Kyle…”Neither player had to play in the fourth quarter with the supporting cast keeping the Heat’s lead secure…” More of these kinds of wins pls so the vets will be ready come playoffs.
Regarding Bam I think they’re going to activate him by Wolves game and Tyler by January. Go Heat!