The Miami Heat were able to hold off the Houston Rockets at home, beating them 120-113 and improving to 21-15 on the season. The win catapulted Miami from the 8th to 5th seed in the Eastern Conference.
#HEATWin final – Miami 120, Houston 113
🔥 Herro: 28pts (5 3s), 3rebs & 3asts
🔥 Adebayo: 22pts, 12rebs & 3asts
🔥 Love: 15pts, 7rebs & 4asts
🔥 Jaquez Jr.: 14pts, 4rebs & 4asts
🔥 Richardson: 12pts pic.twitter.com/URIoAt17x3— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 9, 2024
After finally playing back in South Beach after a 2-3 West Coast trip, Miami picked up another encouraging win without Jimmy Butler.
These games without Butler have been giving room for opportunity across the entire roster. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo get a glimpse of what the future could look like with them two leading the way fully.
In the win tonight:
Herro — Bam —
28 PTS 22 PTS
3 REB 12 REB
3 AST 3 AST
10-20 FG 9-12 FG
5 3PM +14Dynamic 🔥 pic.twitter.com/voOx8knIKJ
— HeatMuse (@Heat_Muse) January 9, 2024
Herro was in a minor shooting slump during that road trip, but recovered with a 50% shooting night to go along with a team high 28 points.
With Adebayo being in foul trouble throughout the game, the star big man was still able to finish with a 22/12 double double on outstanding efficiency. He went 9/12 from the field and was a team high +12 on the court.
Regardless of the performances from the Heat core of Butler, Adebayo and Herro, getting wins sometimes falls by how the supporting cast plays.
Tonight, the Heat got a huge boost in that department.
Kevin Love, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson and Josh Richardson combined for 55 points.
Robinson also had a career high 7 assists.
The Heat had a big 44 points from the bench across the 4 man bench rotation of Love, Richardson, Robinson and Haywood Highsmith.
Love has been huge for Miami all season and continues his recent dominance. Besides his 15 points, he added 7 rebounds and 4 assists in just 23 minutes.
K-Love has been tearing it up in his role for Miami🔥 https://t.co/KXE1nYqINh
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) January 9, 2024
He is such a perfect veteran role player to have on a contending team. K-Love does so much in such limited minutes, and truly plays so solid for the role he has been given for this team at 35 years old.
With Coach Spoelstra opting to use Love in spurts rather than starters minutes, it allows the big man to stay fresh and be available night in and night out.
This has been such an impressive run for the former NBA Champion and NBA All-Star. He has proved that even at an older age and lots of mileage under his belt, he can still very much be an asset to have with his savy skillset and leadership both on and off the court.
Kevin Love’s been balling in his last 15 games for the Heat:
12.5 PPG
7.3 RPG
2.8 APG
50% FG
37% 3PT
74% FT
+51 in 20.6 MPG pic.twitter.com/liPQmHXlNF— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) January 9, 2024
Even without scoring much and struggling with shooting efficiency, sophomore Nikola Jovic had his imprints all over this game.
Jovic had just 6 points but also tallied 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
It is a super encouraging sign to see the youngster be able to affect a team win in other ways even when his shot isn’t falling.
As a team, Miami shot 50% from the field and 42% from deep.
They also had 30 assists compared to the Rocket’s 20.
Unfortunately, Kyle Lowry did exit the game early tonight with what seems to be a sprained hand injury. His status should be day to day and expected to miss a couple games at the very least.
It’s a sprained left hand for Kyle Lowry. He never re-entered the game after hurting his hand in the third quarter, but he was on the Heat’s bench.
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) January 9, 2024
The Heat will look to build on this win and get another streak going Wednesday night with the OKC Thunder coming to town.
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With a combination of playing time in Sioux Falls and Miami, I believe Jovic, ORob, Hampton and possibly Swider and Alondres Williams could see playing time in the 2023-2024 playoffs. One or more of the latter three could conceivably be available if slots open up as a result of trades or buyouts.
rj no way jovic orob like them
quality win.
I believe Jovic played the best game in heat uniform, despite low scoring numbers.
once jim and caleb back bye bye niko for now
Not necessarilly. This is his opportunity to elevate his game, especially on the defensive end. I see him taking some of Highsmith’s minutes if he can continue to play solid team defense (especially against taller teams). His offensive game is a work in progress.
Not that long ago, I thought Jovic should be part of any trade for a PG. I’m having second thoughts about that now. He is only 20 years old and has a ton of potential. Just look at Houston’s center (Sengun). He is 22 and in his third year. He had 22 and 11 last night. He’s averaging 21.5 ppg and 9 rpg per game this season. I think Jovic has similar potential, perhaps more as a PF or SF than a C.
I can see a young PG, maybe Hampton, Herro, Jaquez, Jovic and Bam as regulars in the Heat rotation in the not-too-distant future.
P.S. Alondres “Man-Man” Williams Height:6-5 Weight:210
2021-22 Season (Wake Forest): Averaged 18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists en route to earning First Team All-ACC recognition and becoming the first Demon Deacon to win the ACC Player of the Year award since Josh Howard (2002-03).
We will see. If everybody are healthy, he can play positions PF/C, where we have Bryant, Butler, Highsmith, Jaime, Bam, Love, Martin, Robinson.
Bam and Butler will play 35 minutes no matter what.
Bryant and Robinson are centers would replace Bam or Love in case of a need.
So there is about 70 or 80 minutes a game available for Jaime, Martin, Highsmith and Jovic, in that order.
When everybody are healthy, he wont see much minutes. Maybe as small ball center, or when bigger or stronger player then Highsmith would be needed.
But in case of injury and in the right machup, he can play heavy minutes.
That’s why I mentioned he may be valuable during the playoffs. Otherwise, I see him as a 1-2 year project.
I would say his best game in terms of doing the small things, but his D is definitely improving. He can stay in front of his man better, and help D is getting better as well. His passing and handling is already better the HH, and Cain. He had good bounce pass to jaquez. Not to mention he’s the 3rd or 4th best rebounder on the team, when he gets decent minutes.
Give Jovic credit, he was better than Sengun tonight, and that dude is supposed to be an all-star Center in the West. The extra playing time over the past few weeks made him more comfortable out there, he’s passing better and rebounding more aggressively. I expect him to fall out of the playoff rotation, but his potential is unmistakable, he’s a great player.
I’m going to say something that may sound like an exaggeration, but I was thinking about it all game, and it’s almost certainly true.
I think this team passes the ball better than any team in Heat history.
First of all, you have two veterans that are elite passers, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love. Jamie and Jovic are rookies that are also elite passers. Bam’s dribble handoffs almost always create open-threes. Tyler is learning to create for his teammates off the dribble. Even Dunc is starting to throw lobs.
The only real competition is the Heatles. That team could move the ball. Especially in that 3rd year, when they went on the winning streak between back-to-back titles. That team did everything well, and when they were humming they were a joy to watch.
Other than that, the 90’s teams with Zo and Tim Hardaway were a lot of smash mouth basketball. The Eddie Jones teams ran a lot of pick and roll, and so did D-Wade. The best passing team of the 00’s was probably Shaq spraying the ball out of the post, but that doesn’t compare to this. We already mentioned the Heatles, and I don’t need to tell you that the team with Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside was not one of the best passing teams in Heat history.
So yeah, I’ve been happy with the ‘ball movement’, but I think I’ve been underselling it. This team passes the ball better than any other team in Miami Heat history. Another reason I don’t think they’re going to move any rotation players before the trade deadline.
maybe but ball has to go thru net.when u dont have a super star or 2 thats prob why
Five way tie for 4th place in the east at 21-15 (Heat, Magic, Knicks, Pacers and Cavs). Lowry will be out with a wrist sprain (unknown severity). Commonly, a grade 1 sprain can take one to three weeks for recovery, a grade 2 can take three to six weeks, and a grade 3 recovery can last several months. The trade deadline is one month away. Riley needs to find a trade partner before then for a PG. The most likely trade assets are Lowry and a pick. It will be interesting to see what develops. Meanwhile, I guess it will be PG by committee. NOTE: R.J. Hampton is out due to an unspecified illness.
Oh well. Next man up! OKC next!
GO HEAT!
Yes, this could force Riley’s hand.,if he does trade for a PG, we may never know if he was going to anyway. To me, and others, Lowry’s injury may be, not a blessing in disguise, but a good thing to incentivize shoring up that position. I am hopeful this could end up helping us, maybe even be an important step in how we do this year.