For the first time in nearly two-and-a-half weeks, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier suited up and had arguably his best performance of his Heat tenure against the lowly Portland Trail Blazers.
Rozier scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting–including 2-of-4 from 3-point range–across 30 minutes en route to the Heat’s 106-96 win. Though he canned four of his final five attempts, scoring 11 points in the second half and seven in the fourth quarter. That all came in addition to four rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocks.
Even though he’s been with the Heat for a little over a month, Rozier had great words to say about the infamous #HEATCulture™ after Tuesday’s win.
“Heat culture, there’s nothing like it,” he told Eric Reid and John Crotty after the game. “I think everybody can say that. I’ve been ready to get over here (with the Heat) for a while and I’m glad it finally happened.”
“Man, #HEATCulture… There’s nothing like it.” 😈
🎙Terry Rozier pic.twitter.com/K8MAZcdAz0
— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) February 28, 2024
Rozier, who was acquired in late January from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Kyle Lowry, suffered a knee scare on Feb. 11 against the Boston Celtics. Fortunately enough, he avoided a major knee injury, but missed the team’s following four games broken up by the All-Star break.
As a team, the Heat have missed 203 games due to injury, the third-most in the NBA, trailing only the Blazers (208) and Memphis Grizzlies (328). The Heat have by far amongst the top-6 in both conference, with the next-highest being the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, who have 152 games missed due to injury apiece.
“I’ve been anxious since the All-Star break to get back with these guys,” Rozier said. “Everybody played hard, so you definitely want to be a part of that. I’m finally back healthy and I’m glad we got this win tonight.
“It was no vacation for me … these guys do a great job, the medical staff do a great job. They got me back right. Hopefully, we can stay healthy for the rest of the season.”
Through 11 games, he’s averaging 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 0.8 steals, even though he’s only shooting 37.3 percent from the floor with a 47.1 true-shooting percentage. Though over his last five, Rozier’s posted 16.0 points on 43.2 percent shooting and 50.7 percent true shooting.
“Just understanding going from losing to winning,” he said regarding his biggest challenge was when getting acclimated with Miami. “Whatever you got to do to get over that hump, I’m all for it. If I gotta play in the dunker (spot) every night, if I gotta set screens, I’m all about winning.
“I think that’s why they brought me here. I’m happy to be apart of it.”
Terry Rozier: “Heat Culture, there’s nothing like it.”
Rozier returns from injury and helps lead Miami to the win last night with 19/4/4 on 50% shooting
Having a PG of his caliber added to what was already an NBA Finals team moves the needle. Rozier may not be a superstar tier… pic.twitter.com/G2NjHNProQ
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) February 28, 2024
I understand it was his first game back from injury & that he’s wanted to play within the flow of the offense.
But part of what makes Terry Rozier, well, Terry Rozier, is his (self) creation ability & capitalizing out of it.
Stay aggressive, Terry!! #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/E8Hx65KFvy
— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) February 28, 2024
The Miami Heat have won five straight, seven of their last eight and nine of their last 11. They’ve sported the NBA’s second-best defense in the month of February, which has helped them leap the Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers to the No. 5 in a tight Eastern Conference. Miami will close their six-game road trip Thursday in a rematch of the 2022-23 NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets.
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I know those Blazers announcers are probably sick and tired of announcing losses, but, good grief, they were one excitement level down from golf announcers!
20+ more games for Rozier to get deeper into Heat system before the “real” games starts. But its going to be a tight race so let’s stack more Ws and get to 50. Go Heat!
The pieces are all falling into place. Momentum is a very big thing when you have a team playing together unselfishly. Glad we picked up Rozier. He’s going to make a very big difference come playoff time. Wright is an excellent late game substitute to clamp down on opposing guards when you are trying to hold a lead. Bam, Butler, Highsmith, Jaime and Wright make a pretty good closing defensive unit.
I hope he stays healthy and consistent.Those will be key.
His best game against Portland in Heat uniform. He was aggressive.
The guys we picked up, Rozier and Wright, appear to have been specifically targeted by Pat for the particular skill sets each brings, which were previously not in abundance. You need contributions from the entire team, a lot of different players, and every type of skill, to have the edge that makes a team better than most. These two also have the right attitude, and enhance not only the court, but the locker room too. The choices to acquire these two appear to have been carefully vetted.
And, these two excellent acquisitions occurred under a situation where the Heat’s choices were limited severely by cap restraints and were accomplished at a minimal loss of team strength. Which makes the effectiveness of the moves even more impressive.
I apologize for beating the poor horse, but, again, we got Rozier and Delon for Lowry and 1 first rounder. Props to Riley and company.
Yes, I know. The first rounder was a fairly big cost, but not to the current team. Definitely props to Riley and company. And furthermore, if the Jimmy Butler situation was any different, if his talent was any less apparent, or if his career was at any different point, maybe Pat goes a different route. But, Jimmy’s are pretty rare, and we needed to be as “all in” as the limited moves available to us would allow us to be.
“hardest working, best conditioned, most professional, unselfish, toughest, meanest, nastiest team in the NBA.”