Following a devastating loss in the home opener earlier this week, the Miami Heat respond with a road win against the Charlotte Hornets, 114-106. Jimmy Butler bounces back from his 3-point disappointment to lead the Heat with a near trip-double performance on route to the victory. This included some classic Butler fourth quarter heroics, where the superstar stepped up with big plays to close out the Hornets.
Butler got help from the rest of the core four, as Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier and Bam Adebayo all took turns with clutch plays of their own. Herro finished with an efficient 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 33 minutes. It was a terrific all-around outing from the Heat’s combo guard, as he was he getting to all his spots offensively.
He showcased his inside and outside scoring game and did a great job at taking what the defense was giving him. Herro filled in the gaps and got high quality looks, especially in the catch-and-shoot.
In Rozier’s homecoming he impressed with his own pure offensive skillset. He finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds on 7/12 shooting, including a 3-points dagger to close it out in front of his former squad.
Bam Adebayo was quiet offensively and missed some bunnies that he usually gets to fall. The big man had some good looks from 3-points range, but couldn’t connect. His shooting from beyond the arc was an emphasis Adebayo had on his development this summer. Still, he contributed a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double to go along with elite defense.
Outside of the core four, the Heat got impactful contributions from Nikola Jovic and Alec Burks. Jovic was able to stuff the stat sheet and do a little bit of everything, as Burks was a flame thrower off the bench going 3/4 from 3-pointers. It was his regular season Heat debut, and the veteran sharpshooter did not disappoint. Getting production like that in spurts from the backup point guard position could be a luxury to coach Erik Spoelstra’s lineups.
Miami did a great job at making it tough on LaMelo Ball, who dropped 27 points but only made 9/22 from the field, including an abysmal 2/10 from deep. Outside of Ball and his 8 rebounds and 7 assists, the Hornets didn’t get much of impactful performances else where from their roster.
Charlotte lost the turnover battle 17-13, which led to easy offense in transition for the Heat. They also shot inefficiently as a team from 3-pointers, going just 32% compared to Miami’s 41%. The biggest statistical advantage came from the ball movement, as the Heat tallied 33 assists as team to the Hornet’s 20.
Next up comes Dwyane Wade’s iconic statue unveiling outside of Kaseya Center Sunday afternoon at 5:00 PM EST, airing on NBA TV. Miami will honor the legendary Wade during Monday’s game at home against the Detroit Pistons.
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I was glad to see Jimmy and the team come around after a slow start. The team was playing at a very slow pace until Jaquez came in. Then the pace picked up. Overall, the team looked a little shaky at times against a not-so-good team. We got outrebounded again (46-43) by the worst rebounding team in the league last year.
Things need to be fixed if the Heat expect to compete with the top half of the league’s teams. Our record against winning teams last year was dismal. That must also improve. There is little time for Miami to figure things out. Speaking of winning teams, the Magic team that blew the Heat out of the gym on Wednesday night lost by 13 to Memphis. After the Washington game on Monday, Miami has 12 games in 27 days. Ten of the games will be against playoff teams.
We should be able to assess where we are at by then…one way or another.
W! The Butler showed up.
Good thing DWade’s statue unveiling is not on a game day. We all know what happens if there’s an important Heat event put on a Heat game 😜
Just finished watching the game late, it was a very good game, and glad we won. Very good bounce back game from Jimmy buckets, we should of beat hornets by more if Jimmy didn’t miss so many ft’s lol. Boy wonder has definitely improved and I like the fact that he’s slashing in the paint more and hit a clutch 3. Scary Terry also had a dagger 3 that’s probably still haunting the hornets as welcome back gift. Burks seems a good pickup so far, very efficient. Also like the fact that jovic game is progressing at a decent pace, just needs more experience. Lastly just hoping that locksmith will get more minutes.