The Miami Heat’s dominant two-way performance fueled their 119-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday evening inside Moda Center in Portland, Ore.
The Heat buried 19 3-pointers, shooting 47.8 percent from the floor (compared to Portland’s 37.9 percent) from the floor with a 124.0 offensive rating (82nd percentile), according to Cleaning The Glass. Portland, however, generated just 102.1 points per 100 possessions with a 45.2 effective field goal percentage, ranking in the 19th and 9th percentile, respectively.
Tyler Herro and third-year forward Nikola Jovic led the way for the Miami Heat. Herro tallied a game-high 32 points on 7-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc, dishing out five assists while hauling down five rebounds. Herro’s seven 3-pointers marks the 10th time this season he’s buried at least five; he’s made six triples six times and seven five times. It also marks his seventh 30-point outing of the season, with the Heat having gone 4-3 in those games.
Nikola Jovic, who’s playing arguably the most confident basketball of his life, was outstanding on both ends once again for Miami. The 6-foot-10 wing finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal. He nailed eight of his 12 shots and went 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Haywood Highsmith scored 14 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point range, adding five steals; Bam Adebayo had 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists on 6-of-13 shooting; Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Terry Rozier had 11 points apiece.
Anfernee Simons had 28 points, accounting for seven of the Blazers’ 13 3-pointers. Shaedon Sharpe tallied 22 points while Donovan Clingan, Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija all hauled down double-digit rebounds.
Miami’s win against Portland marks their second three-game win streak of the season. Given the horrific and tragic Los Angeles fires, it’s still unknown if the Heat will play the Clippers or Lakers next week, as both teams have been postponing their recent home games.
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Another win against a bad team they were supposed to beat. Another game where we can see the incremental improvement of our young players. I don’t expect this group to be giant killers, but I do expect them to come out and give 100% every night, win or lose. As long as they are playing hard, taking pride in their defense and gradually learning from their mistakes, I’m good with that.
Now if they can just get a good player (or two) for Butler before the trade deadline, they will be set.
Worse case scenario, if Spo has Jimmy coming off the bench with Burks, Duncan, Jovic and Ware, they will immediately become the best second unit in the NBA.
The reserves of Stevens, Richardson, Larsson, Johnson and Love aren’t too bad either.
GO HEAT!!!
I was going to write some stuff but you said pretty much it all.
I’ve been a little surprised at how well the Heat has done during probably the post Jimmy period. They should all be proud of themselves as it has truly been a collective, collaborative effort. HH has had some nice contributions as has Jovic and of course, Bam and especially Ty. They are growing as players before our eyes, not just the ones mentioned, but everyone.
When JRich comes back, which may be soon, it will give us a few more options, looks, and depth. And, like three point shooters, we will have a bit of redundancy in that area which could be used in trade if necessary to further upgrade other weaknesses.
I know Portland, like Utah, ain’t too much, but I thought they would give us more trouble than they did. We will learn more from the next two teams. I expect these games to be postponed, as the enormity of the tragedy out there is beyond belief.
And, in another note about this difficult, sometimes horrible world that is our new reality, nice to see Denny Avjida playing quite well and being treated somewhat normally. That is all we can ask and yet it is so often not happening that way. That is my one silver lining of solace with the upcoming regime change. Like Bill Maher said recently, when wokism becomes tolerance for intolerance, that’s when we go off the rails. If everything is okay, then nothing is ok.
That was pretty heavy 30. I’m glad to see the guys working together, developing as a cohesive unit. I enjoy seeing them having their moments of fun, even if we all know they are going to hit rough spots. I don’t look so much at where they are today, at the very beginning of the post-Butler era. I think more about where they will be collectively, as a team, a month from now, at the end of the season, during the playoffs (if it happens) and next season. They just need to pick up a player or two to strengthen the rotation. That can be through a Butler trade and/or by trading the redundant players to acquire others of greater need.
I have a lot of thoughts about the state of our society, our country and our world. One view is to respect the rights and tolerate the views of all people and another is to respect the rights and accept the views of only those people who we agree with. I feel people should be allowed to be who they are and believe what they want, as long it is not at the expense of others. I’ve evolved past racism, bigotry, sexism and homophobia. Unfortunately, I don’t believe a large segment of our society has. We still have a long way to go.
P.S. Tyler is really coming into his own. Portland sure screwed up not trading for him, Jovic, Jaquez, etc. for Lillard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKSVWq_dVrE