In their first game back from the All-Star break, the Miami Heat cruised past the Atlanta Hawks with a 128-97 win inside State Farm Arena.
Miami’s win came on the back of guard Tyler Herro, returning to the lineup after missing each of the team’s last 15 games with a rib injury. Herro scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench — largely staggered with guard Norman Powell.
The Heat dominated in the second half, outscoring the Hawks 71-46. The second half — particularly late in games — hasn’t always been friendly for Miami this season, which made Friday’s winning effort even more joyous. The Heat shot 56.9 percent from the floor over the final 24 minutes, canning eight of their 17 3-pointers while recording just two turnovers.
Bam Adebayo finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists; Norman Powell tallied 15 points, while Kel’el Ware had a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Atlanta was efficient from beyond the arc (16-38 3PA), but it shot just 37.5 percent from the floor, including a ghastly 5-of-30 on non-rim 2s. Jalen Johnson scored 16 points en route to his 11th triple-double of the season, adding 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Onyeka Okongwu had a team-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and CJ McCollum plus Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 20 points apiece.
Johnson, Okongwu, McCollum and Alexander-Walker combined to score 78 of the team’s 97 points. The Hawks’ bench unit minus McCollum had a very difficult time keeping up with Herro and Co; it remains to be seen whether or not head coach Erik Spoelstra will continue to deploy Herro off the bench, but he was — as Spoelstra oftentimes says — ignitable.
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Interesting article on Pelle Larsson…the new Thunder Dan. Here are excerpts…
The face of Miami’s new rotation is straight from Heat lore
“…Larsson isn’t just a crash dummy gimmick, however. He’s been one of the Heat’s most important players this season. The Heat have a far better record when he starts, so it was significant and smart that Spoelstra kept him in the lineup even with Tyler Herro returning from another lengthy absence Friday. Larsson led the Heat in minutes with 31, He made six of nine shots, with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals and was a plus-16.
Even more interestingly, he was kept on the floor in the first and third quarters when the rest of the starters subbed out, to anchor the strong second unit of Herro, Kasparas Jakucionis, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware. Then when the starters returned, Jaquez Jr. stayed out there, as Larsson rested.
In a season in which it’s been difficult for Spoelstra to find rotations that make sense, in part because of injuries but also inconsistency — and maybe a little of his own stubbornness — this one makes a lot of it. Larsson is a perfect lubricant to help the second unit run smoothly, just as Majerle was for many lineups back in the day. He makes plays without getting in the way. And Jaquez Jr. fits well with the first group.
Will Spoelstra stick with it? We’ll see. He may be inclined to put Herro back in the starting group, due to pedigree, and see if the pairing with Norman Powell can work for longer stretches. But Herro is a former Sixth Man of the Year who is elite in that role, as his 24 efficient points Friday again showed.
And Larsson seems in the perfect spot now — on the floor, bruised face and all, bringing the Thunder at the start.”
GO HEAT!
A potential solution to the Miami Heat’s third quarter problems (Yardbarker 2/21/26)
“…The Heat outscored the Hawks 30-24 in the third quarter, as it wasn’t the outcome that produced a potential solution, but the process showcased some positive signs.
What was that process exactly? A balanced rotation with consistent lineups.
They started things off with a first unit that has spent a lot of time with each other so far this season, as Davion Mitchell holds down point guard duties, Norman Powell as the primary scorer, Bam Adebayo as the two-way centerpiece, and Andrew Wiggins and Pelle Larsson scrapping their way into impact territory.
Shortly after that initital stretch, Jaime Jaquez Jr and Kel’el Ware enter for Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo. To cap off the rotation about two minutes later, Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis enter for Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell…”
“Sometimes the third quarter problems are plagued with a bad start to the quarter with the bench trying to make up for it. Other times the starters set a tone, but the depleted bench can’t find a rhythm to close the quarter.
But with these two sets of lineups, there’s just a bit more consistency. Herro and Powell holding down their own offensive lineups is a definitely luxury, but it feels like each unit brings something different.”
The first unit leans on stability and veteran presence, while the second unit is driven by the youth and up-tempo, high upside part of the roster.”
If that was a prelude then we better get ready for the Herro redemption tour. I’m here for it.
He definitely got off to a good start.
These wins are nice and do give us a chance to avoid the play-in. But, wins over tankers, or teams on a b2b, or teams with many injuries, or teams that traded away their best player and basically gave up at the deadline, should all be taken with a grain of salt. Those wins won’t mean much in round one of the playoffs. OTOH, I don’t see any advantage in not going for it as we are locked in and won’t be a lottery team. It is a concern as this mediocrity thing gets harder to break out of. I guess that’s why Pat puts all his eggs in the free agent superstar basket. Otherwise, you just tread water trying to stay mediocre.
On the first part of your comment, yes. It seems clear that there is virtually no chance that they will fall below 10. As many of us find the possibility of a fourth consecutive play-in nauseating, might as well push to get to the 6 spot. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch our young players.
I see some folks don’t like some of the things I have to say. That is fine, no hard feelings. And they have a right to their opinion. I made the decision to not care with intention so I feel it only shows I am achieving my goal of honesty without pandering anymore. All is good and I remain a fan.
Just consider this group therapy. We all have something to say. As long as we don’t communicate offensively/disrespectfully, its all good. We all have our personal views and can’t all agree on everything all the time.
Memphis had 9 players on injury list last night and still won a tank off vs Utah. This game should be a blowout (line is Miami -10)
Heat’s top 6 odds moved to 60% chance after this game
1-6 odds
TOR 79%
MIA 60%
ORL 32%
PHI 26%
CHA 2%
ATL 1%
TOR is 37% for 5 seed, MIA 25.5%
6 might be better because it would be on the opposite side of the bracket from Detroit at 1. Knicks are currently 4 and need to make a big push for 2-3 for home court and to avoid Detroit’s side of the bracket.
Orlando and Philly look vulnerable. Orlando’s offense is relying more on 3s, and they just hit a franchise record 27 threes vs Sacramento, but their offense doesn’t look good
1 Detroit
8 Play in winner 2
4
5
3
6
2
7 Play in winner 1
1 is the only spot basically set so far (97.6% chance that DET is 1).
2-4 right now is BOS, CLE, NYK separated by just 1.5 games.
5-8 right now is TOR, PHI, ORL, MIA separated by 3.5 games
And if you look at Orlando’s schedule, it is probably the roughest of any of the contenders for the sixth seed. And Philly’s is tougher than ours too.
Lets go Tyler!! Keep it up so ur trade value goes up also
no way they pay him what he wants.injuries and defense two red flags.buyer beware
Great game. Just repeat that.
Spos secret weapon: Vanilla zone.
Great team win… Pelle played a team high 31 min and everyone else was at 27 or less which is big. Tomorrow should be a repeat vs MEM. Heat are 9-4 in B2B/no rest games (6th best in league) this year. Memphis is tanking and is just 5-24 vs teams above .500
This game should be another win. Memphis is on a b2b also.
1 down 25 to go.
shortest post game wrap up in the history of your game.
I stuck a detailed one on the end of the game thread.
A man of few words. See last comment on game thread.