The Miami Heat scored a second straight victory by dispatching the lowly Washington Wizards on the road, 110-102, on Friday night at the Capital One Arena.
It wasn’t the prettiest triumph for Miami but given they’ve only recently bounced back from a recent 7-game losing skid, the victory is an encouraging sign ahead of a tough upcoming matchup against the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday in Miami.
Jimmy Butler was the brightest spot for a Heat team that played the first half similar to how they were performing during the losing spree. The 34-year-old vet finished with 24 points on 70% shooting and 9 boards, but it was his aggressive play in the game-deciding third quarter that sparked the Heat’s run.
Jimmy’s been taking over lately & tonight was no different. pic.twitter.com/pAM5NvAti8
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 3, 2024
Miami outscored Washington 31-15 after the halftime break, which included a 17-3 spurt highlighting their 2-3 zone defense, ability to get to the foul line, and timely shooting from the likes of Tyler Herro and Josh Richardson.
Herro registered 15 points on an ineffective 6-of-19 shooting display while Richardson was limited to 7 markers off the bench following his 24-point output in the latest win against Sacramento. Bam Adebayo, who was just named an All-Star for the third time in his career, registered 20 points and 14 rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting, but also had 4 turnovers.
Kevin Love was solid with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while Terry Rozier continues to struggle with his shot since being dealt to the Heat, making just 2-of-13 against the Wizards. He did have another solid playmaking evening, finishing with 8 dimes and 0 turnovers while going 11-of-11 from the foul stripe.
The Wizards momentarily made it competitive in the final minutes of the contest thanks in large part to a season-best performance out of Cory Kispert, who notched 26 points off the bench on 10-of-16 shooting, including 6-of-14 from deep.
Jordan Poole had the chance to cut the Heat lead to 3 with 31 seconds to go but split his visit to the charity stripe. Rozier was then able to pick-up a foul on Kyle Kuzma after a Heat time-out and sealed the contest at the stripe. Poole had 16 points and 10 dimes for the Wizards but shot just 6-of-21 overall.
Miami’s offense was problematic for large stretches. They shot just 43% from the field and 7-of-31 from long range. Against the Wizards that likely still leads to a win but against playoff-caliber opponents, it’s the formula for a defeat.
The Heat’s shot diet focused once again in the midrange. According to Cleaning The Glass’ data, Butler and company had 39% of their attempts come from the middy (31% accuracy), 29% from beyond the 3-point line (20% accuracy), and just 29% at the rim (91% accuracy).
The Heat’s record improved to 26-23.
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Spitballin 101:
Herro, Bryant and Jovic (or pick) for Collins, Kessler and Dunn
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3908845/john-collins
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4433136/walker-kessler
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2991139/kris-dunn
Rozier, Robinson, Butler, Collins. Bam
Richardson, Jaquez, Martin, Love, Kessler
Smith, Dunn, Highsmith, ORobinson,
forget this one.
From all u can Heat:
“Since being traded to the Heat, Terry Rozier has only shot 50% in one of his six games in uniform. On Friday night, Rozier struggled to find his shot, shooting 2 for 13 from the floor.
But Rozier impacted the game in other areas, mainly with his ability to get to the basket and draw fouls or find players rolling to the basket off a screen.
Rozier attacked the basket often and was rewarded with 11 free throw attempts. He was perfect from the line. Most notably, he made four clutch free throws in the final 24 seconds to help the Heat hold onto the win.”
So for Rozier to have 11 free throws (1 was a tech), it means he drew 5 fouls. All of them were on drives, which is an area of real need for the Heat. Now if/when his shooting gets closer to his average………
Without Jimmy Butler (playing the way he has during several recent games) the Miami Heat is a very mediocre team. With Jimmy and Bam leading the way and good performances by Herro, Rozier and the rest of the supporting cast, the Heat can be a very good team. However, without help in the paint and on the boards for Bam, Miami will never be a great team.
If Miami wants to take advantage of Butler’s few (1-3) remaining productive seasons, Pat must go “all in” and trade for someone who will make a difference now. Otherwise, he should quit pretending this is a contending team and seriously consider the retooling/rebuilding process this offseason before Jimmy’s contract extension becomes a very expensive and disruptive issue.
GO HEAT!!!
That is how I see it also. You expressed my thoughts better than I can.
No time for whiners when the team is only a half game out of 6th, which would match the team up with the Knicks in the first round. It feels like they are about to string a couple more wins together. Go HEAT!
Ugly is the right world.
But we take it.
Regular season Jimmy is back, which is an excellent news. The rest of the team is still somewhere in the woods.
What is wrong with Rosier shooting? He is not even close from distance most shots. I remember him being better shooter.
Rozier’s shooting has been terrible. I think he’s trying too hard and is just not comfortable. That should change soon. Can’t get much worse.
We need that. Right now our main scorers except Jimmy cant hit anything.
He’s trying to fit in. Passing up shots to make passes.
There’s going to be an adjustment period.
Still contributing nicely. A sign of a good player.
That was a mucky finish, but still got the w…that’s all that matters. We didn’t shoot good, especially from 3, and at one point kispert had more 3s then the whole team. But that awesome 3rd quarter gave us enough to finish off those wizards. We feasted on them in the rebounding department with 14 offensive rebounds. Jimmy was great for another consecutive game,i love when he’s aggressive. Bam got a double double and hit a clutch shot in the 4th. Also his alley oops are elite. Herro and especially rozier in particular didn’t shoot well, but both of them had 5 assists and solid floor games. Also Herro made timely shots and had one ridiculous steph curry-esque shot off a pass from love. Who btw had a double double in 15 mins. Additionally rozier was perfect from ft line,Got 8 rebounds, took a charge, and was looking like wade on a Euro step. Jrich and jaquez gave some impactful minutes as well. I still think we need another trade for a 2 way pf/c, but for right now we’re doing OK…gotta keep stacking up wins, even if we get them out the mud.
This win shows us our relative strength and it’s not enough. But,,we are closer. We still have to raise the overall strength or talent level to higher if we want to do anything this year. And we are close enough to warrant it. Rozier, despite his shooting woes, has definitely made us a little better team. And yes, there is some adjusting after a trade, but they are still the only way. We surely would have lost tonite against maybe fifteen teams in this league that are better.
Kevin Love, after Jimmy, was our best player tonite, efficiency wise. Got to give credit to him. That is why you have to have a lot of diverse elements on a team because players are hot and cold and you need different contributors every night.
As we say here, a win is a win, no matter how unimpressive. I am still hoping for one more move in the next five days. We need it.
This team is still adjusting to everyone’s new/revised roles. It may take a while to fully mesh. If Pat makes one more trade before the deadline or picks up a player or two who has been bought out or released, that will also require additional adjustments.
I’m sure there is tension among some players who are concerned they may be traded or have their roles diminished. It should all resolve itself by mid-March, one way or the other. If the team doesn’t mesh appropriately, it’s gonna be a short postseason and a turbulent summer.
ugly win but I’ll take it. The offense looked good in the first half but the defense was terrible. Defense showed up for the 3rd quarter and that was enough to win the game against a crap team. Nearly blew another 4th quarter lead. At least they’re playing November basketball instead of October basketball.
One thing I’ve been meaning to mention for a while, but I got distracted by the trade and the losing streak…
I have been an unapologetic J-Rich hater since his first stint with the Heat. For the first 30 games this season, he was my least favorite player. I’ve said many times that if the Heat can’t trade him, they should just shoot him into the sun.
But he’s been really good for the past month. He plays a very similar role to Duncan Robinson. He’s not as good of a shooter, but he can get to the rim, and he’s a better defender, rebounder, and passer. He’s a reliable vet that doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t make dumb fouls or bad passes. He’s never in the wrong spot.
I’m not saying i LIKE J-Rich, but I am willing to admit that he’s been really good for the past month, and I no longer want the Heat to shoot him into the sun. If he keeps playing like this, I think he’s a good player for this team. As long as they’re not using him as part of the 3-guard lineup with Jimmy at the 4, I like J-Rich on this squad.
“Miami’s offense was problematic for large stretches. They shot just 43% from the field and 7-of-31 from long range. Against the Wizards that likely still leads to a win but against playoff-caliber opponents, it’s the formula for a defeat.”
Whatever the temptation is for Pat Riley as the trade dateline draws near, it will be foolish to compromise the Heat’s players capable of shooting above 40% from the arc when it matters most without an equivalent or superior replacement.
1.Encouraging win but still need some consistency on transition defense.
2. Rozier played very well distributing the ball around. Gives me the feeling he is feeling more comfortable with other players not called Butler. He should not worry about his shooting it will come as he gets more relaxed with the team and share some camaraderie.
3. More help defense for Rozier.
4. Seems Spo has found his closing unit..Butler, Bam, Ty, JJJ and JRich.
5. JRich, please do not stop the additional work you have been putting in practice. It is yielding dividend.
6. Always love the steadiness and coolness of Kevin Love and Butler. The team needs their veteran leadership now more than ever as the season deepens and the team is riding through rough waters.
Go Heat, Go!
“Kevin Love was solid with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench while Terry Rozier continues to struggle with his shot since being dealt to the Heat, making just 2-of-13 against the Wizards. He did have another solid playmaking evening, finishing with 8 dimes and 0 turnovers while going 11-of-11 from the foul stripe.”
This is called being objective. Not just dwelling on the negatives (and 2-13 is certainly negative), but also accentuating the positives.
Not a comfortable win coz of that ending but it counts in the W column which matters most. A few more days before trade deadline, more than a week before long rest for the All-stars hoping we break the 6th spot that time. Go Heat!!