In Tyler Herro’s return to the lineup Friday evening, the Miami Heat earned a 119-104 win over the Houston Rockets in the second leg of a back-to-back.
A remarkably efficient first half inside the arc–where it shot 20-of-27, including 18-of-24 in the paint and 13-of-15 at the rim–gave the Heat a five-point advantage at the break. Jimmy Butler’s 3-pointer gave Miami a double-digit lead–76-66–with 7:35 left in the third quarter, a lead that the Heat did not let fall below seven the remainder of the game. Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s layup followed by Bam Adebayo’s turnaround jumper on the baseline widened Miami’s advantage to 18 with 4:23, which was more than enough to reward Miami with its 43rd victory of the season.
Herro, who did not look particularly rusty despite missing the previous 20 games with a foot injury, finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting with five rebounds and six assists across 25 minutes. Butler led the Heat with 22 points in 29 minutes, converting on six of his 14 field goal attempts with three rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Similarly to Butler, Bam Adebayo had another strong bounce-back game, posting 18 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block on 7-of-12 shooting across 33 minutes. Duncan Robinson had his base game since returning from injury, posting 10 points on 2-of-5 shooting from deep; Jaquez had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting; Terry Rozier had 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting and 3-of-4 from deep in 25 minutes.
Collectively, the Heat shot 49.4 percent from deep and 13-of-36 from 3-point range, despite missing nine of their first 11 attempts from distance. Houston shot 37.8 percent and just 31.8 percent from 3-point range in the losing effort.
Jalen Green led the Rockets with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block on 6-of-18 shooting; Jabari Smith had 15 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-12 shooting and 3-of-9 from distance. Dillon Brooks provided a boost of energy, especially with his shotmaking in the opening half. He had 188 points on 3-of-7 from deep, hauling in five rebounds.
Rookie Cam Whitmore and Jock Landale had 12 and 10 points, apiece. Fred VanVleet had 13 points, six boards and eight assists on poor efficiency. Jeff Green had 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Miami remains a 0.5-game back of the Indiana Pacers for the No. 6 seed … who it will face Sunday in Indianapolis, Ind. It could be the deciding factor whether the Heat will be a play-in team or not with just five games left in the 2023-24 regular season.
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Good solid win.
Herro played really smart. I m glad he is back.
Some additional scoring and things looks much better.
In order to be 6th seed, Miami must beat Indiana, win 3 of 4 remaining games @ Hawks and home vs Mavs and Raptors (twice) and 76ers must lose a game.
Things would have been so much simpler if they had just beat the 76ers. It is what it is.
GO HEAT!!!
Things would’ve been a lot simpler if they didn’t squander those games in January when some (one?) said they didn’t matter. As I said then, they (obviously) did.
Yup. You give away games and regret it later. That Philly game may very well come back to haunt Spo and the team.
rather lose them in january then april.every games counts same1/82 little more than 1%
Duh, losing the ones in January have put us in the unpleasant position we are in now. Possible play-in, possibly no playoffs. If we had won more then, we wouldn’t be here now. But I appreciate that you recognized yourself.
A loss is a loss. If you win a couple extra in January you can afford to lose a couple in April.
Exactly, whereas now we can’t afford to lose much, if at all
maybe there just not good enough or injured all the time like the other teams are.the heat are a good team.the second season we’ll see if they can reach another level.its all on jimmy now see if he has another gear
Im good with 7th seed but risky business making the play-in coz a couple of losses and they’re out. And no more happy moments here in HHH. Only sad, grumpy old men hehe
Donovan Mitchell to turn down 2025-2026 option and mutliple year extension after next season. Butler is in the same position. Maybe there is room for a trade? Hmm?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/report-donovan-mitchell-will-decline-extension-from-cavaliers-look-for-new-team/ar-BB1l8Vvl?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=94b81e78e56b4a6ea1f1aff0ef5dccb7&ei=12
That is what I’m hoping for. But he could go to the Knicks, which would suck.
If he does, they will need to get rid of someone (Randall?).
donovan and brunson in bc yikes might be the best bc in history of bball
You are hysterical
since kobe retired?name some rc
There were these 2 guys that were part of a dynasty in the golden state of California.
i was thinking cassius klay and steph yes 1 rc name another one
See below Big Guy and my addition
Never mind, you did
I need whatever you smoking lol
please name a better bc.
Magic and Cooper, steph and klay, cp3 and harden, Parker and manu. Mj and harper. Reggie and Jackson. Kobe and fisher. IT and dumars. Porter Drexler.
Yup. And those were proven to be excellent. We’d only be speculating about what DM & JB can be until it happens.
I’d also add Clyde Frazier and Earl The Pearl to the list.
Also the defense between Brunson and Mitchell would be awful, plus both of them are under 6’4.
yes rc for sure on that one
Me and my wife.
the brunson mitchell bc if that happened would be bad news for the heat lets hope he comes down here the other combos all better big but cp3 and harden where did they play together think u meant russ and james,parker manu thatspretty close.reggie jackson good one thats a hr it dumars thats a great bc big.terry porter clyde drexler was a great bc.how bout dwade and anybody rio/goran.lets say brunson mitchell would be top 10 if it came to fruition?terry ty make top 100?
NYBB maybe.
frazier barnett hmm
I was thinking Frazier and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.
yes sunman rc corrected me
4 hours after I did. Jus sayin.
Hey now, my post about Clyde and Pearl was 2 hours before yours.
SunManFromDogBone
Reply to heat for life
11 hours ago
Reality Czech
Reply to Big_guy305
13 hours ago
Whatever.
Might have the same problem who will have the ball more. In Cleve now, its Mitchell or Garland. NY has Brunson who has the ball in his hands always and has been effective.
brunson has been effective is a major understatement.top 10 player in nba.
CBS 14. Jalen Brunson, Knicks
Sportsnaut 17. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
The Ringer 16 Jalen Brunson New York Knicks
Talksport 16. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
And, in fairness, one for you from Fadeaway World:
”Jalen Brunson belongs in the MVP conversation because he has placed the Knicks on the map again. Posting 27.5 points and 6.5 assists per game, Brunson is on a tear offensively and the Knicks could grab the third spot in the East behind the Celtics and Bucks as a result. The point guard has been a revelation and in terms of pure impact, he has been a top-10 player in the world at this point.”
If you want to know who was rated higher, just google.
And I do think he belongs in the top 10-15 conversation this season.
It was great to see Tyler back out on the court. He is this teams X factor for the playoffs. I’m sure he wants to prove a point on his playoff ability considering what happened last year, and all the trade talk.
It’s your time now, Ty. Go get it.
Good pt. Maybe Tyler do have a thing or two to prove from last playoffs and the previous long layoff. Cross fingers
Absolutely! Not many other options if he doesn’t play at pre-injury level. Defense + Rozier + Hero are key. Bam and Butler need to pull their own weights.
tys up and down his whole career he never strings good games together to often
There you go. You remember the guy’s 5 year career in detail. A player who has a career average of 18/5/3.5 obviously must have strung together plenty of good games.
4 sure but to many 3 for 15 games rc.volume shooter bro nobody does it better lol
Yes, not a perfect player, not a great player, a good player.
its all about jimmy does he have another level if he doesnt were cooked.tylers a complimentary players stars win rings .currently we dont have a star unless jim ups his game
Finally watched the recap vids including Tyler’s solo highlights. Welcome back boy wonder! Very good win back end of b2b after a frustrating loss. Still frustrated but it’ll wear off. Maybe after we get that 6th seed. Or maybe Heat really want that 7th to avoid you know who until ecf lol. Big risk but doable. Spo has a good problem having everyone available minus JRich. Just the mix and match and the type of opponent I guess. Just hope Spo doesn’t fumble that hehe (nervous laugh). Go Heat!!
Everything makes sense. We are still a good team. When healthy, we beat the teams we should. And the ones that are a little better, we have trouble with.
Jimmy and Bam played closer to their high abilities last night. And having Rozier helps give us a chance, he is the biggest upgrade we have made. But, we still miss JRich. Mills and Wright did not move the needle. Nor did Bryant enough, although there may be times in the playoffs where Bryant can help. I have been surprised by a revitalized Kevin Love, and he is now making some definite contributions. And, it is great to have Ty back, as you can see he helps us in an area where we can use it, offense. Caleb had a good game and JJJ also. I have come to the point where I see Jovic developing, and next year he may be more ready. Dunc is a little off his game, but is capable of exploding anytime. Both of them should be used sparingly going forward, as they both can hurt more than help if their shot isn’t falling.
Now that we are healthy, we have a decent team, not great, but competitive. We have a shot, against the Pacers, and in the playoffs. It’s not a huge chance, but it’s worth watching and investing your emotions. It is not impossible that they could surprise us again. Go Heat!
Forgot about HH, he had a quiet night but is a definite part of what now is a strength of the team, our second unit.
Great game I guess, missed it but glad Heat got the W. Will watch the recap highlights later cnt wait to see Tyler play again
yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh boooooyyyyeeee!
Tyler is back. Jamie hit the rookie wall. K-Love is playing great. Jimmy is playing like ass. Still not sure about Rozier.
All that said, big game against the Pacers on Sunday. Win that one and the Heat are back in the top-6. Lose that one and they deserve to be a play-in team. Things are starting to get fun!
Let’s go Heat!
What are you not sure about??? Rozier has averaged about 19ppg since March 1. He has a very good assist to turnover ratio. He has hit 17(!!!) 3s in the last 3 games. He is a willing passer and a decent defender. As SunMan has pointed out, he was brought here to be the 3rd or 4th option, not the leading man, but he has had to play that role recently when our 2 main guys aren’t getting the job done. What are you looking at? What did you expect when he came here? These questions are not meant to be rhetorical, I really would like to know why?
Conversely, you were talking up Duncan (who I like) after he came back in the Washington game. Yet, in his 4 games back, he is 8 for his last 24. That’s 33% shooting which is pretty awful.
Butler was our leading scorer with 22 tonight. I thought he played better than the last few games.
It is great to have Herro back. He can be a real X factor as we head towards the playoffs.
And yes, as noted earlier, if they lose Sunday, they throw away a golden opportunity. If they can go on an end of season 5 game winning streak, they will have a week’s rest while other teams are fighting for a playoff spot.
Yeah, I know Rozier puts up good counting stats. And if he gets hot, he can make tough three’s. He rebounds with energy and makes aggressive plays on defense, which is my favorite thing about him.
But I don’t want him out there in closing lineups. I think takes bad shots or makes dumb fouls. He’s basically the opposite of Kyle Lowry, for better and for worse.
The only other thing I’ll say about Rozier is that I said really similar things about J-Rich, and he proved me wrong. I’m bummed that guy won’t be out there for the playoffs.
So if Rozier proves me wrong in the playoffs, I’ll admit it. He was great against he Knicks. He got roasted against the Sixers. I’m not saying I don’t like him. But I’m not saying I like him either. I’m just not sure.
Maxey roasted anyone who was guarding him. Butler was often on him. Rozier was our leading scorer with 22, including 6 3s. He was one of the reasons we were in that game. I agree with Alien on that game – the one that was roasted was Spo in that game. We were up late in the 4th and collapsed.
Lowry had a low scoring (8) but efficient game. He embarrassed Butler, keeping him at 7-17. But I’ll take those 19ppg over 8ppg every day of the week.
Anyway, thanks for providing your side of the issue.
If healthy, Heat can beat current #3-#6 teams in a 7 game series. #1 (Boston), #2 Milwaukee and #8 Philly, if healthy, will be a problem.
Boston Milwaukie and Philly sound tough. What’s their playoff record against the Heat since Jimmy Butler joined the team?
Last year or 3 years ago don’t mean anythong this year. Boston now has Porzingas and Holiday, Milwaukee now has Dame, Philly just beat Heat on Miami’s home court. Miami can’t put a string of 5 good games together. Heat barely 9 games over .500.
Note: Boston is 45 games over .500.
no playoff jimmy hurts but rozier makes up a little bit sun, man not enough to beat boston this year with their 2 new additions.bostons a heavy fav in the east this year,id be surprised if its not a bost denver finals.hope it isnt go heat
The only way Miami has a chance is if the players stay healthy, the defense is at an elite level and the top 5-6 scorers are getting and making open shots. The team will also need big performances from the front court (starters and reserves) in the paint and on the boards.
(Repost)
So, it is as simple as this (in a season where nothing has been simple):
If the Heat win the next 5 remaining games, they will finish no lower than 6th, or as high as 4th.
If they beat Indiana and win 3 of last 4 they should be ok.
Yes!
There is still some hope to get out of play in.