Five Stars: Suns 115, Heat 112

This season, we’ve got more than just the conventional recap of each game. We’re also including a deeper dive, mining out the top five players in each contest (regardless of team).

Miami was trading score-for-score with the Phoenix Suns all game long. In it until the very end, the Heat simply ran out of time. Who were the standouts?

First Star

Jusuf Nurkić (22.9)

Three of the Five Stars were Phoenix players, appropriate considering that the Suns carried the victory. Those three players also ranked 1-2-3 in minutes for the Suns, with Nurkić third at 33:13 in total. He made six-of-eight shots overall from the field, draining all three of his three-point shot attempts. He made five-of-six foul shots to finish with 20 points. He also had 18 rebounds, including four offensive, and blocked two shots while stealing once and dishing out one dime. His 159 offensive rating led all starters, while his BPM of +9.8 ranked him tops as well.

Second Star

Tyler Herro (22.0)

Herro led Miami with 28 points on a nine-for-15 night, making all five of his foul shots and draining five-of-nine from distance in 35:01. Tyler collected three defensive rebounds and scattered six assists, making three fouls and turning the ball over three times as well. Herro’s 8.1 BPM ranked him tops amongst Miami’s starters, although our fourth star was a little better in that metric.

Third Star

Kevin Durant (20.5)

36-year-old power forward Kevin Durant played 37:13 and led everyone with 32 points. Durant made 13-of-23 shots overall and four-of-11 from the arc or deeper. Kevin drained two-of-three free throws and pulled down eight defensive boards. He turned the ball over six times to only three assists, and committed one foul. He also stole one and blocked one, and led all players with a 36.2 usage rating.

Fourth Star

Haywood Highsmith (19.9)

Highsmith makes his first appearance in this season’s Five Star rankings with very strong 30:36 off the bench. He collected a team-best 206 offensive rating by scoring 19 points on seven-of-eight shooting. Haywood made five-for-five from two-point distance and sunk all three of his freebies, along with seven rebounds (two offensive). He also had two steals and three fouls, boasting an impossible true shooting percentage of 1.019 and a team-high 9.7 BPM.

Fifth Star

Devin Booker (17.8)

Booker led everyone with 38:53 on the floor and with nine assists. He scored 22 on a nine-for-17 night, including two-for-seven from outside and two-of-three from one-point distance. Devin collected four boards (one offensive) and committed three turnovers with one foul.

The Rest

Bam Adebayo (13.8)
Jimmy Butler (12.3)
Royce O’Neale (7.2)
Alec Burks (7.0)
Mason Plumlee (6.1)
Bradley Beal (5.8)
Kel’el Ware (5.8)
Duncan Robinson (5.6)
Ryan Dunn (5.6)
Terry Rozier (5.4)
Tyus Jones (5.4)
Grayson Allen (5.4)
Nikola Jović (3.3)
Pelle Larsson (2.8)

Five Stars Standings (3-4)