The Miami Heat rallied late to win 121-111 over the Phoenix Suns Saturday night inside Kaseya Center.
The win moves Miami to 11-10, one game above .500 for the first time this season. Phoenix, meanwhile, drops to 12-10, including 1-8 without superstar forward Kevin Durant this season.
The majority of Heat games this season didn’t feature three rock-solid performances from their three-best players–Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler–at the same time. That wasn’t the case Saturday–all three were remarkably impactful.
Bam Adebayo came close to yet another triple-double, posting a team-high 25 points with 12 rebounds, eight assists and one steal on 9-of-16 shooting, including 8-of-12 inside the paint and 5-of-5 at the rim. It may be a minute detail, but putting together two solid back-to-back performances around the rim given his start is quite important.
Jimmy Butler had 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists–including a 9-0 run down the stretch in the fourth quarter to give the Heat a double-figure advantage. Tyler Herro made just one 3-pointer, but still scored 17 points with eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 8-of-12 shooting.
Three other Heat players–Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith and Kevin Love–reached double-figure scoring. Despite Durant’s absence, Phoenix got enough offensive help from its supporting cast outside of Devin Booker’s 21-point performance. Royce O’Neale led the way with 23 points on 5-of-8 from 3-point range; Grayson Allen had 16 points on 5-of-9 from deep; Bradley Beal and Tyus Jones had 15 and 13 points, respectively.
The Suns couldn’t generate enough stops when they needed to against a Heat team that’s struggled to generate offense for much of the season. Miami will now have a quick turnaround against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who’s played like arguably the best team in the NBA.
What were your thoughts from Saturday’s win? Let us know in the comments!
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ei Matt Heat was 9-8 after a 121-111 win vs Raptors so not the first this season to go up one game above .500. just sayin. hope we win b2b but Jimmy might not play and lots of good bigs these Cavs have who are also on a b2b. Spo might put Ware in. also were past the 20 game eval threshold, if there’s such a thing. last season Heat just 2 games above .500 after 20 games so not much change i guess. just please be healthy majority at least. go Heat!
Very good team effort win. Butler, Bam. Herro, Robinson, Highsmith and Smith played particularly well. It was probably one of the better all around games the team has played this season. Assessing the game honestly, I felt it was about as good as Miami can play with the current roster, considering that the team is healthier now than it has been in a couple of years.
Then I thought to myself, “Who did they beat?” The Phoenix Suns. But it wasn’t the 2022 Suns team which finished 64-18 or the 2021 Suns team which finished 51-21 and went to the NBA Finals. It wasn’t even last year’s team that finished 49-33. It was a 2024-2025 Suns team which was 12-10 coming into the game and is now 12-11. It was a Suns team that had lost 4 straight games on the road and 7 of its last 10 games. It was a Suns team playing without it’s #1 scorer and #2 rebounder (Kevin Durant 25.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg) and it’s #1 rebounder (Jusuf Nurkic 9.9 rpg). The Suns are not a very good team this year when Durant does not play (1-10). On the other hand, they are a very good team when he does play (11-1). Fortunately, Miami caught Phoenix when Durant (and Nurkic) weren’t playing.
I’m not a fortune teller, but I do believe I can see the future. Without a significant trade to bring in a difference maker (unfortunately, Rozier has not turned out to be the player we had all hoped for), this year’s team is very average by NBA standards. Average means we could win 44-46 games this year. That will get Miami a 5th place or lower seeding in the playoffs. Most likely 7th or 8th and the play-in round. If the team makes it to the playoffs, it will face one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. Right now the four top teams are Cleveland, Boston, Orlando and New York. All four of those teams have won more games than Miami this year despite having more player injuries. Miami may have difficulty making it out of the first round.
If Miami gets into the playoffs, it will lose its 2025 (lottery protected) draft pick to OKC. If Miami does not get into the playoffs, it will keep its lottery draft pick. If Miami gets into the playoffs, thereby losing it’s 2025 draft pick and if Jimmy Butler decides to opt out and sign elsewhere after the season, Miami will very likely be a more mediocre team next year than this year with no draft picks at all and no Jimmy Butler. That sounds like Miami is looking at a rebuild any way you cut it. If that’s the case, would it be better to:
A) start a re-build with our own 2025 lottery pick and 1-2 more first round picks and possibly young assets acquired in a Butler trade or
B) start with no draft picks and no young assets because the decision was made to run it back this year with what we have and hope for the best?
One of your better posts and an excellent assessment of this teams relative strength. Last night went about as good as this team can play. And, the Suns without Durant are not world beaters. And, I still agree with your reasoning that getting picks and maybe also one young player for Jimmy is our best move for our future.
I do see two things to make a case for adding at the deadline, even if it isn’t our most prudent choice. One, HH has evolved a little more and now is clearly a useful piece. And two, Dru is emerging and helps in the rotation too. Those two, along with Ty’s emergence into a low A player, have made us more like a 44-38 team if fully healthy.
Still, if we got something more from the disappointing Terry, or JRich and Alex, it would help a lot more. And JJJ has not taken the next step forward and now, like Jovic, has an uncertain future. And Dunc starting can be asking too much of him, but he helps a lot other nites. The biggest weakness continues to be Love/Bryant and now that Ware is a G leaguer, it limits how far we can go this year.
If we are going to add at the deadline, it should be a big and he has to be a good enough one to make it worth it.
Best move continues to be move Jimmy. But, now it’s a little tougher choice. And, the worst thing we can do is continue to run it back with this still mediocre team.
Sorry for the harsh comment about Jovic and JJJ. They both still have an excellent chance for great careers.
I don’t know about great careers, but I think both can be rotation players who contribute to a team’s success.
I agree. They both can be good rotation players for years to come, if they continue improving/evolving.
There are phases to a rookies career. At first whatever success you have is seen as potential. But, soon the next phase comes and players have to grow at an incredible pace to keep up with the talent of the nba. Only some continue to develop, and at their own pace. Two years in is still too early to tell where their ceiling is, but the ascent is not going to be linear, and there could be setbacks along the way.
I agree.
It’s a harsh reality that Riley must face now or later, if he decides not to retire. Miami has tradeable assets right now that may not be so tradeable later. I think Riley is looking for a trade that will make a difference. A trade that will make Miami a more competitive team. If he can find that trade, I think he will make it. If he can’t find a suitable trading partner he has until the trading deadline to decide what to do. Although it will be a very hard decision for him to make, I think he will make the logical one. He will make the decision that is in the best interest of the team’s future. He will trade Butler and any other player of value for younger players, draft picks and cash, if possible.
Thanks. I try to be objective and look for solutions for the present and the future. Maintaining the status quo does not usually work in life, business or sports. It is necessary to evolve or be left behind.