Five takeaways: Here’s the reaction, analysis from Heat’s win over Knicks on night Wayne Ellington shined
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 106-97 win over the New York Knicks (10-38) on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
1. Another game, another different Heat (24-24) starting lineup. This time it featured Wayne Ellington, and he made up for lost time.
The Heat used its 18th different starting lineup of the season Sunday, with Tyler Johnson unavailable because of a sore left calf. Coach Erik Spoelstra replaced Tyler Johnson with Ellington as part of a group that also featured Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, James Johnson and Hassan Whiteside.
Spoelstra didn’t turn to Rodney McGruder, who has started 44 games this season, or Dion Waiters, who was the starting shooting guard before undergoing ankle surgery last January, or Dwyane Wade, who has been Miami’s most productive bench player. Instead, Ellington got the nod.
This decision surprised some only because Ellington has fallen out of the rotation. Widely regarded as the Heat’s top three-point shooter, he had been an active scratch in 12 of the previous 14 games and had not played more than eight minutes since a Dec. 12 loss to the Jazz.
But Ellington only looked rusty for two quarters, as he followed up a scoreless first half with 19 second-half points. He made 6-of-9 shots over the final two quarters, including four of his seven attempts from three-point range.
“I’m glad he had the faith in me to throw me right back in the mix tonight, throw me in the fire, which is tough,” Ellington said of Spoelstra. “In the first half, obviously, I needed to find a rhythm. But then in the second half, I said, ‘You know what, man, the heck with it. I’m just going to shoot myself back into a rhythm and figure it out from there.’”
For the game, the Heat outscored the Knicks by 19 points in the 31 minutes Ellington was on the court.
“He is ignitable,” Spoelstra said. “What was it three threes in the fourth? And we’ve always said it, ‘He hit two, watch out, that could go to four or five.’ If the game ended up going to overtime, he probably would have hit three more. But he has that ability. It’s just as unique as his ability to go 0 for 5 and shoot six, seven and eight without hesitation.”
There’s been speculation regarding Ellington’s future with the Heat due to his diminished playing time amid the looming Feb. 7 trade deadline. Ellington said earlier this month he would not rule out going to Heat management to request a trade to a team where he can play more. Ellington, signed to a one-year, $6.3 million contract, has the right to approve any trade.
The question is, did Ellington just play his way back into a consistent spot in the Heat’s rotation or did he just help lift his trade value?
2. Derrick Jones Jr. exited Sunday’s game after hurting his right knee with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter. The severity of the injury is still unknown.
It looked bad, as the 21-year-old Jones seemed to hyper-extend his knee as he was fouled by New York’s Allonzo Trier while driving to the basket on a fast break. But there’s still hope it won’t be as bad as it looked, with X-rays returning negative.
The MRI should be more telling, though. That’s supposed to happen Monday when the Heat returns to Miami.
“Obviously, it looked like it could have been way worse,” Spoelstra said. “But we’ll see how the knee looks when we get to Miami.
“It was scary. My stomach dropped. But he’s smiling and joking in there. He’s damn near a teenager, so hopefully he’ll heal much differently than we would.”
Jones has been one of the Heat’s bright spots this season, developing into a rotation player. He entered Sunday averaging 7.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 36 games.
But Jones has taken on a bigger role recently, playing in 23 of the Heat’s past 24 games entering Sunday. He averaged 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals during this stretch.
Jones’ emergence in December was one of the reasons Ellington fell out of the rotation. If Jones is forced to miss an extended period of time, it could open more minutes for Ellington, especially after his impressive performance in New York.
3. Wade received A LOT of New York love.
Either there were a lot of Heat fans at Madison Square Garden or Knicks fans forgot about their rivalry with the Heat for a night because Wade was a fan favorite Sunday.
As soon as Wade popped off the bench to walk to the scorer’s table midway through the first quarter, there was an ovation. Then he actually entered the game and there was a standing ovation and a “Let’s Go Heat” chant.
Even whenever Wade touched the ball, there were cheers.
“It’s special. It was very early in the game, normally it’s at the end,” Wade said. “That’s the one thing that’s comforting. When you come to New York, when you come to Brooklyn, our fan base is great. When I first got in the league, I remember the Knicks come to Miami or the Lakers come to Miami, and there were cheers going on. I was like, ‘What is this?’ Until I started experiencing going on the road and going to places where people are Miami Heat fans, as well.”
Wade put on a show for the fans, too, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and tying a season-high with 10 assists in 28 minutes off the bench. The only real blemish on his stat line were five turnovers.
If healthy, Wade will play one final game at Madison Square Garden before he retires at the end of the season. The Heat faces the Knicks in New York on March 30.
4. The third quarter won the Heat the game … again.
Miami lost the first, second and fourth quarters on Sunday by a combined margin of 85-77. The only reason the Heat was able to leave New York with a win was because of a dominant third quarter.
Miami outscored New York 29-12 in the period, a 17-point margin that was enough to overcome sloppy play the rest of the game. The Heat committed just one turnover in the third quarter and 14 the rest of the game.
It was a similar formula to the one the Heat used in Friday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Miami outscored Cleveland 32-17 in the third quarter to overcome the Cavaliers’ 77-68 edge over the other three quarters.
“It was similar to the Cleveland game,” Spoelstra said. “... In the third quarter, it just went to a different level. And, again, the starting unit was inspiring. It allowed the second unit to come in with some momentum and then we were able to make plays off our defense.”
5. It wasn’t always pretty, but this quick two-game trip was a successful one for the Heat.
Miami faced two of the worst teams in the NBA and beat both to get back to .500. Cleveland owns the league’s worst record and New York owns the league’s second-worst record.
The Heat has another game against a clearly inferior opponent coming up, when it begins a three-game homestand Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have the league’s fourth-worst record.
