Takeaways and notes from Heat’s win over Whiteside and Trail Blazers. Miami 17-1 at home
There were a lot of boos at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday, but none were directed at the Heat.
Even with Jimmy Butler and Justise Winslow unavailable due to back injuries, the Heat (26-10) managed to earn a 122-111 win over the Trail Blazers (15-22) on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The boos were aimed at former Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who was traded to the Trail Blazers this past offseason. Sunday marked Whiteside’s first game back in Miami since he was dealt, and he was booed repeatedly.
The Heat actually gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about, leading from start to finish. Miami pulled ahead by as many as 24 points.
Guard Goran Dragic led the Heat with 29 points while shooting 7-of-10 shooting on threes and dishing out 13 assists in his usual sixth-man role.
“Let’s not anybody forget that this is an All-Star player we’re talking about,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Dragic. “It gives me a great hammer to be able to make that point to our roster, especially our young guys. But everybody else, that if you want to be part of a good team, you have to be willing to sacrifice. The definition of sacrifice is giving in, giving up, giving something that actually you feel it. And Goran very much would rather be a starter and he can be a starter.”
Like the Heat, the Trail Blazers played shorthanded without CJ McCollum (illness), Zach Collins (shoulder), Rodney Hood (Achilles), Skal Labissiere (knee) and Jusuf Nurkic (leg).
Guard Damian Lillard scored a game-high 34 points for Portland.
With the victory, Miami improved to a league-best 17-1 at home this season. Next up for the Heat is a three-game trip that begins Wednesday against the Pacers.
1. Even without Butler, the Heat turned in one of its best offensive performances of the season.
After a rough offensive week that included the NBA’s worst offensive rating over the previous three games, the Heat erupted for 122 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the field and 18-of-44 shooting on threes. Miami recorded 34 assists on 47 made baskets.
It marked the Heat’s second-best single-game offensive rating this season, scoring at a rate of 125.8 points per 100 possessions. Miami only produced a better offensive rating this season in its 129-114 win over the Knicks on Dec. 20.
In the first half, the Heat totaled 65 points on 60.5 percent shooting and committed only three turnovers.
Led by Dragic’s 29-point performance, seven Heat players finished with double-digit points. Bam Adebayo scored 20, Derrick Jones Jr. scored 19, Kendrick Nunn scored 14, James Johnson scored 12, Meyers Leonard scored 11 and Tyler Herro scored 11.
“We always have confidence in ourselves,” Dragic said. “We know that we have a long bench. Everyone can play.”
Adebayo said: “That is the best thing about this team. We don’t have one person that we depend on and we have other guys that can step up to the challenge.”
It’s important to note the Trail Blazers don’t exactly have an elite defense. Portland owns the league’s 23rd-best defensive rating.
The Heat’s defense turned in an uneven performance, with the Trail Blazers shooting 35.7 percent in the first half and 55.6 percent in the second half. But some of Miami’s struggles on that end of the court were simply due to Lillard’s ability to make shots, as the star guard scored 20 of his 34 points and made six threes over the final two quarters.
2. Whiteside’s return was met by a lot of boos from the AmericanAirlines Arena crowd.
When Whiteside was introduced, there were boos. Every time Whiteside touched the ball, there were boos. Every time Whiteside made a basket, there were boos. In other words, there were a lot of boos for Whiteside in his first game back in Miami since the Heat traded him to the Trail Blazers as part of the Butler sign-and-trade deal this past summer.
“I’m a little disappointed with how the fans reacted, but it is what it is,” Whiteside said. “There was cheers, too. It wasn’t all boos. I made playoff runs here. I put my heart here, so it wasn’t all boos. So you can’t really say nothing about the fans.”
There was even a “We got shooters!” chant that broke out in the second half, referencing Whiteside’s immediate social media reaction to his trade to Portland. He posted a video on Instagram after the trade of himself shouting, “We got shooters!”
“I don’t understand that,” Whiteside said of the chant. “I just said, ‘We got shooters.’ That’s congratulating my team. I didn’t say none of them guys can’t shoot. Like, me and Goran talk. We’re all cool. Them guys are phenomenal shooters. I never really understood that. I don’t really realize why they feel like it was like a dis toward them, like I still text Bam, I still talk to J-Rich, I still talk to D-Jones. They’re my brothers. I would never dis them or talk bad about them in no way, shape or form.
“The ‘We got shooters’ bothered me more than the boos. I think it got misinterpreted. ... I could’ve gone somewhere without shooters.”
Whiteside still managed to notch his 27th double-double of the season with 21 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks.
In Adebayo’s matchup against Whiteside, Adebayo finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Leonard was the one who switched places with Whiteside this past summer as part of the Butler trade after spending the first seven seasons of his career in Portland. Leonard ended the night with 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
“I wanted to win because of Meyers,” Adebayo said. “I feel like no one really took notice on how Meyers played today. Meyers played well for us. He made shots. I feel like he stepped up big for this challenge. It wasn’t between me and H. It was between Meyers and the Trail Blazers.”
Whiteside has put up strong numbers this season, as he entered averaging 15.7 points, 13.8 rebounds and a league-leading 2.8 blocks. But the Trail Blazers continue to struggle, with six losses in their past seven games.
3. The shorthanded Heat started a lineup Sunday that had not played a minute together this season.
With Butler and Winslow unavailable, the Heat started Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Jones, Leonard and Adebayo. Jones was the new addition to the group in place of Butler.
The lineup opened the game strong in its first ever minutes together, giving the Heat a 17-11 lead before the first substitution was made. Nunn scored eight of Miami’s first 17 points.
In the end, the Heat outscored the Trail Blazers 32-30 in the 13 minutes this five-man lineup played Sunday.
As far as an injury update for Butler and Winslow, Spoelstra said Butler’s back “kind of locked up on him” Sunday and Winslow still wasn’t ready to play despite being upgraded to questionable in advance of the game. It’s the first game Butler has missed with his current injury and the fifth game he has missed this season, and it marked the 15th consecutive game Winslow has missed with his current injury and the 26th game he has missed this season.
4. The Heat’s shorthanded roster also led to Johnson’s first game action in more than a month.
Johnson had not played in 18 consecutive games, with 13 of them coming as as a DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision). The last game he played in was the Heat’s Nov. 27 loss to the Rockets and the only home game he had played in this season was the Heat’s Nov. 3 win over the Rockets.
But on Sunday, Johnson entered alongside Dragic with 5:04 remaining in the first quarter as the first two players used off the Heat’s bench. Johnson finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
“In many ways, JJ was the proverbial game ball winner tonight,” Spoelstra said. “He has put in a lot of time. He has been ready probably for two or three weeks in my mind where I felt comfortable to able to put him in. He has played well in practice.”
Before Sunday, Johnson had played a total of 68 minutes in six games this season.
“When he called my name, I was just as surprised as you guys,” Johnson joked of Spoelstra putting him in Sunday’s contest.
All of this comes after a turbulent start to the season, with Johnson away from the team for the first 10 days of training camp and the preseason after failing to meet the Heat’s conditioning requirements. He was sent away on the eve of training camp on Sept. 30 and did not return to the team until Oct. 11.
But Johnson’s performance Sunday is encouraging, and it could mean more minutes moving forward.
Johnson’s playing time wasn’t the only notable thing regarding Miami’s rotation. Center Kelly Olynyk did not play, getting his first DNP-CD of the season.
Guard Dion Waiters also did not play. He has yet to play this season after serving three team-issued suspensions.
The Heat used an eight-man rotation for most of the game until two-way contract big man Chris Silva entered to play the final 1:38.
5. The Heat still hasn’t lost two games in a row this season.
The Heat responded to Friday’s blowout loss to the Magic with a win over the Trail Blazers on Sunday, improving to a perfect 10-0 in games after a loss this season. Now 36 games in, it’s the longest into a season Miami has gone without recording consecutive losses in franchise history.
“You have to have some stability and character inherently in your guys and then you have to be able to develop it as well,” Spoelstra said. “I think this group has it and develops it. We’ve been in quite a few of these situations. They do take it to heart. We all understood that we just did not compete at a high level in Orlando. Guys did not like that.
“I think our group has a competitive nature to it and a humility after losses to be able to own it, to be able to correct it and face the next challenge.”
After its 10 losses this season, the Heat has an Oct. 29 home win over the Hawks, a Nov. 7 road win over the Suns, a Nov. 12 home win over the Pistons, a Nov. 25 home win over the Hornets, a Nov. 29 home win over the Warriors, a Dec. 6 home win over the Wizards, a Dec. 14 road win over the Mavericks, a Dec. 18 road win over the 76ers, Thursday’s win over the Raptors and Sunday’s win over the Trail Blazers.
The Bucks and Heat are the only teams in the NBA that have not lost consecutive games yet this season.
This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 8:25 PM.
