Takeaways and notes from Heat’s road win over Thunder. Miami reaches midway point at 29-12
The Miami Heat celebrated the official midway point of the season with an impressive road performance.
In its 41st game of the season, the Heat earned a 115-108 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. It’s the road win Miami has been looking for after dropping four of its previous five games away from home.
The Heat reached the midway point of the season with an eye-opening 29-12 record, putting it at a pace for 58 regular-season wins.
Miami was in control from the start, scoring 40 first-quarter points on 65.2 percent shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting on threes to enter the second quarter with a 14-point lead. The Heat led the rest of the way and led by as many as 22 points.
The Heat held off a late Thunder rally, with Oklahoma City cutting Miami’s lead all the way down to seven in the fourth quarter.
Heat rookie guard Kendrick Nunn followed up his 33-point performance against the Spurs with a team-high 22 points Friday, included 14 points in the second half.
Five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Thunder (23-19) ...
1. The Heat’s balanced offensive attack was on display in Oklahoma City.
Seven Heat players finished with double-digit points — Nunn (22 points), Bam Adebayo (21), Jimmy Butler (14), Duncan Robinson (14), Derrick Jones Jr. (13), Kelly Olynyk (12) and Goran Dragic (10).
The result was an efficient offensive performance, with Miami shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 14 of 36 on threes. The Heat assisted on 26 of its 41 made baskets.
This type of play is no surprise from a Heat team that has seven players averaging double-digit points and also owns the league’s eighth-best offensive rating this season.
Friday’s numbers were impressive, but it’s not even one of the Heat’s top offensive performances this season. Miami scored at a pace of 119.8 points per 100 possessions against the Thunder, which is the ninth-best single-game offensive rating it has finished with over the first 41 games.
This is becoming the new normal for the Heat, which finished with league’s fifth-worst offensive rating last season. Miami has quickly built a top-10 offense around the playmaking ability of Adebayo and Butler, and elite outside shooting.
“I think everybody knows that we’re for real on the offensive end,” Butler said. “Everybody in this locker room, everybody outside the locker room. Everybody is comfortable, man. Everybody is whipping the ball around. We’re sharing the basketball. It’s so fun to play like that. But we’re a talented group. We’ve got some young guys, older guys that love playing with one another.”
2. Butler didn’t take many shots Friday, but he still made an impact.
Butler finished with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block. These type of games have become the norm for Butler, who has already recorded three triple-doubles this season.
Butler was a force from the start, posting a first-quarter stat line of seven points, five rebounds, four assists and one block in 10 minutes.
Friday’s outing comes after a relatively quiet performance from Butler, who finished Wednesday’s win over the Spurs with 12 points, three rebounds and four assists.
Another encouraging aspect from Butler’s night in Oklahoma City was the one three he made.
Butler, who is a career-33.6 percent three-point shooter, entered shooting 26.9 percent on threes this season and with just one made three over his previous 10 games. If he can start making threes consistently, it will help open even more possibilities for the Heat’s offense.
3. For the second consecutive game, the Heat’s defense was strong around the rim.
Miami limited Oklahoma City to 34 paint points and 13-of-22 shooting inside the restricted area. That’s a notable accomplishment, considering the Thunder entered averaging the second-most drives to the basket per game in the NBA this season behind penetrating guards like Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder.
Zone played a big role in Miami’s defensive success against the Thunder’s attacking style. According to Couper Moorhead from Heat.com, the Heat allowed 58 points on 61 zone possessions Friday.
“It’s the efforts,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Really, the scheme is not going to win you a possession or even a game. You have to burn some calories and make some things happen. If you want to win in a tough place, you’re going to have to make tough plays, you’re going to have to get stops. Regardless of what scheme it was, you still had so many possessions where you had to guard the ball.
“They do that really well, as well as anybody in the league. They break you down off the dribble, get in the paint and make plays. We were caught in that same situation, having to guard the ball and find a way to finish off possessions. We certainly did that better tonight than we have been.”
Butler said: “I like the way we look in a zone. We’ve got a lot of guys that are athletic with long arms and can get to a lot of basketballs.”
After allowing the Nets and Knicks to score a total of 132 paint points during a two-loss weekend in New York last week, the Heat has been able to hold its past two opponents to 78 paint points. The Heat kept the Spurs to 44 paint points Wednesday.
Limiting opportunities at the rim has been on the Heat defense’s to-do list after the Nets and Knicks combined for 76 shots from inside the restricted area last weekend. And Miami has done that over the past two games, with the Spurs and Thunder combining to take just 41 shots from inside the restricted area.
Oklahoma City was able to find success from three-point range, though. The Thunder went 18 of 46 from deep, but it wasn’t enough.
The Heat allowed 123.6 points per 100 possessions in its losses to the Nets and Knicks. Miami has certainly improved since then, allowing 110.6 points per 100 possessions in its past two games.
The Heat defense was put under a microscope after its struggles in New York, and the response has been strong during this small two-game sample.
“It comes down to effort, that’s what defense is all about,” Adebayo said. “When you’re giving 100 percent effort.”
4. With Heat rookie guard Tyler Herro unavailable for the second consecutive game because of a left knee bruise, Olynyk again found himself in the rotation Friday.
After four consecutive DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision), Olynyk played in his second consecutive game. That’s mostly because Herro is out and Spoelstra needs to fill those minutes.
But Olynyk made the most of those minutes Friday, with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, seven rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes. It’s the most minutes he has played in a game since Dec. 20 and the most points he has scored in a game since Dec. 14.
This comes after Olynyk went scoreless with three rebounds and three assists in nine minutes in Wednesday’s win over the Spurs.
“It’s good, especially to contribute to a win — it’s even better,” Olynyk said of his 12-point game in Oklahoma City. “Obviously, in this league, you never know. You can be in and out of a lineup, up and down, but the one thing you got to do is stay ready. You never know who’s going to play and who’s not going to play. That’s why you have 15 guys on the roster. So guys have to step up when maybe guys are out or different situations and scenarios happen, and you got to keep putting the work in. Keep going, keep training, keep doing extra stuff and when the time comes, make sure you’re ready for that.”
As for Herro, he participated in Friday’s morning shootaround in Oklahoma City and was a game-time decision up until it was announced he would be unavailable 45 minutes before tip-off. Herro’s next opportunity to make his return comes in Sunday afternoon’s game against the Spurs in San Antonio.
“Not quite [ready],” Spoelstra said of Herro. “He went through the shootaround today. He went through everything pregame, but another couple of days of treatment will serve him well, hopefully. We’ll see.”
5. It seems like the Heat has solved its turnover issue ... for now.
After averaging the second-most turnovers in the league at 16.5 per game over its first 35 games of the season, the Heat has limited its mistakes recently. After committing just 11 turnovers against the Thunder, the Heat has averaged 11 turnovers per game over its past six games.
Turnovers have been an issue that has followed the Heat throughout the season despite all of the wins. But if Miami can keep the turnovers to around 14 or fewer per game moving forward, its offensive efficiency should climb even higher. It’s not a coincidence the Heat has the league’s second-best offensive rating during this six-game window of low turnovers.
“We get more shot attempts up,” Butler said of limiting turnovers. “I think that’s the biggest part of it. Then when you turn the ball over, you’re talking maybe a 3-on-1 break a 1-on-0 break, whatever it is. When we’re taking care of the basketball, getting good shots, then the offensive rating has to be up near the top of the league.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 10:29 PM.
