Takeaways from a record-setting performance for the Heat on a night it reached 40 wins
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 116-113 win over the Orlando Magic (27-35) on Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena ...
1. Duncan Robinson is clearly one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA and the Heat (40-22) is clearly one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA.
On a night the Heat set a new franchise record for threes made in a game with 22 on 44 attempts, Robinson finished with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting from three-point range to finish just three threes away from setting a new Heat record for thee-pointers made in a season. The previous team record for threes made in a game was 21 against the Charlotte Hornets on April 5, 2017, and Wayne Ellington (227 threes in 2017-18) currently holds the team record for threes made by a Heat player in a season.
This isn’t just a one-night thing either.
The Heat is averaging the sixth-most made threes per game in the NBA at 13.4 and owns the second-best team three-point shooting percentage at 38.5 percent this season.
As for Robinson, he has turned into one of the league’s elite three-point shooters in just his second NBA season. Robinson, 25, leads the Heat and ranks third in the NBA with 225 made threes this season, behind only Houston’s James Harden (261 made threes) and Sacramento’s Buddy Hield (229). Among the 28 players averaging seven or more three-point shot attempts per game, Robinson owns the league’s top three-point shooting percentage at 44.6 percent ahead of second-place Davis Bertans from the Washington Wizards (42.6 percent).
“If you took a poll of all the NBA players on who Duncan Robinson was before training camp, I would say 70 percent of the league did not know who he was,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I think it’s a remarkable story of persistence and how much he has improved is really incredible.”
The Heat needed each one of its record-breaking 22 made threes Wednesday, too. Miami won by just three points, as Orlando forward Aaron Gordon missed a corner three in the final seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.
The three-point barrage also helped offset relatively quiet performances from the Heat’s two All-Stars. Bam Adebayo finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jimmy Butler finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
“We have talent. We have grit,” Adebayo said. “That’s what I like about this team. It’s a beautiful thing when both of your All-Stars can have a bad night and Duncan can have the night he had.”
2. After turning in one of its best defensive performances of the season in Monday’s impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Heat’s defense wasn’t as sharp Wednesday.
The Magic, which owns the sixth-worst offensive rating in the NBA, scored 113 points on 52.4 percent shooting from the field and 13 of 30 shooting on threes. Orlando posted an offensive rating of 121.5, which is the eight-best single-game offensive rating it has recorded this season.
When posting an offensive rating of 120 or better this season, the Magic was 9-0 before Wednesday’s loss.
Guard Terrence Ross led the Magic with 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 shooting on threes. Center Nikola Vucevic finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.
The Magic outscored the Heat 52-36 in the paint.
While it was one of Orlando’s best offensive performances of the season, it was one of Miami’s worst defensive efforts. The Heat posted its fifth-worst single game defensive rating of the season (121.5) in Wednesday’s win. Miami is now 2-11 this season when finishing a game with a defensive rating of 117 or worse.
So, Wednesday wasn’t exactly a recipe for sustained success for Miami.
For the season, the Heat owns the league’s 14th-best defensive rating. Miami’s challenge over the final 20 regular-season games is to find a way to become more than just mediocre on that end of the court.
“It still feels like we have a lot of time before the playoffs, and we have a lot of ground to cover,” Spoelstra said. “I want to see us get to another level of consistency.”
3. Guard Goran Dragic continues to play like one of the NBA’s top reserves.
Dragic, 33 finished Wednesday’s win with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 shooting on threes, to go with nine assists in 31 minutes. He’s averaging 18.5 points while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 41.2 percent on threes, 3.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 29.7 minutes in eight games since the All-Star break.
During this eight-game stretch, the Heat has outscored opponents by a total of 30 points with Dragic on the court.
“I think he’s finding his rhythm now,” Spoelstra said. “He’s in great shape and has a great flow and nobody has forgotten in this building that Goran is an All-Star.”
Among bench players around the NBA, Dragic ranks fifth in scoring average at 16.5 points per game this season. The only players ahead of Dragic are Oklahoma City guard Dennis Schroder, Los Angeles Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell, Clippers guard Lou Williams and Detroit Pistons guard Derrick Rose.
In addition to Dragic, Heat center Kelly Olynyk has been playing well lately. Olynyk finished with 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, 3-of-3 shooting on threes and 3-of-3 shooting on free throws in 16 minutes off the bench Wednesday.
In eight games since the All-Star break, Olynyk has shot 20 of 27 on threes. The Heat is a plus-49 in Olynyk’s minutes during this stretch.
“This is who he was before,” Spoelstra said of Olynyk. “Let’s not forget what he did last year or the year before. He got hurt in late August, so things had to change and he kept himself ready. He gives us a skill set. It’s not just the shooting. You can play offense through him. You put three other veterans around him and he will make plays. He fits right in.”
4. It looked like the Heat had hit rock bottom after falling to the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves to open its five-game homestand. But the way Miami responded to that loss is encouraging.
After losing to the Timberwolves on Feb. 26, the Heat won the next four games to finish the homestand at 4-1. That span included quality wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Bucks.
“We bounce back,” Adebayo said. “That’s the saying I always have. We bounce back. We go through ups and downs, it’s a long season.”
Miami’s defense was very good in Monday’s win over Milwaukee, but for the most part it’s the offense that has led to this four-game winning streak. The Heat shot 47.8 percent from the field and 46.1 percent on threes during the streak.
In the process, Miami picked up its 40th win of the season in its 62nd game to eclipse last year’s win total. The Heat finished with a 39-43 record last season.
5. The Heat finally won a season series against the Magic, and continues to distance itself from fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Wednesday’s victory marked Miami’s third win over Orlando in four games this season. It’s the first time the Heat has won its season series against the Magic since the 2015-16 season.
After losing to the Magic in Orlando in the teams’ first matchup of the season on Jan. 3, the Heat won the final three meetings. This is quite the turnaround, considering Miami was 3-9 against Orlando in the 12 games prior to this current three-game winning streak.
Wednesday’s win also pushed the No. 4 Heat three games ahead of the No. 5 Indiana Pacers and No. 6 Philadelphia 76ers. With the top four seeds in each conference getting home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, Miami looks to be in good position to start the postseason at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat is also 2.5 games behind the No. 3 Boston Celtics and 3.5 games behind the No. 2 Toronto Raptors.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 12:07 AM.
