Takeaways from the Heat’s third straight win. And just how important has Jimmy Butler been?
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 98-96 win over the New York Knicks (11-15) on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. It marked the Heat’s third straight win after a 7-14 start to the season:
The Heat (10-14) needs Jimmy Butler on the court for as many minutes as possible. That’s true for basically every game, and it was especially true on Tuesday night.
Butler stuffed the stat sheet like usual, finishing with a game-high 26 points while shooting 6 of 15 from the field, 1 of 2 on threes and 13 of 15 from the foul line. He also recorded eight rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes.
But it was Butler’s on-off numbers that were eye-opening on Tuesday. The Heat outscored the Knicks by 25 points with Butler on the court, but New York outscored Miami by 23 in the 11:40 that Butler was on the bench.
“That is an All-Star. That speaks for itself,” Adebayo said of Butler’s impact. “I shouldn’t have to explain that. It will always be different when he is on the court than off the court. He is Jimmy Butler for a reason.”
The first half was full of runs that began and ended when Butler stepped on the court and went to the bench.
The Heat outscored the Knicks 25-17 in the first 8:33 of the game with Butler playing.
When Butler went to the bench, the Knicks outscored the Heat 25-5 in the next 7:14 to take a 12-point lead.
When Butler returned to court for the final 8:13 of the first half, the Heat closed the second quarter on a 27-13 run to enter halftime with a 57-55 advantage.
The result: Miami outscored New York by 22 points in the 16:46 that Butler played in the first half. The Heat was outscored by 20 points in the 7:14 that Butler did not play in the first two quarters.
Butler went on to score 16 points in the second half.
Butler was called off the bench with the Knicks ahead by eight and 10:03 to play. With Butler on the court for the rest of the fourth quarter, Miami closed the game on a 22-12 run to rally for the win.
Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro combined to score 38 of the Heat’s 41 points in the second half. Kelly Olynyk was the only other Heat player to score in the second half.
With the game tied at 94, Herro hit an important three-pointer on a Butler assist with 1:04 left to give the Heat the lead. Herro finished with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes off the bench.
It’s not surprising that Miami is a better team with Butler playing, but it is surprising how much the team has struggled when he’s not playing.
The Heat has outscored opponents by 8.2 points per 100 possessions in the 12 games Butler has played in this season. Teams have outscored the Heat by 8.4 points per 100 possessions when Butler is on the bench.
“I get a good feel of what my guys need me to do,” Butler said. “If I’m not doing my job, they’ll tell me. My coaches will tell me. I just have to make sure we win.”
Even when Butler was playing, the Heat’s offense looked out of whack for most of the night. Miami’s shot chart is proof of that.
Miami scored 98 points on 37.1 percent shooting from the field.
The Heat shot 14 of 33 (42.4 percent) on threes and 32 of 39 (82.1 percent) from the foul line on Tuesday. So why was Miami’s offense so inefficient?
The Heat finished just 12 of 37 (32.4 percent) on two-point shot attempts. The performance set a new single-game record for the fewest two-point makes in Heat history.
“It’s big that we can miss shots and still be able to lock in on the other end and still get stops defensively,” Herro said. “That’s the way we’re going to win games like this. I looked up in the fourth quarter and it was like 84-80. That’s not a typical Miami Heat score for us. When games are like that, we have to be able to lock in and get stops when it matters.”
Olynyk played a big part in the Heat’s success from three-point range, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from deep.
And Adebayo and Butler accounted for most of Miami’s free throws, combining to shoot 26 of 31 from the foul line in Tuesday’s win.
Adebayo finished with 19 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field and 13-of-16 shooting from the foul line, six rebounds and two assists in 35 minutes.
The Heat’s defense limited the Knicks to 14 points on 6-of-23 shooting (26.1 percent) shooting in the fourth quarter.
“This was more of a throwback Miami Heat-New York Knicks game from the 90s, where there weren’t a lot of open shots in the last 14, 16 minutes of the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You’re just going to have to grind out a win. In many ways, do it when you weren’t scoring. Free throws were like gold in this game and the defensive stops down the stretch were inspiring.”
With guards Avery Bradley (right calf strain) and Goran Dragic (sprained left ankle) still unavailable, the Heat went with the same nine-man rotation it used in Sunday’s win over the Knicks.
Miami used the starting lineup of Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Olynyk and Adebayo for the second straight game.
The Heat also went with the same four reserves it used in Sunday’s victory in New York: Herro, Precious Achiuwa, Andre Iguodala and Gabe Vincent. Udonis Haslem, KZ Okpala and Max Strus were the only available Heat players who did not get in Tuesday’s game.
Using the same nine-man rotation for two straight games shouldn’t be noteworthy. But it is this season for the Heat, which has used a league-leading 16 different starting lineups in 24 games.
Along with missing Bradley and Dragic, the Heat was without Moe Harkless (left thigh contusion), Meyers Leonard (left shoulder surgery) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain) on Tuesday.
Veteran guard Derrick Rose played his first game of the season as a member of the Knicks on Tuesday.
The Knicks sent guard Dennis Smith Jr. and a 2021 second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons to acquire Rose, who is reunited with coach Tom Thibodeau. The teams agreed to the deal on Sunday, and physicals were completed just in time to clear Rose for his season debut with the Knicks on Tuesday.
Rose, 32, played off the bench and made an immediate impact. He finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and three assists in 20 minutes.
Tuesday’s contest marked the third game Rose has played against the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena in the last four weeks. As a member of the Pistons, he averaged 22 points while shooting 60.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent on threes, four assists and three steals in two games against the Heat played on Jan. 16 and 18 in Miami.
“He definitely can add quite a bit to that team,” Spoelstra said of the Knicks’ addition of Rose. “One, that partnership between he and Thibs has had a lot of success, so they both feel confident in that. Then with a new team, new leadership, it definitely helps to have familiar faces that understand the culture and what they are trying to drive. And Derrick is just a heck of a player.”
Next up for the Heat? One of the longest road trips in franchise history.
After playing 14 of its first 24 games of the season at home, the Heat begins a seven-game trip on Thursday against the Houston Rockets that spans almost two weeks and takes the team to the other side of the country.
The trip includes road games on Thursday against the Rockets, Saturday against the Utah Jazz, Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers, Feb. 17 against the Golden State Warriors, Feb. 18 against the Sacramento Kings, Feb. 20 against the Los Angeles Lakers and Feb. 22 at Oklahoma City Thunder.
It marks the Heat’s longest road trip since a seven-game trip in 2009, and it’s tied for the longest road trip in franchise history.
“We have to figure out a way to win some of these games on the road,” Butler said. “I want to win all of them to tell you the truth. I know we’re capable of it. We’re really going to see what we’re made of. We’re really going to see how tough and resilient we are. When things aren’t going our way, how are we going to handle them?”
The Heat’s next home game is in two weeks on Feb. 24 against the Toronto Raptors.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 12:25 AM.
