Another game, another ‘clutch’ win. Takeaways and reaction from Heat’s road win over Magic
The Miami Heat has been one of the NBA’s best fourth-quarter teams recently, and that trend continued in Orlando.
The Heat (21-18) began the fourth quarter in a four-point hole and ended it with a 102-97 victory over the Orlando Magic (13-26) on Sunday night at Amway Center. Miami has won four straight and 10 of its last 11 games.
“Find a way to win. Good team effort on both ends of the floor,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said. “At the end of the day, that’s the reason that we play. I’m happy that we got a win on the road. We get to go home in a good state of mind and hopefully keep it going.”
The Heat has won the fourth quarter in eight of its past nine games, and has outscored opponents by a combined margin of 40 points in the fourth quarter during that stretch.
The Heat’s decisive run on Sunday began with about four minutes to play. With Miami trailing by two points with 4:28 left, it closed the game on a 12-5 run and outscored Orlando 29-20 in the final period.
The Magic still had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. But with the Heat ahead by three, Terrence Ross missed a three-pointer with 17.1 seconds left and Dwayne Bacon missed another three with 11.3 seconds remaining.
Butler then stole a pass and made an easy transition layup on the other end to seal the victory.
Butler led the Heat with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds, nine assists and five steals in 37 minutes.
“Jimmy was fantastic. If there’s ever a stat line that did not do a player justice, that was tonight,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I looked at the box score before and I was thinking for sure that that would have been a triple-double game. It felt every bit like of one of those monster winning games that Jimmy puts together on both sides of the floor.”
The struggling Magic, which has lost eight straight, was without four of its top six scorers. Orlando was without Cole Anthony (rib), James Ennis III (calf), Evan Fournier (groin), Markelle Fultz (knee), Aaron Gordon (ankle) and Jonathan Isaac (knee) on Sunday.
All-Star center Nikola Vucevic kept the short-handed Magic in the game, though, with 38 points on 6-of-13 shooting on threes, 10 rebounds and six assists.
“It felt like you were looking at the modern day Dirk Nowitzki out there tonight,” Spoelstra said of Vucevic.
Ross contributed a season-high 31 points on 8-of-13 shooting on threes.
Vucevic and Ross combined to shoot 14 of 26 from three point range. The rest of the Magic’s roster shot 2 of 14 from deep.
Miami scored 26 points off Orlando’s 23 turnovers.
The Heat now returns home for a matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Five of Miami’s next six games will come at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Magic:
It’s not just the fourth quarter, the Heat has also been one of the NBA’s best teams in “clutch” situations since turning its season around five weeks ago.
Since beginning the season with a 7-14 record, Miami has won 14 of its past 18 games. During that positive 18-game stretch that began on Feb. 5, the Heat has posted a 10-2 “clutch” record.
A “clutch” game is defined as one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The 10-2 “clutch” record is impressive (and probably not sustainable given how much luck factors into late-game situations at times). But the fact that 12 of the Heat’s past 18 games fall under the “clutch” category is also notable.
Sunday’s win over the Magic also came down to “clutch” minutes, with Miami outscoring Orlando 12-7 during “clutch” time.
“We’ve been in a lot of these ‘clutch games,’ where it’s going down the stretch in the last six minutes and possession games,” Spoelstra said. “And we’ve really worked at it. Tonight, in particular, I thought on the road we showed rock solid stability in that second half.”
What has led to the Heat’s recent success late in close games?
Miami is shooting just 40.7 percent and is scoring at a below average pace of 101.3 points per 100 possessions in “clutch” situations during this 10-2 “clutch” stretch.
But it has been the Heat’s defense that has been dominant. Miami has limited opponents to 88 points per 100 possessions during “clutch” situations since Feb. 5.
The Heat began the season with a 3-8 “clutch” record before wining 10 of its last 12 “clutch” games. The 23 “clutch” games that Miami has played this season is the second-most in the NBA behind only the 25 that the Boston Celtics have been a part of.
“It’s fun when you find a way to pull it out,” Heat center Kelly Olynyk said. “Earlier in the season, we were finding a way on the other side of it. Obviously, it’s good to build that up right now. Kind of get these games under your belt where you’re having to execute in the fourth quarter, having to make plays, having to get stops and keep building on that.”
The Heat continues to take advantage of a soft segment of its schedule.
Miami has not played a winning team in two weeks, and the Heat played its sixth straight game against a sub-.500 team Sunday. With the win in Orlando, the Heat improved to 5-1 during this stretch.
The Heat has earned wins over the Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans, Magic (twice) and Chicago Bulls during this span. Those four opponents entered Sunday with a combined record of 63-87 (.420 winning percentage).
The Heat is 16-7 against sub-.500 teams this season.
The good news for Miami is its next four games also come against teams currently with a losing record — the Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies and Indiana Pacers (twice).
Tyler Herro appeared on the Heat’s injury report less than two hours before tip-off on Sunday. The team listed him as questionable because of a right shoulder strain, but he played through the pain.
“It just happened in one of these two games. It has been bothering him a little bit,” Spoelstra said Sunday before the team determined Herro could play.
Herro, who made his 14th straight appearance off the bench, was effective with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting on threes, eight rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes.
Herro played the entire fourth quarter Sunday, scoring 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting in the period. He hit a timely three to put the Heat ahead by four points with 2:21 to play.
“It was a game-time decision,” Herro said of playing through the injury Sunday. “But I really wanted to play, finish up the road trip on a strong note and get out there and help the team win. I’m glad I ended up playing and I’m just going to continue to get treatment on my shoulder and my neck.”
But the Heat was still short-handed, and its center-by-committee approach continued.
The Heat remained without starting center Bam Adebayo (left knee tendinitis) and reserve guard Avery Bradley (right calf strain) on Sunday. It marked the fourth straight game Adebayo has missed and the 18th straight game Bradley has missed because of their respective injuries.
Without Adebayo, second-year forward KZ Okpala again started in his place alongside Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Butler and Olynyk.
Olynyk finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
The Heat’s bench rotation on Sunday included Goran Dragic, Herro, Andre Iguodala, Chris Silva and Precious Achiuwa.
Silva entered ahead of Achiuwa for the third straight game, a new wrinkle in the Heat’s rotation. But Silva played just two minutes in the first half because of two quick fouls, and Achiuwa ended up logging five first-half minutes as Silva watched from the bench because of foul trouble.
Silva did not enter the game again after he exited in the first quarter. Achiuwa recorded two points and one rebound in 12 minutes.
In Okpala’s fourth straight start, he continued to flash intriguing potential on both ends of the court.
Okpala finished with eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 22 minutes.
The second quarter included one of the best plays of Okpala’s young NBA career. He caught a pass in the corner and drove right at Bacon, using a behind-the-back escape dribble to get past Bacon and then finishing with a double clutch reverse layup.
Okpala’s second NBA season has not included a consistent rotation role yet. But he logged 20 or more minutes in a game on Sunday for just the second time since the start of February.
This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 9:26 PM.
