Takeaways from Heat’s fourth straight win, as newcomers continue to make strong impression
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s fourth consecutive win, a 115-101 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers (17-32) on Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena to improve to 26-24:
The Heat did what it was supposed to do against one of the NBA’s worst teams and earned a rare blowout win.
Saturday marked just Miami’s fifth win of 14 points or more this season, and just its third in the past 28 games.
The Heat’s last such win? A 113-98 win over the Cavaliers on March 16.
For perspective, the team with the Eastern Conference’s worst record — the Detroit Pistons — has six wins of 15 points or more this season.
That’s because the Heat plays a lot of close games. Miami has played in 28 clutch games this season, which is tied for the third-most in the NBA.
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.
Saturday was not a clutch game, though.
The Cavaliers cut the Heat’s lead to five with 4:05 remaining in the third quarter. But Miami outscored Cleveland 40-31 the rest of the way.
The Heat’s offense was efficient with 35 assists to just 11 turnovers in the win. Miami scored 115 points while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 15 of 38 on threes.
Seven Heat players finished with double-digit points led by sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, who scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting on threes. It’s the continuation of an impressive stretch for Robinson, who has shot 30 of 55 (54.5 percent) from three-point range in the past six games.
“Everybody has pure intentions about it,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Heat’s balanced box score. “Just to play off of each other, share the game and enjoy each other’s success. We’re healthier now, we have more weapons. The only way that can be to your advantage is if guys want to make that work and you need to play to your strengths, but you do it with the intention to play together and to try to create something better.”
Bam Adebayo scored 18 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists.
Jimmy Butler finished with 15 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and two steals.
A double-digit Heat win was the expected outcome, with the Cavaliers entering with the league’s worst offensive rating, 10th-worst defensive rating and worst net rating this season. Cleveland also was without two starters in center Jarrett Allen (concussion) and forward Larry Nance Jr. (illness).
Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers’ offensive attack with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting
The Heat now has two days off before continuing its four-game homestand on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
After foul trouble helped to slow Victor Oladipo in his Heat debut on Thursday, he was able to play a more normal allotment of minutes on Saturday. But he’s still searching for an offensive rhythm.
Oladipo, who was acquired by Miami on March 25 in a trade with the Houston Rockets, finished Saturday’s win with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting on threes, one rebound and five assists in 30 minutes.
This comes two nights after Oladipo battled foul trouble to record six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, 0-of-4 shooting on threes and 2-of-5 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, five assists and two steals in 23 minutes in his Heat debut on Thursday.
In his first two games with the Heat, the two-time All-Star guard has totaled 14 points while shooting 5 of 21 from the field, 1 of 10 on threes and 3 of 7 from the foul line. He has also dished out 10 assists to seven turnovers.
“I am not worried about it all. My shots are going to fall,” Oladipo said of his slow offensive start with the Heat. “I will score. I just have to continue to keep playing defense at a high level. Continue to keep playing and getting minutes. Everything else will take care of itself. “
Oladipo’s defense has already been impressive, as his switchability and quickness have already made the Heat a more dynamic defensive team.
Oladipo, 28, has tallied four steals and one block in his first two games with Miami. The Heat has posted an elite defensive rating of 90.4 points allowed per 100 possessions when he has been on the court.
“You can just see how much he adds to what we do already,” Spoelstra said of Oladipo. “Defensively, he fits right in. That’s probably the quickest adjustment. Then offensively, just his speed and quickness with the ball, without the ball. It adds a different element for our basketball team and it’s really going to help.”
The upcoming two-day break will allow for Oladipo to participate in his first practice with the Heat since the trade.
Andre Iguodala was a late addition to the Heat’s injury report and he did not play Saturday.
Iguodala surfaced on the Heat’s 5:30 p.m. injury report just before Saturday’s game. The veteran forward was listed as questionable because of left hip soreness and was eventually ruled out for the contest.
It marked the fifth game that the 37-year-old Iguodala has missed this season. He also missed two games in March with left hip soreness.
The Heat had 13 of its 15 players available against the Cavaliers. The only other who missed Saturday’s game was forward KZ Okpala, who was unavailable for his seventh straight game because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
With Iguodala unavailable, rookie center Precious Achiuwa was again part of the Heat’s rotation. But rookie guard Kendrick Nunn again was not.
Achiuwa, who received his third DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) of the season on Thursday, finished with six points, two rebounds and one block in nine minutes on Saturday.
Spoelstra opted to use newcomer Nemanja Bjelica over Achiuwa as the back-up center in the Heat’s non-Adebayo minutes on Thursday against the Warriors. And Bjelica again entered the game in the first quarter when Adebayo went to the bench on Saturday.
But with Bjelica also having to log minutes alongside Adebayo to make up for the void Iguodala left behind at the four spot, Achiuwa needed to provide a few minutes at the center spot when Adebayo and Bjelica both were on the bench.
The Heat used the starting lineup of Oladipo, Robinson, Butler, Trevor Ariza and Adebayo for the second straight game.
Miami’s rotation of reserves Saturday included Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Bjelica and Achiuwa before Spoelstra emptied the bench in the final minutes.
Dragic, who missed Thursday’s win on the second night of a back-to-back as he continues to recover from a back injury, finished with 13 points and four assists in 27 minutes against the Cavaliers.
Bjelica contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes. Herro scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 23 minutes.
Second-year guard Kendrick Nunn did not play despite being available for the second consecutive game. He returned Thursday after a two-game absence stemming from a sprained ankle, but he has not played since suffering the injury in a March 26 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
Nunn, who started in each of the previous 24 games before his injury, could be the odd man out of the Heat’s rotation after the addition of Oladipo. Dragic and Herro continue to play as the top two guards off Miami’s bench.
Ariza is starting to make threes, and that’s a very positive sign for the Heat.
Ariza, 35, has settled into a starting role as the Heat’s small-ball power forward. He’s also settling into an offensive groove.
Ariza, who was acquired on March 17 in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, finished Saturday’s win with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting on threes. He has made 6 of his 12 three-point attempts in the past two games.
This hot stretch comes after he shot just 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) from deep in his first seven games with the Heat.
It’s not a surprise that it took a few weeks for Ariza to find his shot, as his Heat debut marked his first NBA game in a little more than a year. He has made 35.1 percent of his threes over his 17 NBA seasons.
Ariza has been especially efficient from the corners, hitting 42 percent of his corner threes in the previous eight seasons. He shot 3 of 4 on corner threes Saturday.
“He’s key for us, to us,” Butler said of Ariza. “It’s not about making shots. That comes and that goes. But how smart he is, how he’s always in the right spot, how he’s always talking when he’s the low man, when he’s the help-side defense. You can switch with, you can trap with him, show with him, do it all. Whatever you ask him to do, he does.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2021 at 10:28 PM.
