Butler, Adebayo, Herro lead Miami Heat past Charlotte Hornets. Takeaways from the win
The Miami Heat’s early lead on Friday, at one point as many as 26 points over the Charlotte Hornets, had dwindled to six with just under nine minutes left to play at FTX Arena. A game Miami had dominated for the majority of the game looked like it could be in jeopardy.
But the Heat did what the Heat needed to do when it mattered. A mini 7-0 run — fueled primarily by reserves — helped Miami extend its lead back to double-digits and put the Heat in position to hold on for a 114-99 win over the Hornets. Miami improved to 4-1. Charlotte fell to 4-2.
Before that late flurry, though, the Heat’s usual cast of characters took charge. Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 32 points while adding 10 rebounds and four assists. Bam Adebayo added a double-double with 26 points and 19 rebounds. Tyler Herro scored 26 off the bench and added five rebounds and six assists.
But it was that late push, in a span of 64 seconds midway through the fourth quarter, that helped the Heat hold on.
Adebayo started the run with a pair of free throws, Max Strus hit a three-pointer and Markieff Morris laid down a dunk. An 88-82 advantage quickly became 95-82 with 7:32 left. Miami outscored Charlotte 19-17 the rest of the way to close out the win.
“The fourth quarter was very good,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “A lot of good things on both ends.”
The Heat plays at the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday at FedExForum for its first set of back-to-back games this season. Of the Heat’s 14 back-to-backs this year, this is one of three with one game at home and one game on the road.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over to the Hornets:
1.) Tyler Herro, once again, proves he’s a spark off the bench.
Maybe you want to point to his running 28-foot, buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first quarter — his second buzzer-beating shot in an opening quarter this season.
Or maybe his footwork as he cut, spun, turned around again and floated a fadeaway jumper past Cody Martin that was part of a 13-point second quarter.
Or maybe you just want to go big picture, looking at the sheer confidence he possesses every time the ball is in his hand.
Take your pick.
Herro once again had a big night to begin his third NBA season.
With his 26 points, Herro now has 110 on the season, all while playing as a reserve. He became the first player in Heat history to score 100 points off the bench through the first five games of a season.
“I just come in to play and being locked in,” Herro said. “Some nights are different than others. The last couple of games, I feel like I was getting sped up, a little bit rushed. So I just came in tonight with a focus to slow the game down a little bit, be able to get back to my spots and feel comfortable out there.”
2.) Spoelstra isn’t worried about Kyle Lowry’s low shooting numbers ... yet.
Lowry only scored four points on 2-of-10 shooting Friday. Through four games played with the Heat this season, he has 27 points, has made just 27 percent of his shots (10 for 37) and has yet to score in double figures.
Any cause for concern, especially for a player who has averaged at least 16 points per game in seven of his last eight seasons?
Not yet, Spoelstra said. Not when he’s contributing in other ways to get the team settled early this season.
“What you’re seeing is remarkable quarterback play right now,” Spoelstra said. “That’s really intentional. Coming to a new franchise, I think he’s really been intentional about getting the ball to guys and allowing them to have opportunities to score. He’s really playing pass first, pass second, pass third right now. I think that’s a beautiful quality of his, to be able to come to this situation and allow everybody else to feel comfortable. That’s a tough thing to do. Normally, you’re trying to find your own comfort zone. That he’s thinking about everybody else and you can see where everybody has really benefited from that. I do know that at some point we’re going to need is scoring and he’ll be able to provide that ... but right now this is a good rhythm and a good flow.”
3.) The Heat’s run of strong first quarters continue.
Herro’s buzzer-beater to end the first quarter helped the Heat continue an early positive trend to begin the season.
Through five games, the Heat has outscored opponents 153-104 in the opening 12 minutes. The Heat’s plus-9.5 margin per game in the first quarter entering Friday was the best in NBA.
It was more of the same against the Hornets.
After going down 7-2, the Heat rattled off an 11-0 run over a span of 2:39 to take an 11-7 lead and force a Charlotte timeout. The Heat’s dominance continued from there, outscoring the Hornets 22-15 over the final 6:23 to go up by 11 points at the end of the quarter.
Butler scored nine points with four rebounds and three assists in the frame while Adebayo added eight points and four rebounds.
The Heat had a 20-8 rebound edge and a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points in the quarter.
4.) Bam Adebayo has banner night as team honors his run to Olympic gold.
Adebayo recorded his fourth double-double in five games and was dominant on both sides of the court. His 19 rebounds are a season high and two shy of his career high. His 26 points were also a season high, topping the 24 he scored Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets.
And it came on the night the Heat added a banner to the rafters commemorating his run to a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics this summer in Tokyo.
5.) The Heat’s early run as one of the NBA’s top rebounding teams continues.
One year after finishing as one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, the Heat entered Friday leading the NBA with an average of 54.3 rebounds per game.
The Heat out-rebounded the Hornets 60-37 on Friday. Six players had at least five rebounds on Friday. This included 16 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 10:04 PM.
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