Takeaways from another victory for the short-handed Heat. Why this win was different
In a game between two depleted rosters, the Miami Heat again was the better short-handed team.
Already playing without three starters in Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker and a few other rotation players, the Heat’s list of injuries grew longer on Thursday. Center Dewayne Dedmon left the game in the first quarter with a sprained left knee and did not return.
The Pistons also fielded a thin roster with just nine available players because of COVID-19 issues and injuries.
But it was the Heat (20-13) that rallied from a late five-point deficit to defeat the Pistons 115-112 on Thursday night at FTX Arena. Miami has won six of its last eight games — all without Adebayo and Butler.
“Thankfully, it was a win and we can now enjoy our Christmas because we’re sick in the minds,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said with a smile. “We would have been handing out a bunch of coal probably to everybody if we would have lost this game.”
The Pistons, which own the NBA’s worst record at 5-26, led for most of the first half. The Heat trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and entered halftime in a six-point hole.
Miami shot just 5 of 19 on threes in the first two quarters. But the Heat responded by shooting 5 of 8 from deep in the third quarter to win the period 33-26 and enter the fourth quarter ahead by one.
The two teams traded punches in a fourth quarter that included four lead changes until the Pistons built a five-point lead with 3:34 to play. That’s when guard Kyle Lowry scored seven straight points for the Heat to spark a 10-2 run to close the game and complete the comeback.
“He has the heart of a champion,” Spoelstra said. “He really does. He steps up, has an incredible feel for what the team needs at a particular time. He’s the ultimate competitor.”
Tyler Herro and Max Strus also hit big shots during the game-deciding run, as Herro made a fadeaway three-pointer at the end of the shot clock to put the Heat ahead by two points with 1:12 to play and Strus then made a three of his own to give the Heat a three-point lead with 40.4 seconds to play.
“You guys have no idea how close I was to calling a timeout on that play,” Spoelstra said of Herro’s late-game three. “I hesitated and I ran, I stumbled, I think I choked. That’s probably what it was, I just froze. It looked like the possession was jammed up. ... Thankfully the head coach didn’t get in the way and he just made an incredible shot, which he has the ability to do and also he just loves those kind of moments where you have to step up and make a big play in the moment of truth. That was big and Max’s three was obviously really big in the corner.”
Trailing by three, the Pistons had one final opportunity to send the game into overtime. But Cory Joseph missed a three-pointer and Heat forward Udonis Haslem secured the defensive rebound as the final buzzer sounded.
Herro led the Heat with 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting off the bench.
Strus finished with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 shooting on threes in a career-high 41 minutes.
Lowry contributed 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, four rebounds and six assists.
After a two-day Christmas break, the Heat continues its four-game homestand on Sunday afternoon against the Orlando Magic. Miami has started the homestand with two wins.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Pistons:
The Heat almost fell victim to the Pistons’ best three-point shooting performance of the season. But Miami won because it dominated the paint.
This was a new formula for the Heat without Adebayo and Butler, as Miami made 16 or more threes and shot better than 40 percent from three-point range in each of its first seven wins of the season without its leading duo.
On Thursday, it was the Pistons that made a season-high 18 threes to outscore the Heat 54-36 from deep. Miami shot just 12 of 32 (37.5 percent) from three-point range.
But the Heat made up for it by outscoring the Pistons 54-28 from inside the paint, taking advantage of Detroit’s depleted frontcourt. The Pistons started 6-9 and 234-pound Trey Lyles at center.
Miami made 25 of its season-high 37 shots from inside the restricted area on Thursday. It marked only the fourth time this season that the Heat has taken 30 or more shots from inside the restricted area in a game.
For the season, the Heat averages 22.2 shots per game from that part of the court.
“We were down, it felt like double digits, for the majority of the game and this was a game that you just have to find a way,” Spoelstra said. “It was for competitors only to just manage and make plays, even if it was ugly at times. Just make plays and find a way to get a win.”
Lowry led the way, shooting 6 of 8 from inside the restricted area to score. Herro made five of his eight shots from around the rim.
Already without a handful of rotation players, fill-in starting Heat center Dewayne Dedmon left Thursday’s game early with a left knee injury.
After missing a layup, Dedmon came down and immediately fell to the court and grabbed his left knee. He pounded the court as he rolled around in pain before getting up and limping directly to the locker room with 6:41 left in the first quarter.
On the replay, it appeared that Dedmon hurt his knee when he came down for the gather after receiving the pass in the paint. He then went up for the layup attempt before going down to the court in pain.
Dedmon didn’t return to the game, as the Heat labeled his injury as a sprained left knee. An MRI on Dedmon’s injured knee is scheduled for Friday to determine if there’s any structural damage in the knee.
“Let’s just see what happens in the morning,” Spoelstra said following Thursday’s win. “I don’t even know and I don’t think anybody knows. We’ll just evaluate him tomorrow. But I think I felt like everybody else felt when he went down and he slapped his hand on the floor, your heart sinks.”
The Heat is already without Adebayo, who is not expected to return until mid-January after undergoing thumb surgery earlier this month. Thursday marked the 12th consecutive game that Dedmon has started in place of Adebayo.
Dedmon has done a solid job in Adebayo’s place, averaging 9.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in his first 11 starts before he went down with Thursday’s knee injury.
The Heat already entered Thursday’s game without Adebayo, Jimmy Butler (tail bone contusion), Caleb Martin (health and safety protocols), Markieff Morris (whiplash), Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) and P.J. Tucker (lower left leg nerve inflammation).
Without Dedmon out for most of Thursday’s game, the Heat turned to Udonis Haslem, KZ Okpala and Omer Yurtseven to fill the void at center. Haslem closed the game.
Yurtseven opened the second half in Dedmon’s place. He finished with eight points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes.
But Haslem entered for Yurtseven with 5:02 left in the third quarter and scored seven points in a five-minute spurt to end the period. It marked the first time that Haslem has scored seven points in a quarter since April 9, 2018 and just the second time since 2015.
Haslem also played the final 6:40 of the game. He finished with season-highs in points (seven) and rebounds (five) in 12 minutes.
“He looked pretty good to me. He looked good,” Herro said of Haslem. “He’s obviously been in this for a while. He’s at the end of the bench for every game, but he’s ready to go every single night whether he plays or not.”
Okpala ended the night with three points, two rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes. He did not play in the second half.
Meanwhile, the struggling Pistons had just nine available players in part because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the team.
It began when Detroit rookie guard Cade Cunningham entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday. Then the Pistons announced just hours before Thursday’s game that Killian Hayes, Saben Lee, Rodney McGruder and Isaiah Stewart also entered protocols.
With Jerami Grant (thumb sprain), Isaiah Livers (reconditioning), Kelly Olynyk (left knee sprain) and Chris Smith (G League) also ruled out, the Pistons entered their game against the Heat with only nine available players. NBA teams are required to have a minimum of eight available players to play a game.
Among the nine out for Detroit on Thursday were four regular starters in Cunningham, Grant, Hayes and Stewart.
Forward Zylan Cheatham did not play in Thursday’s game, but he was available for the Heat.
Cheatham signed a 10-day contract with the Heat on Wednesday as a COVID-19 replacement for two-way contract guard Caleb Martin.
“I pretty much deferred to our staff about him,” Spoelstra said when asked about the signing of Cheatham. “I’d only seen the film before we signed him. I do remember though that Pat [Riley] really liked him out of the draft. So if he likes somebody, you already know that he has a lot of the make up and the qualities and the DNA of the type of player that fits in here. He’s super high energy, high motor, tough, all of those type of things that fit with how we do things here.”
It remains to be seen if Cheatham will ever play in a game for the Heat, as his 10-day deal will be terminated as soon as Martin is out of protocols and is cleared to resume basketball activities. Martin was seated behind the Heat’s bench on Thursday, which means he is out of quarantine and his return is near.
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 10:09 PM.
