Takeaways and reaction from Heat’s win over Pistons, as Jimmy Butler exits early with injury
Wins are important, but so is the health of key players at this late stage of the season.
So it was a night of mixed emotions, as the Eastern-Conference leading Heat (46-24) managed to escape with a 105-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons (18-51) on Tuesday night at FTX Arena despite star Jimmy Butler exiting the contest early because of a sprained right ankle.
Butler tweaked his right ankle in the second quarter and did not play in the second half.
Even in a win, it was a turbulent night for the Heat and not only because of Butler’s injury. The Pistons, which entered with the NBA’s third-worst record, led by five points entering the fourth quarter.
The two teams then traded blows in a final period that included seven lead changes.
But the Pistons’ final lead came when it was ahead by one with 4:33 to play. The Heat then closed the game out on a 19-11 run powered by Tyler Herro, Max Strus and Bam Adeabyo to come away with the win.
Herro totaled 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting, five rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter.
Strus, who did not play in the first half and did not score in the first three quarters, came off the bench and provided a much-needed fourth-quarter spark. He scored the Heat’s first 13 points of the final period on his way to a 16-point fourth quarter.
Adebayo battled foul trouble for most of the night, but managed to finish with 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. He scored eight points in the fourth quarter.
The Heat needed to overcome a shaky offensive performance. Miami shot just 40.3 percent on Tuesday, but was buoyed by a season-high 39 free-throw attempts that resulted in a 35-14 edge in points scored at the free-throw line.
The Heat, which holds a 2.5 game lead over the second-place Milwaukee Bucks in the East standings, now has a few days off before closing its season-long seven-game homestand on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Pistons:
Butler did not play in the second half after re-injuring his right ankle.
Butler came up limping after a drive to the basket midway through the second quarter, but remained in the game to play the rest of the period. However, he did not take the court to open the second half as Gabe Vincent started the third quarter in his place.
The Heat ruled Butler out for the second half because of a sprained right ankle. He ended the night with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting, two rebounds and three assists in 18 first-half minutes.
“He tweaked his ankle. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.
Butler has already missed six games this season because of a sprained right ankle — three in November and another three in January.
The playoffs begin in about a month and the Heat has just 12 games remaining on its regular-season schedule. With only one game — Friday against the Thunder — in the next five days, it could make sense for Miami to rest Butler for at least the rest of the week to make sure he’s 100 percent for the stretch run.
Butler has missed 22 games this season. The Heat is 13-9 without him this season.
Spoelstra has said multiple times in recent days that the Heat has become “dependent” on Herro’s bench scoring. This was again true Tuesday.
With the Heat’s offense off to a rough start, the Pistons led by seven points with 5:18 left in the second quarter. But that’s when Herro sparked a 19-6 run to close the period and help the Heat build a 57-51 lead entering halftime.
Herro scored 12 of Miami’s 19 points during that run.
Herro totaled 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 shooting on threes and 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line in the second quarter. He has scored at least 12 points in eight consecutive second quarters.
“The second quarter, I have some time where it’s just my unit on the court,” Herro said. “I’m able to make plays and the ball is in my hands a lot.”
After scoring 20 points in the first half, Herro went scoreless in the third quarter. But he delivered timely baskets in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line in the final period to help the Heat hold on for the win.
With the game tied at 87, Herro hit a 19-foot midrange jumper to put the Heat ahead by two with 4:11 to play. Then he scored on a driving layup to give Miami a four-point lead with 2:34 left and made a three-pointer to extend the Heat’s lead to five with 1:57 remaining.
“Tyler can create things out of nothing where they flatten you out and you just have to have somebody that can create a shot and get a high-quality efficient looking shot,” Spoelstra said. “Tyler can do that at all three levels and he did it in the final stretch. He got a layup, he got a pull-up jumper and he got a three and some free throws. So he basically did it at all four levels and that’s what makes him really unique and special.”
Herro has averaged 25.4 points while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 46.8 percent on threes, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 11 games since the All-Star break.
Strus began the night outside of the Heat’s rotation and ended the night with a game-changing fourth-quarter performance.
Strus spent the first 32 minutes of the game on the bench, as the Heat began with a four-man bench rotation of Herro, Dewayne Dedmon, Markieff Morris and Victor Oladipo.
But Butler’s injury and absence in the second half forced changes to the rotation, as Strus entered with 3:52 left in the third quarter for his first playing time of the night.
Strus went on to score the Heat’s first 13 points of the fourth quarter on his way to a 16-point period. He shot 6 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 on threes in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t even think I was going to play tonight at all,” Strus admitted.
Since Morris and Oladipo returned from extended absences last week, Strus’ minutes haven’t been consistent. Strus logged just three minutes in Oladipo’s first game back in a March 7 win over the Houston Rockets before injuries allowed him to play 12 minutes on March 9 against the Phoenix Suns, 19 minutes on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers and 31 minutes on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But with Caleb Martin (hyperextended left knee) as the only member of the Heat’s 15-man roster out on Tuesday, it looked like Strus had lost his spot in the rotation against the Pistons. Then Butler tweaked his ankle and Strus took advantage of his fourth-quarter opportunity.
“Something I’m kind of used to now,” Strus said. “It’s kind of been like that since I’ve been here. I know I say it all the time, but it’s the whole stay ready so you don’t have to get ready mentality. I knew when Jimmy went down at the half that somebody was going to have to step up. I was just waiting for my name to get called and just be ready for that moment.”
Strus is averaging career-highs in points (10.7), rebounds (3.1), assists (1.3) and minutes (23.1) while shooting a career-best 41 percent from three-point range this season.
Vincent is another rotation regular who lost his consistent rotation role after the return of Morris and Oladipo. But after not playing in the first half on Tuesday, Vincent started in Butler’s place to open the second half.
Vincent finished scoreless and missed each of his three shots in 13 minutes.
“To the average fan out there, that is not easy to do what Max did or what Gabe did tonight,” Spoelstra said. “Where you don’t play in the first half and then all of a sudden, your number gets called. But that’s what makes them who they are.”
It was a strange night for both Adebayo and Kyle Lowry.
Adebayo battled foul trouble and Lowry again did not take many shots.
Adebayo started the night strong with six points and three rebounds in eight first-quarter minutes. But he picked up his third foul with 9:51 left in the second quarter and did not play again in the first half.
Adebayo was then called for his fourth foul just 2:34 into the third quarter and spent the rest of the period on the bench.
Finally in the fourth quarter, Adebayo was able to stay on the court. He totaled eight points with the help of 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line while playing the entire final period.
“The fourth quarter is what really matters,” Adebayo said.
The Heat outscored the Pistons by 25 points in the 24 minutes that Adebayo played. Detroit outscored Miami by 18 points in the 24 minutes that Adebayo spent on the bench.
Meanwhile, Lowry finished Tuesday’s win with just six points on 0-of-3 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds and four assists. Lowry has attempted four or fewer shots in four of the last five games.
But Lowry has made a positive impact without scoring, totaling 36 assists and just 12 turnovers during that five-game stretch.
“That’s part of his genius,” Spoelstra said. “He can feel the tenor of a team and what’s needed and he can adjust and adapt game to game.”
The Pistons, playing without top rookie Cade Cunningham, were a heavy underdog that managed to keep it close.
Detroit entered with the NBA’s third-worst record, better than only the Orlando Magic and Rockets. The Pistons also entered with the league’s third-worst offensive rating, sixth-worst defensive rating and second-worst net rating.
But when Cunningham was ruled out just 90 minutes before tipoff because of a non-COVID illness, the gap between the Pistons and the Heat looked to grow even wider.
The Heat entered Tuesday’s matchup as a 13.5-point home favorite. It’s tied for the second-most points that Miami has been favored to win a game by this season.
Detroit fell to 1-14 in games without Cunningham this season.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 10:08 PM.
