Takeaways from Heat’s win over Kings, as Tyler Herro delivers with big fourth quarter
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 110-107 win over the Sacramento Kings (2-5) on Wednesday at FTX Arena on the second night of a back-to-back set. The Heat (4-5) now hits the road to take on the Indiana Pacers on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse before returning to Miami for a four-game homestand:
The Heat didn’t have star Jimmy Butler, but still found a way to win.
Butler, 33, missed his first game of the season on Wednesday. The Heat announced just 90 minutes prior to tipoff that Butler would not be available due to left hip tightness on the second night of a back-to-back.
Butler played in Tuesday’s win over the Golden State Warriors, finishing with 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-7 shooting on threes, six rebounds and eight assists in 37 minutes.
The internal belief is the hip injury is a minor issue that shouldn’t keep him out for long and it’s possible that he could be back as soon as the Heat’s next game on Friday against the Pacers.
The Heat started Max Strus in Butler’s place alongside the Heat’s four other usual starters — Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo. Strus finished Wednesday’s win with 10 points (all coming in the second half) on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting on threes to go with four assists in 33 minutes.
The Heat actually posted a winning record without Butler last regular season, finishing at 15-10 without him. Miami moved to 1-0 without Butler this season on Wednesday.
In addition to Butler, the Heat also was without Jamal Cain (G League assignment), Victor Oladipo (left knee tendinosis) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle impingement) against the Kings.
The Kings were also missing one of their best players. Guard De’Aaron Fox did not play because of a right knee bone bruise.
The Heat’s win did not come easy. But Herro capped off a big fourth quarter by hitting a game-winning three to put the Kings away.
After defeating the Heat last week in Sacramento for their first win of the season, the Kings again presented challenges in Miami.
The Heat entered the final period ahead 77-76. What came next was a back-and-forth fourth quarter that included four lead changes and four ties.
The Heat and Kings traded runs throughout the period to find themselves tied at 107 with 12.5 seconds to play.
That’s when Herro dribbled to his left and used a pump fake to get his defender out of the way before rising up to hit a game-winning three-pointer with 2.5 seconds to play.
With no timeouts, the Kings rushed up the court but Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis was called for an offensive foul with 0.3 seconds on the clock and the Heat’s win was sealed.
“He’s a shot creator and a shot maker and he’s not afraid of those moments,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Herro. “That was a big time shot. The only criticism I have is he left a couple seconds on the clock. But he’s a gutsy kid and he wants those moments and he really delivered tonight.”
Kings coach Mike Brown wasn’t as happy for Herro. He opened his postgame press conference on Wednesday by making it clear that he felt Herro traveled before making his game-winning three.
“If that’s not a travel, I don’t know what the definition of a travel is,” Brown said.
The NBA Officiating Last Two Minute Report for Wednesday’s game between the Heat and Kings will be released Thursday afternoon. A ruling whether Herro traveled or not on his game-winning shot will be included, but it won’t change the fact that the Heat escaped with the win.
Herro, who left Tuesday’s victory over the Warriors early because of a left eye injury but was able to play Wednesday, scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter. He finished the win with 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Adebayo scored eight points in the final quarter. He ended the night with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
The Heat outscored the Kings 33-31 in the fourth quarter. Miami has now scored 30 or more points in three straight fourth quarters.
Without Butler, Lowry turned up his aggressiveness on the offensive end.
Lowry, 36, finished with a season-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, 2-of-7 shooting on threes and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 38 minutes.
Lowry set the tone from the start, scoring 10 of the Heat’s first 18 points.
At the end of the first quarter, Lowry already had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, 1-of-2 shooting from three-point range and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line. It marked the most points Lowry has scored a first quarter since joining the Heat in the 2021 offseason.
“It shows you his mental toughness,” Spoelstra said of Lowry. “He had as much of a burst and his mental next-play speed was at its best on the second night of a back-to-back after a very competitive game last night.
“I don’t even know how he felt or whatever, but he’s bringing his best because probably he invented some challenge in his own mind of like, ‘I’m going to really bring it tonight on the second night, play big minutes and Jimmy being out.’ I thought he really kept us afloat and really put some pressure on the defense.”
At halftime, Lowry had 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes, 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds and two assists.
Lowry went on to score five points in the second half, allowing Adebayo and Herro to take over down the stretch.
It has become abundantly clear that Lowry will pick his spots in terms of aggressiveness based on what he feels the team needs. He entered Wednesday averaging just 9.4 field-goal attempts per game, which would be his lowest for a single season since his first season with the Toronto Raptors in 2012-13.
Without Butler, Lowry felt the Heat needed more offense from him against the Kings.
“When you need him to make plays, he’s still every bit of who he’s been over the course of his Hall of Fame career,” Spoelstra said. “We saw that in the last 48 hours and he knows how to read different moments of games and what’s needed.”
Even on the second night of a back-to-back, Spoelstra opted to shorten the Heat’s rotation on Wednesday with Butler out.
Instead of moving developmental players like Nikola Jovic or Haywood Highsmith into the bench rotation to fill the void Strus left behind after moving into the starting lineup for Butler, the Heat instead used just three reserves against the Kings.
The Heat played only Gabe Vincent, Dewayne Dedmon and Duncan Robinson off the bench on Wednesday. Spoelstra usually played four reserves.
That meant a season-high in minutes for Dedmon (16), Lowry (38) and Martin (30) against the Kings.
The list of available Heat players who did not get in Wednesday’s game included Udonis Haslem, Dru Smith, Jovic and Highsmith.
After turning in his best performance of the young season in Tuesday’s win over the Warriors, Robinson was quiet against the Kings.
Robinson totaled a season-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range in a season-high 26 minutes off the bench on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Robinson was limited to four points on 1-of-5 shooting from deep and six rebounds in 25 minutes.
Robinson is shooting 14 of 35 (40 percent) on threes this season.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 10:08 PM.
