Takeaways from Heat’s incredible comeback vs. Suns, as Butler and Adebayo come up clutch
The comeback was almost over. The Miami Heat, down by 13 with less than eight minutes to go, were finally ahead in the dying moments after Bam Adebayo’s go-ahead free throws with 35 seconds left and there were no secrets about how the Phoenix Suns would try to win the game.
There was no doubt about how Miami would try to defend it.
Devin Booker stared at Jimmy Butler at the top of the key, waiting out most of the last 10 seconds and looking for a sliver of space to try to do what he does best. The All-Star wing drove to his right, stopped at the elbow and tried to rise for a game-winning jump shot.
Butler gave him nowhere to go. The All-Star forward swallowed up Booker, stuffing his shot and forcing him into one final off-balance prayer. Miami pulled out a 113-112 win to climb to .500 for the first time this year.
Here are five takeaways from the thrilling win in front of 19,600 at FTX Arena:
The stars led an epic comeback.
With 7:44 left, the Heat (7-7) was down 102-89 and running out of time for a final push.
Butler checked in and the game immediately flipped.
Miami closed the game on 24-10 run to down the Suns.
It started with Adebayo, who finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds to outduel Phoenix center Deandre Ayton.
It ended with Butler, who stuffed the stat sheet for 16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one game-winning block.
The Heat began the run with 12 straight points and its star post player scored eight of them to trim the Suns’ lead to 102-101.
From there, it was a possession-by-possession battle. Phoenix (8-5) scored and Butler answered with two free throws. Miami got a stop, and then the Suns and Heat traded turnovers.
Butler got a good look from baseline with about three minutes left, but his jumper rimmed out and Booker came back on the other end for a tough and-one jumper to push Phoenix’s lead back to 107-103 with 2:43 remaining.
Back-to-back threes for forward Caleb Martin and point guard Kyle Lowry, however, put Miami back ahead and Adebayo finally gave the Heat its game-winning point when he got the line and made two free throws with 35 seconds left.
Miami then won with defense. Booker had the ball in his hands with 10 seconds left and challenged Butler.
It didn’t work. Butler blocked Booker’s first shot and then forced him into an off-balance three at the buzzer.
It was, in so many ways, the blueprint for the Heat. Adebayo was as aggressive as Miami hopes he can be at all times, and he and Butler anchored an incredibly stout defensive effort.
The Heat’s defense kept the Suns alive — then seals the win.
The first three quarters played out like a typical modern NBA game. The Heat exploded for 35 points in the first quarter to build an early lead and the Suns seized control by scoring 33 in the third.
Phoenix shot 15 of 28 from the field in the third quarter to take a 91-84 lead into the fourth, then started 4 of 5 in the fourth quarter to go up by 13.
The last seven-plus minutes wound up being perhaps Miami’s best defensive minutes of the season.
The Suns scored just 21 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 during the Heat’s decisive run. Only two of Phoenix’s finaly 10 points came at the rim and it was only when Suns forward Torrey Craig followed his own shot for a putback on a broken play.
In all, six of Phoenix’s nine field goals in the fourth quarter were mid-range jumpers and none were clean layups.
Butler made the signature play, but Adebayo keyed the comeback.
None of Butler’s heroics would’ve happened without Adebayo, though, and it was validating for the star to see.
Butler is constantly on Adebayo about being more aggressive on offense and the 25-year-old gave Miami a true takeover performance in the final minutes Monday.
A steal set up Adebayo for a transition opportunity and he got to the rim by unleashing a devastating, slow-motion spin move to get around Booker and draw an and-one, cutting the Suns’ lead to 102-94 with 6:47 left. A minute and a half later, he dropped in an and-one floater — off an assist from Butler — to get the lead down to 102-99 and then he flushed home a dunk on Miami’s next possession to make it 102-101 with 4:48 left.
He spent the final minutes of the game constantly crashing toward the rim and Phoenix had no answer.
Adebayo scored all four of the Heat’s points in the last minute to finish off the win, going 2 for 2 at the free-throw line with the game on the line with 35 seconds left.
There was one piece of bad news: Tyler Herro’s injury keeps lingering.
Miami isn’t panicking, but Tyler Herro’s high ankle sprain is now lingering into a second week as the guard missed his fourth straight game.
The Heat again listed Herro as questionable before ruling him out ahead of tipoff.
Erik Spoelstra insists it’s not anything more serious than originally anticipated.
“You just never know with ankle sprains,” the coach said. “They’re never on necessarily your timeline, so he just doesn’t have the mobility yet, but he’s getting better. He’s making progress.”
With Herro out, wing Max Strus again rejoined the starting lineup and this time he struggled, following up a 31-point explosion Saturday with just five points. He started 0 of 6 from the field — and 0 of 4 from three-point range — before finally making his first shot with 10:43 left in the game.
The road ahead is not easy.
The Heat stabilized itself by winning 5 of 6 at home in the last two weeks. Now it gets tough again.
Miami hits the road for four in a row — and eight of its next 10 — Wednesday and none of the next four are gimmes. The Toronto Raptors are likely a playoff time, the Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves are both postseason contenders, and the Cleveland Cavaliers suddenly appear to have legitimate championship aspirations.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 10:09 PM.
