Takeaways from Heat road win over Thunder behind record-setting night and Herro’s game-winner
.JPG "Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, right, celebrates with teammate, Victor Oladipo, left, after the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Oklahoma City.")
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 110-108 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder (11-17) on Wednesday night at Paycom Center to improve to 2-0 on its four-game trip. The Heat (14-15) continues the trip on Thursday against the Houston Rockets (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) to complete the back-to-back set:
With star Jimmy Butler unavailable, the Heat turned in one of its best three-point shooting performances in franchise history to earn the victory that was clinched by Tyler Herro’s game-winner.
The Heat entered Wednesday’s game against the Thunder ranked 24th in team three-point percentage at 33.7 percent. Miami closed last regular season as the NBA’s top three-point shooting team at 37.9 percent.
On Wednesday, the Heat looked like last season’s elite outside shooting team.
The Heat shot 24 of 56 (42.9 percent) from three-point range to escape with the victory.
The 24 makes from deep set a new franchise record for the most three-pointers made in a game, surpassing the previous mark of 23 made threes established in an April 5, 2022 win over the Charlotte Hornets. The 56 three-point attempts tied the franchise record for the most in a game, as the Heat also put up 56 threes in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 12, 2021.
“There were a lot of one-more passes, good to great,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the three-point barrage in Oklahoma City. “And then our shooters weren’t passing up open shots. That might not necessarily mean 56 three-point attempts. A lot of that had to do with Jimmy being out and we had to do whatever is necessary. But we were finding our open shooters in those open windows that close very quickly in this league.”
Wednesday’s game still came down to the final seconds, though.
With the game tied at 108, the Heat gave the ball to Herro and cleared the court for him to go to work. With Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins guarding him, Herro dribbled to his right before pulling up for a 19-foot jumper from just outside the paint to hit the game-winner with 5.7 seconds to play. The Thunder did not score on the final possession.
“I got to my spot,” Herro said. “Coach [Spoelstra] and Kyle [Lowry] wanted me to get the ball at the top. They wanted me to shoot as late as I could. I tried to get the shot clock down and was able to get to my spot, raise up and knock it down.
“If they sent a second defender, I would make the play for somebody else. But it was one on one, so I felt I had an advantage.”
Spoelstra added regarding Herro’s game-winner: “This is just part of the evolution of a very skilled offensive player. But you just really respect the poise that he had. He wants those situations and now he’s starting to stack up some experience in those moments. He knew exactly what he wanted to get to and read the defense and was able to get to his spot and elevate. He’s a great shooter, particularly off the dribble.”
Herro tied his regular-season career-high with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field and 9-of-17 shooting from three-point range. The nine three-point makes also set a new career-high for Herro.
The Heat was on a record-setting three-point pace from the start, shooting 16 of 29 (55.2 percent) from beyond the arc in the first half. It not only represented the most made threes the Heat has hit in any single half in franchise history, but it’s also the most three-point makes that the Thunder has ever allowed in a single half.
Despite the historic half, the Heat entered halftime ahead by just 12 points. Miami led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter, but the Thunder closed the first half on a 12-3 run to cut into the Heat’s lead.
The Thunder then carried that momentum into second half to open the third quarter on a 26-13 run to take a one-point lead over the Heat with 3:42 left in the period.
From the time the Heat pulled ahead by 21 points with 3:35 left in the second quarter, the Thunder went on a huge 38-16 run in a span of 12 minutes to come all the back and take the lead.
The Thunder extended their lead to as many as seven points with 4:01 to play.
That’s when the Heat went on a timely 13-4 run to rally and go back on top by two points with 1:06 left in the game.
Herro made two three-pointers, Kyle Lowry hit a three-pointer and Victor Oladipo made two layups during the Heat’s late run to regain the lead.
But the Thunder had an answer. Oklahoma City star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drew a foul and made both free throws to tie the game at 108 with 25.7 seconds to play.
Then Herro’s game-winning shot happened.
Along with Herro’s big night, Heat center Bam Adebayo recorded 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field, 13 rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes before fouling out with 25.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
With Butler sitting out Wednesday’s game as part of the Heat’s injury management plan for his right knee, the power of the three-pointer and Herro carried Miami to a second straight road win. Butler is expected to be available for Thursday’s matchup against the Rockets in Houston on the second night of back-to-back.
But it’s possible that the Heat could sit others, who played Wednesday, on Thursday against the Rockets to keep them from playing on consecutive nights.
The Thunder was able to keep it close despite the Heat’s record-setting three-point shooting night by dominating the paint.
While the Heat outscored the Thunder 72-27 from three-point range, Oklahoma City closed with a commanding 60-20 edge in the paint.
Gilgeous-Alexander entered with the NBA’s fifth-most total paint points (382) this season despite his 6-6 and 195-pound frame. He also entered averaging a league-leading 24.6 drives to the basket per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander was again a force on Wednesday with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He scored 14 points in the paint against the Heat.
The Heat’s defense entered allowing an NBA-low 44.6 paint points per game this season, but the Thunder was able to easily surpass that mark by relentlessly attacking the basket. Oklahoma City’s 60 paint points are the third-most Miami has allowed in a game this season.
The Thunder also finished with 30 shots at the rim. That’s more opportunities than typically allowed by the Heat’s defense, which entered allowing the second-fewest shot attempts at the rim this season at 22.3 per game.
“For the most part, I thought we did a pretty good job,” Spoelstra said of the containing the Thunders’ attackers despite the high number of paint points. “This is the No. 1 attacking team in the league. I’ve seen them do it against everybody where they’re just living at the rim and in the paint and drawing fouls, attacking and cutting and offensive rebounding. I think for the most part, once we got out of that first quarter, we were able to handle it as well as you can expect, at least enough to give ourselves chance to legitimately win this game.”
Meanwhile, the Heat only generated 17 shots at the rim on Wednesday.
The Heat started Max Strus in Butler’s place against the Thunder, but the results weren’t great.
It marked Strus’ 15th start to the season, as he has been pushed from his usual bench role into the starting lineup often because of the Heat’s injury issues.
In Wednesday’s win, Strus finished with 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting from deep. He’s in a bit of a slump, shooting 12 of 46 (26.1 percent) from three-point range in his last seven games
Strus began the game along the Heat’s four other usual starters in Lowry, Herro, Caleb Martin and Adebayo. It marked the sixth time that Miami has used this starting lineup this season.
The Lowry-Herro-Strus-Martin-Adebayo lineup has actually been among the Heat’s best this season, as the group entered Wednesday outscoring opponents by 13.4 points per 100 possessions in 94 minutes this season.
But this lineup was not effective against the Thunder. The Heat was outscored 40-24 in the 13 minutes this five-man unit played together on Wednesday.
With Strus moving into the starting lineup on Wednesday, the Heat’s bench rotation also had a different look.
Miami used a four-man bench rotation of Oladipo, Dewayne Dedmon, Haywood Highsmith and Duncan Robinson.
Oladipo and Dedmon have been consistent members of the rotation when they’ve been available, but Highsmith and Robinson have not.
Highsmith, who did not play in the previous two games and has already received 11 DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) this season, was scoreless but contributed three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 18 minutes.
Robinson, who did not play in four of the previous six games despite being healthy, finished with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from deep in 23 minutes. It’s the second-most threes he has hit in a game this season.
“They both gave us really good minutes,” Spoelstra said of Highsmith and Robinson. “H was really good defensively, particularly in the zone in the first half. He allowed us to have another guy to handle their drivers and attackers. Then we found Duncan in his rhythm on time and on target. So he was able to see a couple go through that are in his wheelhouse and then once our shooters hit a couple then they’re ignitable. But you’re happy for Duncan to be able to really impact the game and help the win.”
Oladipo was the Heat’s best reserve on Wednesday. In his fifth game since returning from a left knee injury that forced him to miss the first 24 games of the season, he logged season-highs in points (12), steals (3) and minutes (31) against the Thunder.
“I thought his 12-point, three-steal game was as impactful as any could be with that kind of stat line,” Spoelstra said of Oladipo. “He turned the game defensively.”
The Heat has had trouble pulling away from teams this season. That trend continued.
Even after leading by as many as 21 points in the first half, the Heat still found itself in its league-leading 20th clutch game on Wednesday. A clutch game is defined as a game that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Heat is 11-9 in clutch games this season.
The Heat has just just two double-digit wins through the first 29 games for a pace that would have them at five double-digit victories at the end of the regular season. The Heat closed last regular season with 31 double-digit wins.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 10:26 PM.
