How the Heat managed to get past Timberwolves without Adebayo and Butler, and other takeaways
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 113-110 short-handed win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (16-18) on Monday night at FTX Arena to move to 1-2 on its four-game homestand. The Heat (17-17) closes the homestand on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers:
In games without the leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, the Heat usually needs to make a bunch of threes to have a chance. Miami used a different formula to win Monday.
The Heat shot just 13 of 49 (26.5 percent) from three-point range, but still earned a much-needed win to get back to .500 and snap a two-game losing skid despite missing Adebayo (non-COVID illness) and Butler (right ankle sprain).
The Heat won behind a huge 102-79 edge in field-goal attempts that helped widen its margin for error even while missing its best two players. It marked just the 36th time in franchise history that the Heat has finished a game with at least 102 field goal attempts.
“We had over 100 attempts,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s great, just getting all of those shots on goal and only 10 turnovers. The shot distribution I thought was fantastic. We were extremely aggressive putting pressure on the paint, at the rim, constantly, with our drives, pick and rolls, cuts, all of that. So that was the most important thing, from the get-go that we were really aggressive.”
Even with the Timberwolves shooting an efficient 54.4 percent from the field and 15 of 34 (44.1 percent) from beyond the arc, that deficit in field-goal attempts was too much for them to overcome.
How rare is it for an NBA team to lose when shooting that well? Teams entered Monday with a 40-5 record this season when shooting 54.4 percent or better from the field and 44.1 percent or better from three-point range.
The Heat created its advantage in field-goal attempts with the help of a 13-8 edge in offensive rebounds to score 16 second-chance points. Rookie center Orlando Robinson grabbed a team-high seven offensive rebounds.
The Timberwolves also helped the Heat with a sloppy performance. Minnesota, which remained without star big man Karl-Anthony Towns because of a calf strain, committed 22 turnovers that Miami turned into 15 points.
Meanwhile, the Heat committed just 10 turnovers. Miami’s starting backcourt of Kyle Lowry (18 points, five rebounds, nine assists and zero turnovers) and Tyler Herro (14 points, eight assists and three turnovers) combined for 17 assists and just three turnovers.
It helped that the Heat also put together an efficient offensive performance despite its inefficient night from three-point range. Miami managed to shoot 46.1 percent from the field, totaling 64 paint points on an ultra-efficient 34-of-53 (64.2 percent) shooting on two-pointers — 14-of-20 (70 percent) shooting at the rim and 20-of-33 (60.6 percent) shooting on mid-range looks.
The Heat led for most of the second half, pulling ahead by as many as 12 points after a back-and-forth first half that included 13 lead changes and nine ties.
But Monday’s contest still came down to the final minutes, as it went down as the Heat’s league-leading 23rd clutch game. 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.
After Herro made a timely fadeaway jumper from just inside the three-point line at the end of the shot clock to extend the Heat’s lead to five with 33.2 seconds to play, Timberwolves star wing Anthony Edwards converted on and-1 runner but missed the free throw to keep Minnesota’s deficit at three points with 28.8 seconds on the clock.
Heat wing Caleb Martin missed a three-pointer on the other end, giving the Timberwolves one final opportunity to send the game into overtime. After calling a timeout with 2.5 seconds to play, the Timberwolves drew up a play that was stopped before it even started as the inbounds pass was deflected away by Lowry to seal the Heat win.
“What we talked about this morning is you just have to embrace this level of competition,” Spoelstra said. “I think all the fans, and the Heat Nation should enjoy this, embrace this. These games, all of them haven’t gone the way we wanted them to, but ultimately this is what you want, to have these thrilling games and great closing moments in incredible context. All of that. And hopefully your team grows from that.”
As for Adebayo and Butler, Adebayo woke up Monday sick and Butler sprained his ankle in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Spoelstra said Butler tested the injured ankle in Monday’s morning shootaround, but “he wasn’t moving well enough to be able to get out there and play in an NBA basketball game.” Butler is considered day-to-day and he’ll be re-evaluated by the team on Tuesday.
Amid its constant injury issues, the Heat used a different starting lineup for the sixth consecutive game.
With Adebayo and Butler out, the Heat opened Monday’s win with a lineup of Lowry, Herro, Max Strus, Martin and Nikola Jovic. Along with the sixth different starting lineup in as many games, it also marked the 13th different starting lineup the Heat has used this season in the first 34 games.
The Lowry-Herro-Strus-Martin-Jovic combination had logged just one minute together this season prior to Monday’s game.
The lineup was fine in its time together on Monday, outscoring the Timberwolves by one point in 18 minutes.
Jovic, the Heat’s 19-year-old rookie, made his eighth NBA start. He finished with nine points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
Strus broke out of his three-point shooting slump to score a team-high 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. He shot just 19 of 77 (24.7 percent) from beyond the arc in the previous 11 games.
All of the injuries have limited the Heat’s preferred starting lineup of Lowry, Herro, Butler, Martin and Adebayo to opening just 12 games together so far this season. When this lineup has been available, it has outscored opponents by an impressive 10.7 points per 100 possessions in 172 minutes together this season.
The Heat’s frontcourt rotation looked very different on Monday, as undrafted rookie center Orlando Robinson took advantage of the opportunity to flash his intriguing skill set.
With Adebayo, Dewayne Dedmon (left foot plantar fasciitis) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery) unavailable, the Heat was without three centers. Adebayo is the Heat’s usual starting center and Dedmon is the usual backup center, while Yurtseven has yet to play this season because of his left ankle injury.
Their absences left two-way contract big man Orlando Robinson, who went undrafted this year out of Fresno State, as Miami’s only true center.
The Heat began the game at a size disadvantage with Jovic, a 6-11 and 225-pound forward, starting at center. On the other side, the Timberwolves started three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert (7-1, 258).
Orlando Robinson played as Miami’s backup center against Minnesota, finishing with an impressive stat line that included 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, nine rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes off the bench. The Heat outscored the Timberwolves by four points with Orlando Robinson in the game.
“He was the player of the game,” Spoelstra said of Orlando Robinson. “He was the one that brought us in tonight. He’s very steady. Everybody’s coaching him, teaching him, screaming at him, yelling at him, directing him, and everything in between and he’s very stable. He can take the information, process it and apply it.”
Even forward Haywood Highsmith logged some minutes at center, with both Jovic and Orlando Robinson picking up three first-half fouls.
With that center rotation, the Heat was able to hold its own against Gobert, who closed with 10 points and eight rebounds. Minnesota was outscored by 14 points in Gobert’s minutes on Monday.
Considering how much Dedmon has struggled this season through his foot injury, there’s a case to be made that Orlando Robinson deserves an opportunity to play as the Heat’s backup center even when Adebayo and Dedmon return. The Heat has been outscored by 9.1 points per 100 possessions with Dedmon on the court this season.
The Heat’s bench rotation included guard Gabe Vincent for the first time in three weeks, and he played well.
Vincent, who missed eight consecutive games because of a swollen left knee, recorded 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes in 18 minutes off the bench in his first game action since playing in a Dec. 5 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Vincent was especially sharp in Monday’s fourth quarter, totaling nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from three-point range.
“It felt great,” Vincent said after the victory. “It’s been a long time. It’s felt like it’s been forever. It’s been a couple weeks, but happy to be back and happy to help us get a win.”
Vincent made his return to be available for Friday’s loss to the Pacers, but he did not play in his first game back despite being in uniform and available.
The short-handed Heat’s bench rotation on Monday included Victor Oladipo, Highsmith, Orlando Robinson, Duncan Robinson and Vincent. The Heat’s bench, which entered averaging the second-fewest points in the NBA at 25.8 per game, combined for 45 points against the Timberwolves.
It was a milestone night for Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson and he’ll reach another milestone soon.
Duncan Robinson finished Monday’s win with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep off the Heat’s bench.
With his first made three of the game, Duncan Robinson became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 800 career made three-pointers. He did it in his 263rd regular-season game, surpassing the previous mark set by Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who made his 800th career three in his 288th regular-season game.
With three threes on Monday, Duncan Robinson has made 802 threes during his NBA career. He’s just five threes away from setting a new franchise record for the most three-pointers made by a player in their Heat career, which is a record Tim Hardaway currently holds at 806 made threes.
Duncan Robinson, who has had his minutes fluctuate this season, entered shooting just 32.2 percent from three-point range this season — his lowest percentage since his rookie year in 2018-19. But he has shot 16 of 42 (38.1 percent) from deep in his last five appearances, and the Heat has outscored opponents by 38 in Robinson’s minutes during that five-game stretch.
“He’s been playing well and he’s been productive and he’s helped our offense in the last few games that he’s played,” Spoelstra said of Duncan Robinson. “It’s not just about his shooting. He creates triggers, everybody overreacts. He has really improved as a passer. He’s also able to put the ball on the floor. It’s just a matter of staying ready.”
This story was originally published December 26, 2022 at 10:06 PM.
