Heat takes control in third, beats Raptors behind Butler, Herro, Jaquez, Adebayo
Five takeaways from the Heat’s 121-111 victory against the Toronto Raptors on Friday at Kaseya Center:
▪ The Heat shook off brutal three-point shooting and leaky defense in the first half and took control with two dominant third quarter runs. And Jimmy Butler once again looked like himself after a back issue earlier in the week.
Miami’s 17-2 spurt early in the third was negated by a 12-0 Toronto run that put the Raptors up 79-77 with 4:23 left in the third.
But the Heat then closed the quarter with a 19-5 stampede to go ahead 96-84 after three and never trailed again, riding an electric three-point wave and a triple-double from Bam Adebayo.
After opening 2 for 20 on threes, Miami then made 19 of its next 34 threes, closing at 21 for 54 from beyond the arc. Miami’s 21 threes were a season high.
Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro were at the epicenter of the first run, and Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. fueled the second decisive run.
Jaquez hit two threes and a driving layup during that 19-5 spurt. Herro hit a three that put Miami ahead for good and scored 9 of his 23 in the third quarter. Butler scored 8 of his 26 in the third quarter.
Miami somehow trailed by just three at the half despite Toronto shooting 61.5 percent from the field and despite Miami shooting 7 for 27 on threes, including that 2 for 20 start.
While it was Butler, Herro and Jaquez who powered those third quarter rallies, Pelle Larsson’s activity, Kevin Love’s passing (two splendid assists) and Adebayo’s defense (two steals), passing (three assists) and aggressiveness (five rebounds) in the third also made a difference. And Terry Rozier provided a lift with four second-half threes.
“We know what we’re capable of when we play the right way,” Butler said.
It helped that Butler looked more like himself after an odd night Wednesday in Charlotte.
Troubled by back problems, Butler took only two shots (both converted threes) in 25 minutes against the Hornets before leaving for good.
On Friday, Butler was at his aggressive, efficient best, closing with 26 points on 8 for 14 shooting, with six assists and two steals.
Before the Charlotte game, Butler was exceptional in three games after returning from an ankle injury, scoring 30, 33 and 23 against Philadelphia, Dallas and Milwaukee on 25 for 41 shooting.
The Heat (9-8) and Raptors (5-15) will meet again at 6 p.m. Sunday in Toronto; Miami then plays in Boston on Monday.
While the Heat had everyone on a standard contract available, the Raptors played without Bruce Brown, Gradey Dick, Kelly Olynyk and Immanuel Quickley.
▪ Herro and Adebayo joined select company in the franchise record books.
Herro scored 14 of his 23 in the second half and is now one of three Heat players to make 800 three-pointers, joining Duncan Robinson (1046) and Tim Hardaway (806).
Herro finished 8 for 18 from the field and 4 for 10 on threes, while chipping in four assists.
Adebayo, meanwhile, recorded his 200th double-double, becoming the third Heat player to reach that threshold. Rony Seikaly holds the franchise record with 221 double-doubles, and Alonzo Mourning has 205. Hassan Whiteside is fourth with 185, and Udonis Haslem fifth at 134.
On Friday, Adebayo also recorded his eighth career triple double, with 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. He reached the 10-rebound threshold with three seconds left, after Butler intentionally missed a jumper.
“He’s my guy,” Adebayo cracked of the opportunity to get the rebound to achieve the triple double.
It was the second consecutive 10-assist game for Adebayo.
“We want to take advantage of [his passing] as much as possible and want him to be aggressive, put pressure on the defense at the rim,” Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s managing that extremely well. That probably puts a lot of pressure on teams scouting against us when Bam gets double digit assists. A lot can go wrong for your defense when he’s in play making mode.”
Adebayo said: “That’s what it’s all about, trying to get... easy looks” for teammates.
Adebayo, who shot 6 for 16 on Friday, entered averaging 15.9 points, down from 19.3 last season and 20.4 two seasons ago.
He entered shooting 43.2 percent from the field, down from 52.1 last season and 54 percent two years. (Increased three-point attempts is a factor, but not the overriding one.)
In the first 17 games this season, Adebayo failed to reach 20 points on 12 occasions.
In the first 17 games last season, Adebayo failed to score 20 just three times, and he had 18 and 19 in two of those games.
At least he’s continuing to put his fingerprints on the game in other areas.
“He’s getting everyone the ball in position where they can score,” Butler said.
▪ Jaquez broke out of a recent shooting slump with his best game of the season.
The second-year forward entered shooting 40.2 percent and 33.3 on threes, while averaging 8.3 points per game, down from 11.9 last season.
His nifty footwork and polished moves to the basket generally have been less effective than a year ago, when he shot 48.9 percent from the field.
But on Friday, Jaquez hit two big threes early in that 19-5 third quarter run and used his crafty footwork to set up three driving layups.
Jaquez scored 15, closing 6 for 9 from the field, including 3 for 4 on threes. He added four rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes.
“We want him to be aggressive,” Spoelstra said. “Part of that aggressiveness, there is a lot of responsibility to make the right read and bring a second defender. If he continues to get to his spots, teams will do that. He was assertive on his catches. He has been working diligently on his shooting.”
▪ The Heat stuck with the same starting lineup for a fifth consecutive game.
Miami is now 4-1 since moving to this lineup of Butler, Adebayo, Herro, Robinson and Haywood Highsmith.
But it has also been something of a rollercoaster with that group. As a quintet, they outscored Philadelphia and Charlotte by 12 points in those two wins.
But that lineup was outscored by 8 points in a victory against Dallas and 19 points in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee.
On Friday, Miami was a plus three in the 10 minutes when those five played together. Their time together was short in the second half because Highsmith departed 3:05 into the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul.
That new lineup meant a third consecutive game off the bench for Rozier, who gave Miami a lift with a three in that 19-5 third-quarter run. After missing both his shots in nine first half minutes, Rozier scored all 12 of his points in the second half, all on three-pointers.
“He’s a competitor and he’s a winner,” Spoelstra said. “He’s such a gifted, ignitable clutch player. That’s unique. You can’t teach what he has. He’s dynamic for us. Whatever role this is, he’s really important. We want him to fast-break to get comfortable, which is him being himself and aggressive. A lot of those shots the way we’re built will be off the catch. He’s looked a lot better the last two games.”
Butler said Rozier is “a star and starring in the new role. I don’t think I could do it. Kudos to him.”
▪ The Heat won’t be moving to the next round of the NBA Cup.
Already a long shot to advance, the Heat learned before the game that it would definitely not move past group play. Atlanta saw to that earlier Friday by defeating Cleveland, which officially eliminated the Heat from contention.
Miami – which also failed to advance out of group play in the first year of the tournament – entered its NBA Cup finale Friday with a 1-2 record in group play.
Every game in the NBA Cup counts in the standings except for the championship game in Las Vegas.
“We don’t sit around begging other teams to lose,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve got to handle our own business. We all would have liked to have been in Vegas.”
Eight teams (the six group winners plus one wild-card team from each conference) advance to the knockout round. The 24 teams that do not advance, including the Heat, will have two more games added to the schedule - one home and one road. Those dates and opponents are expected to be announced next week.
The two games will be scheduled between Dec. 9 and 19, during an 11-day period without a game currently on the Heat’s schedule.
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 10:30 PM.
