Takeaways from Heat’s overtime win over Mavericks behind another big night from Jimmy Butler
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 123-118 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks (9-8) on Sunday night at Kaseya Center to improve to 2-0 on its three-game homestand. The Heat (7-7) closes the homestand on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks in its third of four group-play games as part of the NBA’s in-season tournament:
After a rare five-day break between games, the well-rested Heat needed overtime to defeat the Luke Doncic-less Mavericks. But the Heat will take it, moving to .500 this season.
Ideally, overtime wouldn’t have been needed after the Heat pulled ahead by 10 points with 1:46 left in the third quarter.
But the Heat needed some big plays down the stretch just to force overtime, falling behind by four with 2:41 remaining in a back-and-forth fourth quarter that included six ties.
With possession and trailing by two points with 5.3 seconds to play, the Heat came out of a timeout and ran the game-saving play to perfection to force overtime. Duncan Robinson — the inbounds passer — found Jimmy Butler cutting into space for a game-tying dunk with 4.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, as a defensive miscommunication by the Mavericks allowed Butler to streak open for the important basket.
It was a similar play to the one that the Heat used to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis on Nov. 10, as a defensive miscommunication allowed Nikola Jovic to cut open to the basket for a game-winning and-one layup in the final seconds of fourth quarter. Robinson was the inbounds passer for that play, too.
“Somebody to get open,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of what he was hoping for on Sunday’s game-changing side out-of-bounds play. “These are really tough, tough to get any kind of freedom on side out of bounds. Jimmy made a heck of a cut and Duncan again with a great pass.”
The Heat complained to the officials after the play, making it known that they felt Butler was also fouled on the game-tying dunk. But no foul was called.
“It seemed like it was a foul,” Spoelstra said.
It didn’t matter, though, because the Heat won overtime 9-4 to win the game.
The Mavericks went cold in overtime, shooting 2 of 10 (20 percent) from the field and 0 of 6 from three-point range in the five-minute period.
The leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler combined to score six of the Heat’s first eight points in overtime. Alec Burks also scored three points for the Heat in overtime.
With Doncic missing his second straight game because of a sprained right wrist, Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field and 3-of-12 shooting on threes Sunday.
Dallas struggled to make threes throughout the night, finishing the loss just 10 of 40 (25 percent) from three-point range.
Those shooting struggles allowed the Heat to overcome is own shooting issues on Sunday, as Miami shot only 43 percent from the field, 14 of 41 (34.1 percent) on threes and 17 of 27 (63 percent) from the foul line.
Butler finished with a season-high 33 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field and 11-of-16 shooting from the foul line, to go with nine rebounds, six assists, one steal and two blocks in 38 minutes for the Heat.
Adebayo added 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while matching a career-high with three made three-pointers and setting a new career-high with six three-point attempts.
Tyler Herro contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Heat. But he shot just 1 of 10 on threes.
“It’s a big win for us,” Herro said.
Butler was again aggressive and assertive, and it again led to a win.
Since missing four straight games with a sprained right ankle earlier this month, Butler has played in two games. He has been at the center of the Heat’s offense in both games.
After totaling a season-high 30 points and drawing enough fouls to take 13 free throws in Monday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Butler came back from the Heat’s five-day break between games to establish a new season-high of 33 points with the help of 11-of-16 shooting at the foul line against the Mavericks.
When Butler is as aggressive and assertive, the Heat usually wins. That held true on Sunday, as Butler posted a season-high usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court) of 28.7 percent in the Heat’s victory over the Mavericks.
Through the first 10 games that Butler has played in this season, the Heat is now 4-1 when he finishes with double-digit free-throw attempts and 5-1 when he posts a usage rate over 20 percent. Miami is 0-4 this season when Butler’s usage rate doesn’t cross 20 percent.
“I feel like I got to start attacking more often,” Butler said. “Whenever I’m aggressive like that like the guys want me to be, like Spo is always telling me to be, it opens up a lot more for everybody else.”
With Terry Rozier missing his second straight game because of a foot issue, the Heat stuck with the same starting lineup that it used in Monday’s win over the 76ers.
The Heat went with a starting lineup of Herro, Robinson, Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Adebayo on Sunday for the second straight game.
Before this two-game stint, this group had played just limited minutes together. The Herro-Robinson-Butler-Highsmith-Adebayo unit logged just two minutes together this season prior to this two-game stretch and didn’t play any minutes together last season.
In their first start together, this lineup posted a positive plus/minus of plus 12 in 15 minutes during Monday’s win over the 76ers.
But the results weren’t positive on Sunday.
The Heat’s starting lineup was outscored by three points during the first 5:34 of the game before Miami made its first substitution of the night.
The Heat’s starting group then was outscored by five points to begin the second half.
The Heat’s starting lineup was outscored by eight points in nine minutes together on Sunday before Highsmith exited the game in the second half because he wasn’t feeling well. Highsmith didn’t return.
Rozier missed his second straight game on Sunday with discomfort in his right foot. While Rozier was initially listed as probable for Sunday’s game, he was ruled out a few hours before tipoff after waking up Sunday morning still feeling some discomfort in his foot.
Along with missing Rozier, the Heat was without Josh Christopher (G League) and Dru Smith (right knee bone bruise).
The Heat’s bench rotation continues to evolve, with Burks and rookie Pelle Larsson leading Miami’s reserves on Sunday.
Obviously, Rozier’s absence impacted the Heat’s rotation on Sunday. Robinson moved from a bench role into the starting lineup, creating an opening in Miami’s bench rotation.
That left the Heat using Kevin Love, Burks, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic and Larsson off the bench to complete its 10-man rotation against the Mavericks.
Love, Jovic and Jaquez have been constants in Miami’s rotation when they’ve been available this season. But Larsson and Burks have seen their minutes fluctuate throughout the first month of the season.
Larson and Burks were both essential components of the Heat’s victory on Sunday, though.
Larsson made his second appearance in the last four games, closing with 14 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in a career-high 37 minutes. He was a plus 18 in the win.
Burks made just his second appearance in the last seven games, finishing with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range and three assists while playing a season-high 31 minutes. He was a plus 11 in the victory.
Both Burks and Larsson were on the court for the entire overtime period. Burks also played the entire fourth quarter on Sunday.
“Pelle played so hard,” Spoelstra said. “He really played hard, picking up full court, guarding bigger guys, throwing his body all around. He had an impact, for sure. And Alec made some timely baskets. That’s what this guy does.”
The only available Heat players who did not enter Sunday’s game were Thomas Bryant, Keshad Johnson, Josh Richardson and Kel’el Ware.
Just 24 hours after his big night in the G League, Johnson was on the Heat’s active roster for a regular-season game for just the second time in his career.
Johnson, who is one of the Heat’s three two-way contract players, joined the Heat in Miami for Sunday’s game after spending the last few weeks in the G League. He has flourished with the Heat’s G League affiliate, averaging 22.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 9 of 26 (34.6 percent) on threes through the Sioux Falls Skyforce’s first seven games of the season.
Johnson, who went undrafted this year out of Arizona, turned in his best performance of the young G League season in Saturday’s win over the Indiana Mad Ants. The 23-year-old totaled 34 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in the victory.
Then Johnson woke up just before 4 a.m. to catch a 5 a.m. flight early Sunday morning in Sioux Falls, S.D., to get to Miami for Sunday night’s contest against the Mavericks. He flew through Chicago with a three-hour layover, landing in Miami around 2:30 p.m. — just about three hours prior to tipoff on Sunday.
While Johnson has been on the Heat’s active roster for two if its first 14 games, he has yet to log regular-season NBA minutes.
“Lately, I’ve been playing the five up there,” Johnson said Sunday when asked about his developmental work with the Skyforce. “So I’m just working on my technique, trying to guard the post, stretching the floor with the opposing five guarding me, things of that nature. But just building on my overall player development.”
The Heat’s other two-way contract players, Christopher and Smith, were inactive for Sunday’s game.
“I don’t really know exactly when,” Johnson said when asked if he knows when he’ll be sent back to the G League. “They haven’t told me the exact days. Just trying to cherish every moment I’m here.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2024 at 8:54 PM.
