Heat quiets Jazz
Josh Richardson's late basket lifts Miami over Utah, 103-102.
MIAMI — The essence of the 2017-18 Miami Heat was encapsulated by the final 7.8 seconds of Sunday’s 103-102 victory over the Utah Jazz at AmericanAirlines.
Left to draw up a play with his team down one after clawing back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, coach Erik Spoelstra sent Wayne Ellington out as a decoy, Kelly Olynyk to set a screen and Josh Richardson as his closer.
So Ellington, who has been scintillating from 3-point range in recent weeks, including three more Sunday, drew the anticipated attention.
“Whenever you get that type of respect from your opponent,” Ellington said, “obviously that’s what it’s about. When you can be a guy on the court and the play is running opposite from you but your man and the rest of the team is concerned about you and where you’re at on the floor it helps, it helps our team.”
As did Olynyk with his specialty, setting a defining screen on Jazz rookie guard Donovan Mitchell.
“I saw Donovan get hung up on a good screen Kelly set,” Richardson said. “It was just me and
[Jazz center Derrick] Favors and so I just took advantage of the speed difference.”
Straight to the rim, with a driving layup that closed out the scoring with 5.1 seconds to play.
“There were a couple different options,” Spoelstra said. “It looked like JRich was open late, even on the initial screen, Wayne was open maybe for a count. [Jazz forward] Joe Ingles got back into the play and J-Rich broke free at the top. He had a look for a count, but he decided to probe a little bit further and made a heck of a play.
“He’s ready for the next jump, the jump is ready for him. It’s now a matter of, when?”
Still, it wasn’t over, not with Mitchell with 27 points and the Jazz with those 5.1 seconds to play after a timeout.
The difference was their emerging wing wasn’t up to the moment, off with a wild 20-foot jumper just before the closing buzzer.
“They double-teamed me, which means [Rodney] Hood was open,” Mitchell said. “I should have made the right read instead of shooting that.”
It was a game when the Heat needed someone, anyone, to offer a spark on an afternoon of lethargy. In the end, Richardson took that challenge.
“I’m so happy for my man J-Rich,” teammate James Johnson said. “He deserved it. We trusted him completely. We had all the confidence in him to make the right play and tonight was his night — and super proud of him.”
The result was a victory that sent the Heat into one of their moment challenging stretches of schedule on an up note, a seasonbest four-game winning streak, with 11 of the next 14 on the road, starting Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors.
The clutch gene? The Heat seem to have it, now 16-7 in “clutch” games, defined as any game within five points in the final five minutes.
“At the end of the day, you also have to put yourselves in a position to give yourself a chance at the end,” Spoelstra said. “That’s what you saw the last couple games. You have to deal with some things that aren’t going your way and again show that resiliency just to find a way. Who cares how much you win by or if guys are shooting well?
“Yes, I would like to have a better defensive game than this. I would have liked to have kept them out of the open court more than this. But at the end of the day, you just find a way to get it done and gut it out. And then you build some confidence from that.”
The Heat ultimately survived with an ensemble approach.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside closed with 14 points and 10 rebounds and James Johnson with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Beyond those double-doubles, there were 16 points from Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson, 14 from Richardson and 12 from Olynyk.
The Heat remained without Dion Waiters and Justise Winslow, with the Jazz without Rudy Gobert.
It was a wild but satisfying finish.
The Heat then moved to a smaller lineup without Whiteside, as they had done in the preceding victories over the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, with an Olynyk free throw drawing them within 98-95 with 2:23 to play.
Hood then converted a jumper in the lane to put the Jazz up 100-95, with Olynyk off with a drive on the other end.
From there, a Richardson dunk in transition got the Heat within 100-97 with 1:23 to play.
The Heat then forced a turnover, with possession confirmed by replay. That put Dragic to the line with 59.6 second left, with Dragic making both foul shots to draw the Heat within 100-99.
That’s when Mitchell attacked the rim for a 102-99 Utah lead, with Olynyk getting to the line on the other end, making both to make it a 102-101 game with 37 seconds to play.
The Heat then attempted to play in transition off a missed Hood 3-pointer, before Spoelstra opted for his timeout with 7.8 seconds to play.