Sparks off the bench
Wade, Dragic lead way as Heat top Thunder without Winslow, McGruder
OKLAHOMA CITY Beyond earning two consecutive victories at a critical juncture in the midst of a playoff push — and possibly playoff positioning — the Miami Heat’s last two much-needed wins are particularly important for another reason.
They’ve shown what the Heat are capable of when guards Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic are playing at their best in their roles off the bench.
Dragic scored 26 points and Wade 25 as the Heat, without Justise Winslow and Rodney McGruder, rebounded from a 13-0 deficit to start, led by as many as 19 and held on for a 116-107 win against the Russell Westbrook-less Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday.
Dragic made a seasonhigh six 3-pointers and had 11 assists. Big man Kelly Olynyk had 18 points and nine rebounds. Forward James Johnson scored 14 off the Heat bench, which totaled 67 points.
“The reality is, we’re bringing in some firepower off the bench,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You have depth for a reason. We’re bringing a Hall of Famer off the bench, an AllStar and, the last two games James Johnson, who had been a starter for us earlier in the year. It’s not like we’re cringing when we go to the bench.”
As the Thunder cut the Heat lead that reached 19 early in the fourth down to nine with under four minutes to play, Wade went to the line to knock down a pair of free throws that helped drown the momentum.
The Heat outlasted 31 points from Paul George, 27 with 10 rebounds from Jerami Grant and 20 from Dennis Schroder. Westbrook, the All-Star guard and former MVP, was suspended one game for picking up his 16th technical foul in Oklahoma City’s previous game against the Golden State Warriors.
Thunder center Steven Adams notched a doubledouble of 10 points and 12 rebounds but was limited due to foul trouble. OKC shot 43.7 percent with 19 turnovers.
“We knew we would have to make them be active and or else they can just destroy you,” Spoelstra said. “At the times that we weren’t, those were those dunks, open 3s and things of that nature.”
Here is more from game: Monday’s
Wade and Dragic again: To respond from the early deficit, the Heat got 19 combined points from Dragic and Wade off the bench the rest of the first quarter.
It followed the tandem’s 36 combined points — 19 for Dragic and 17 for Wade — in Sunday’s victory. No Justise or Rodney: The Heat were without point guard Winslow (right thigh bruise) and shooting guard McGruder (left knee soreness).
The Winslow absence could’ve been expected after he missed Sunday afternoon’s win over the Hornets. McGruder was a surprise after there was no apparent issue on Sunday, although he only played three minutes.
“It was bothering him a little bit the last few days,” Spoelstra said pregame. “We just wanted to take care of it now.”
Not so (J-)Rich: After shooting 2-for-17 on Sunday against the Hornets, Josh Richardson started 1 of 9 on Monday night. He finished with nine points on 3-of-14 shooting, but Richardson was plus-13 while on the floor Monday, best of any Heat starter.