Injury crisis averted
Butler OK after rolling his ankle in 20-point loss in Phoenix
Rare is the 20-point loss when you breathe a sigh of relief.
But with Jimmy Butler writhing on the court after twisting his right ankle midway through the fourth quarter of the Miami Heat’s 106-86 loss Tuesday night to the Phoenix Suns, it was a night that could have been worse.
“I rolled my ankle,” Butler said. “But I’ll be OK.”
Butler bounced back from his adversity to return later in the final period during his 18-point night.
The resolve was not quite the same for his team, after building an early 13-point lead.
So make it 1-1 for the Heat on the four-game trip that continues Wednesday night at altitude against the Denver Nuggets.
With the Heat offense grinding to a near halt after a 34-point first quarter, there simply was not enough to keep up with a Suns team that improved to 39-15, as the Heat fell to 28-26.
“I feel like we didn’t play together like we should have,” center Bam Adebayo said. “When we’re playing together everybody is involved, everybody’s in rhythm. And today I feel like a lot of times we were playing hero ball instead of trying to move the defense.”
Or, as Butler said, “When we start making stuff after a while, not doing what we say we’re going to do, it turns bad very quickly. Just got to get away from that. We know what we’re supposed to be doing. We choose not to do it.”
Adebayo added an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Heat and Duncan Robinson contributed 15 points, but that couldn’t keep pace against Suns’ bench or the 19 points and 13 rebounds from Phoenix center Deandre Ayton, especially on a night the Heat shot 9 of 44 on 3-pointers.
Three Degrees of Heat from Tuesday’s game:
1. Butler goes down: The Heat called time with 11:40 left in the fourth quarter, with Butler remaining on the court on the offensive end clutching his right ankle.
Trainer Jay Sabol immediately went to the side of Butler, who was removed at that point.
“He’s done that before,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler’s ability to bounce back. “And we all obviously had eyes wide open with him on that.”
Butler landed on the foot of the Suns’ Jevon Carter.
Spoelstra questioned the defense on Butler on the play.
“It was an unfortunate play, one that should have been called a foul, very likely a flagrant, too,” Spoelstra said. “It’s a dangerous play.”
Butler said he did not take issue about the absence of a whistle.
“It wasn’t going to be a 20-point play to make us win the game,” he said. “So I’m not too worried about it.”
2. One-man show: Robinson closed 4 of 10 on 3-pointers, the rest of the Heat 5 of 34, with the bench 0 for 17 from beyond the arc.
“I definitely think there’s a basketball karma to it,” Robinson said of the Heat failing to hit shots on a night the Heat failed the execute the offense. “When you are connected, everyone feels like they’re in rhythm, and obviously the shots are more inclined to go in.”
Robinson made it 10 consecutive games with at least three 3-pointers and his 28th game with at least four.
Just over four minutes in, Robinson extended his streak of games with multiple 3-pointers to 18, six games shy of the franchise record he set last season.
3. Limited Adebayo: Adebayo closed 4 of 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from the line, hardly his most active night in a game that called for more even before Butler went down.
“We definitely need to give him the ball in certain spots in our normal flow,” Spoelstra said. “But, again, they got us out of our normal actions, our normal rhythm. We could have been much better, for sure.”
The double-double gave Adebayo 84 for his career, tying
Shaquille O’Neal for 10th on the Heat’s all-time list.
“Nobody was in no rhythm,” Adebayo said. “Everybody was taking quick shots. Nobody could get going.”
4. Center casting: Having dealt Kelly Olynyk at the trading deadline, the Heat continue to search for answers at center.
Precious Achiuwa played as the Heat’s first big man off the bench, but was called for two fouls in his first minute.
That had Spoelstra moving in the second period to Nemanja Bjelica, who also played as the first big man off the bench in the second half.
Achiuwa and Bjelica played a combined 15 minutes, with only two points and one rebound to show for their combined effort.
“They both bring things that we need to the table,” Spoelstra said. “And a lot of it just depends on the tone of the game and what we feel is best for that moment.”
5. Okpala back: KZ Okpala was in action for the Heat for the first time since March 19, entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols shortly thereafter.
The second-year forward initially was listed as out for Tuesday, but then put in the required court time to be eligible to return. He played the final 3:10, with the game long decided by then.
“It’s just good to have him back in the mix,” Spoelstra said.