Some happy returns
Adebayo, Butler, Herro back, provide big boost in road win
On one hand, the Miami Heat had Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro back in their mix.
That assuredly worked in their favor. On the other hand, the game was at the AT&T Center.
That rarely has worked in the Heat’s favor, entering with a 4-28 all-time regular season in San Antonio, 6-32 when counting the playoffs.
But this time, amid a heated playoff race, the Heat made a stand, mostly because Adebayo, Butler and Herro made a stand, pushing past the Spurs 107-87 Wednesday night, the Heat’s largest margin of victory ever in San Antonio.
Against an opponent equally as desperate in their own playoff race in the West, the Heat got 23 points and eight rebounds from Adebayo, 18 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds from Butler, and 22 points from Herro, 14 of those in the decisive fourth quarter. So after a three-game losing streak that raised concern, there now is a threegame winning streak that has restored hope, with the Heat now with consecutive doubledigit victories for the first time this season.
“Hopefully, we don’t get too comfortable,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s something we’re working on, is trying to find more consistency.”
From there Spurs, there were a muted 15 points from DeMar DeRozan and little else of substance other than the five blocked shots of center Jacob Poetl.
“It was a good game all around,” Adebayo said.
While the Heat remained No. 7 in the East, they now stand within 1 ½ games of No. 4 New York, one game of No. 5 Atlanta and a half-game of No. 6 Boston. The Heat play in Atlanta on Friday night.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat used an 18-4 run to take a seven-point third-quarter lead before going into the fourth up 77-72, with their zone defense proving decisive.
The lead then moved to eight at the start of the fourth, before San Antonio closed within three.
But with Herro, who missed Monday’s victory over the Houston Rockets with foot soreness, stepping up with a 3-pointer with 5:47 left, the Heat surged to a 94-81 lead.
The lead grew from there, with the Spurs eventually emptying their bench down 16 with 4:06 to play.
The Spurs exited duly impressed with the Heat zone.
“Their zone is different from most other people’s zone,” San Antonio guard Derrick White said. “Most people just do zone to have it, but they don’t work on it like they do. They obviously work on that, practice it, so they are probably the best at it in the league. Definitely tough.”
2. Herro ball: It has been an uneven ride for Herro lately, but the fourth quarter instilled hope of a reversal.
In scoring his 14 fourth-quarter points he shot 4 of 4 from beyond the arc in the period, with a team-high four rebounds in the quarter, playing his 10:32 in the quarter without a turnover.
No other player on either team scored more than five points in the fourth, a period the Heat won 30-15.
“There have been some up-and-down moments this season,” Spoelstra said. “Some of that has been due to the nature of being in and out of the lineup due to injury. But he’s got some grit. He continues to compete and try to get better.”
3. Slam Bam: Adebayo, who missed Monday’s victory over the Rockets with knee soreness, came out aggressive from the outset, converting 8 of 12 from the field.
“I think he was really angry at all of us for not being able to play the Houston game,” Spoelstra said. “So I just think he really wanted to get out and compete.”
Adebayo said spectating Monday was difficult.
“Bored as hell,” he said.
As for extra motivation, it was, of course, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, coach of the U.S. National Team who bypassed Adebayo for the 2019 World Cup.
4. Filling it up: In his own return game, after missing the previous two with an ankle sprain, Butler again filled the box score, having been idle since Friday night’s stunning road loss to the league-worst Minnesota Timberwolves.
“It’s always good to win, for sure,” he said. “In and out of the lineup, we have enough to win.”
Butler changed it up, playing in a headband in this one.
“He looked crazy as hell,” Adebayo said. Butler also wore sneakers in his high school’s colors, in his return to Texas.
5. Altered reality: With Andre Iguodala given the night off, KZ Okpala got another shot at rotation minutes, closing an uneven 1 of 6 for three points in his 18:43.
Spoelstra praised Okpala’s defense. “First and foremost, where he can have his impact is defensively,” Spoelstra said. “Whether man or zone, he’s getting a unique skill set.
Iguodala was coming off a solid showing in the Sunday-Monday back-to-back wins over the Nets and Rockets.
“His hip was sore and we anticipated that it would be. He wanted to play in the back-to-back and ended up playing close to 30 minutes. He was simply fantastic in that two-game set,” Spoelstra said. “But he was sore, and I think he’ll feel better after a couple of days of treatment.”