Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A night for 500s
Johnson lights it up as Spoelstra’s 500th win gets Heat back to .500
ORLANDO — No. 500 for Erik Spoelstra got the Miami Heat back to .500.
Tyler Johnson exploded for 20 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter and, combined with another sharp defensive effort, the Heat took down the Orlando Magic 115-91 on Sunday night at Amway Center.
With a fifth consecutive victory, Miami (16-16) will go into Christmas a .500 team, bouncing back from much of the hardship of the early portion of the season.
“We didn’t want to be here now at this point in time, but we had to show some grit to dig deep and really get to an identity,” Spoelstra said pregame. “So I’m sure there is some significance in the locker room of getting to that point. It’s a good first step.”
Five-hundred was also significant in that it was Spoelstra’s 500th career victory. He’s the 32nd NBA coach to accomplish the feat and 13th to do it with one team.
“I’m humbled by that. It doesn’t even register as real right now,” Spoelstra said. “That’s why I’m so grateful for the Arisons and Pat [Riley] for giving me this opportunity. Pat has been a great mentor to me all these years.”
Johnson hit five of his six 3-pointers, which is a career high, in the third. One of them came on a four-point play.
Justise Winslow scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and five assists as the Heat avenged two earlier losses to Orlando, on Dec. 4 at home and back at Amway Center in the opener on Oct. 17.
Josh Richardson had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Hassan Whiteside had 14 and six. Kelly Olynyk scored 11 points, and Dwyane Wade, in his final regular-season game in Orlando, added 10.
Evan Fournier led the Magic (14-18) with 17, but Orlando shot 41.4 percent from the field and turned it over 19 times.
The Heat return home for three straight at American-Airlines Arena, starting with the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Five degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
1. Tyler goes off: Johnson must like something about playing at Amway Center in December.
His 20-point third quarter was just two points shy of his career high for one period, which was also in Orlando, scoring 22 on Dec. 30, 2017.
Johnson’s career high for points in a game is 32, and that was established on Dec. 20, 2016 at Amway Center.
“I don’t know what it is because early on in my career I used to not like it here,” Johnson said. “I broke my jaw. I had a lot of bad stuff happen here, so vengeance, I guess.”
2. A tribute to Wade: During the second quarter, the Magic played a video tribute for Dwyane Wade as he played his final game in Orlando, barring any unlikely Eastern Conference playoff meeting.
The video consisted of Magic players complimenting Wade on his career and his contributions to basketball, intertwined with career highlights.
Wade was the first reserve off the Heat bench in the first quarter, receiving significant ovations from the Orlando fans throughout.
He had an early 3-pointer, a second-quarter floater in the lane and a smooth turn-around fadeaway on the baseline in the first half, even drawing “MVP” chants from Magic fans when he went to the free-throw line.
After the game, he went into the tunnel to a raucous gathering of Magic fans.
“I couldn’t imagine how the Beatles felt because that was rockstar-like,” Wade said. “I definitely appreciate it. I’ve had some great moments here in Orlando.”
3. McGruder a late
scratch: Heat wing Rodney McGruder was listed as a starter ahead of Sunday night, but when it came time for tip, Johnson ran out with the starters.
The Heat announced it was stomach illness that kept McGruder out as he wasn’t even on the bench.
“It might’ve been half an hour, 35 minutes before the game,” Spoelstra said. “He was lying on a table just trying to grind it out in Rodney McGruder style, but he couldn’t move.”
McGruder had started every game for the Heat up until Sunday, a run of 31 consecutive starts. Bam Adebayo is now the only Heat player to play in all 32 games.
Without McGruder, guard Wayne Ellington saw action for the fourth time in the Heat’s last nine games. Udonis Haslem was the only available Heat player who didn’t play.
4. Fast start: The Heat forced the Magic into their first timeout at the 7:20 mark of the first quarter. All five Heat starters had scored as Miami led 14-6.
The Heat led 28-17 at the end of the first quarter, and James Johnson scored all nine of those points in the period.
5. Magic fight back —
twice: The Heat lead ballooned to 19 early in the second quarter before the Magic went on a 16-2 run to get within five, at 43-38.
Miami led 53-44 at halftime, but then went up by as many as 26 in the third quarter. A 22-4 run from the end of the third to the start of the fourth had the Magic within eight, at 92-84 with eight minutes remaining, before the Heat put it away.