Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat push past Magic 116-113
Robinson hits nine 3-pointers, scores 27 as Heat push past visiting Magic
MIAMI — It came down to a single quarter defining the Miami Heat’s performance over the past 10 days.
Come up short against the Orlando Magic, and it’s a third loss against a team with a losing record in that span.
Come through and there is the resilience of a four-game winning streak to cap a five-game homestand.
In the end, Duncan Robinson to the rescue, with his nine 3-pointers lifting the Heat to a 116-113 victory Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines.
“Now, we’ve got to keep it rolling,” Robinson said.
But first there was the Heat losing all of a 15-point second quarter lead. Then there was a push back to a five-point fourth-quarter lead, and then a 106-105 deficit with 4:50 to play.
But that’s when Robinson stepped up with his ninth 3-pointer for a 110-106 Heat lead with 4:09 to play. Less than a minute later, a 3-pointer from Goran Dragic pushed the Heat to a 113-106 edge. Later, a 3-pointer by Jae Crowder with 2:22 gave the Heat a season-high 22 3-pointers and the Heat a 116-108 lead.
Even then, it hardly was settled, with a
Terrence Ross 3-pointer drawing Orlando within 116-111 and a Nikola Vucevic basket in the lane with 32 seconds to play making it 116-113.
A missed jumper by the Heat’s Jimmy Butler followed, with video replay awarding possession to the Magic of the rebound that went out of bounds.
The Magic then inbounded with 9.8 seconds to play, with the Heat fouling with 6.2 seconds left, leaving the Magic to inbound again, with the Heat not yet over the foul limit.
From there, the Magic’s Aaron Gordon was off on a 3-pointer, and it was over.
“This is what you have to manage over the course of 48 minutes,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of his team’s wild Wednesday ride. “These are long games. The 3-point shooting has changed the game dramatically.”
Robinson led the Heat with 27 points, all on 3-pointers, supported by 25 by Dragic.
“I just tried to be aggressive, do my job,” Robinson said. “My teammates encouraged me to shoot.”
Ross led the Magic with 35 points, supported by 22 from Vucevic.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s game:
1. Seven heaven, plus more: Robinson missed his first 3-point attempt and then made his next seven.
He closed the first half 7 of 8 from beyond the arc, one 3-pointer shy of the franchise single-half record he set earlier this season.
“Any time you can make a couple in a row it feels good,” Robinson said.
For Robinson, it was a nightlong tango with the record books, closing 9 of 12 from beyond the arc.
He entered with 216 3-pointers for the season, 11 shy of the franchise record Wayne Ellington set in 2017-18.
With his second 3-pointer, he moved past former New York Knicks guard John Starks for the second highest single-season total by an undrafted player. With his ninth, he tied the record former Heat guard Damon Jones set with 225 in 2004-05.
Robinson along the way also tied Rafter Alston’s franchise record of 49 consecutive games with multiple 3-pointers.
Robinson lost a fourth-quarter 3-point conversion when replay revealed a Magic foul had been committed away from the ball before he was in his shooting motion.
“We were able to take care of business tonight,” Robinson said.
2. However: And yet, even with those 21 first-half points from Robinson, the Heat went into the intermission only up five, with the Magic’s Ross scoring 20 in the first half, including 17 in the second period, the most in a period by an Orlando player this season.
Ross closed 8 of 10 on 3-pointers.
“He and Duncan were putting on one of the best displays you’ll see in one game,” Spoelstra said.
3. Dragic rolling: Dragic continued his solid recent play off the bench, including draining one first-half off balance 3-pointer that banked in on a play he thought was going to result in a Magic foul.
While played as a primary facilitator he nonetheless closed with his 12th 20-point game of the season, along with nine assists.
“I think he’s finding his rhythm now, right at the right time,” Spoelstra said.
4. Big effort: It used to be a case of Nikola Vucevic and Hassan Whiteside loading the box scores when it was Heat-Magic.
This time, Vucevic provide dominant in both the scoring column and off the boards against Heat center Bam Adebayo, who was a bit off his typical game.
Vucevic added 16 rebounds and seven assists.
Adebayo closed with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
5. Heat-ed rivalry: Even with divisions minimized in the NBA’s playoff structure, Spoelstra said there needs to still be room for intrastate rivalries.
“It’s the part of this Association that’s good that we don’t want to lose,” he said. ” I’m not talking about the Heat losing. It’s these little mini-rivalries. It matters to them; it matters to us. The two franchises.
“That’s good for the sport. That’s good for the game.”