South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Clutch play turns back surge
MIAMI — The challenge Saturday night for the Miami Heat was one that largely will define this season: the ability to overcome individual brilliance with collective depth and resolve.
The test this time was provided by Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, who was coming off a 41-point performance two nights earlier against the Orlando Magic.
A week ago, the Heat lacked enough to overcome Kemba Walker’s 39 points in falling to the Charlotte Hornets in the first game of this four-game homestand.
This time, even with Lillard closing with 42, even with the Heat blowing a 19-point lead, strength in numbers played to the Heat’s advantage in a 120-111 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Because Goran Dragic closed with 28 points, including two key late 3-pointers.
Because Dwyane Wade turned back to the clock to score 19.
Because Kelly Olynyk stepped up when needed to score 19.
And because Hassan Whiteside dominated on the glass with 16 rebounds.
The Heat pushed to their
19-point lead in the second period and went into halftime up 57-42. Portland trimmed their deficit to seven in the third, before the Heat went into fourth up 89-79.
Portland later tied it 96-96 with
6:12 to play on a Zach Collins
3-pointer, with a Lillard
3-pointer putting the Blazers up
99-96, matching their largest lead to that stage.
From there, a Dragic
3-pointer with 2:34 to play put the Heat up 108-106, with a Josh Richardson 3-pointer with 2 minutes to play extending the Heat’s lead to 111-106.
Three-pointers by Dragic and Rodney McGruder followed, as did the victory that lifted the Heat to 3-2.
Five degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
1. Rotation renaissance: With Justise Winslow and Wayne Ellington available for the first time this season, and with Derrick Jones Jr. back from a one-game injury absence, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had more to work with than in the opening four games.
He said his rotations will remain a work in progress, which almost is a necessity, with James Johnson and Dion Waiters yet to return from surgeries earlier in the year.
“I’ll do my job and I’ll pencil in, and I’ll communicate as much as possible,” Spoelstra said. “And when it’s tip-off, we’re going to do and play whoever we think gives us the best opportunity for that night. And I’m not perfect, either. I’ll make mistakes with that, as well.”
This time the rotation had Olynyk again opening in a big starting lineup alongside Whiteside that was rounded out by Richardson, McGruder and Dragic.
From there, Wade entered as the first reserve, followed by Tyler Johnson, Bam Adebayo and Winslow.
“I would rather have that challenge of having our guys available to play,” Spoelstra said, “and even if that means a couple of them won’t play that deserve to play and are worthy of playing.”
2. Wade’s world: Among the worst shots in the Heat arsenal is the Wade 3-pointer, unless, of course, he’s making it.
Wade not only hit his first
three 3-point attempts Saturday, but the second was a step-back on the secondary fastbreak in the second period. He then closed out the scoring in the first half with a fadeaway 3-pointer from almost behind the backboard to leave him with 18 points at the intermission, 4 of 5 on
3-pointers.
Wade was up to 13 points before any other player in the game had more than six.
Wade entered 3 of 12 on
3-pointers.
The magic, however, did not carry over to the second half
3. Justise for all: Winslow returned to answer the question about who is the Heat’s backup point guard.
Winslow entered to initially play alongside Dragic before taking over at the point.
Winslow and McGruder both took turns defensively against Lillard, reducing the pressure on that end on Dragic.
“It’s always better to have more options,” Dragic said.
Winslow was uneven with his play, closing with 10 points on
3-of-8 shooting, with five rebounds in 19 minutes.
4. Still waiting: Although again available, neither Ellington nor Jones saw action. Jones had started the first three games
before sustaining a foot injury against the Hornets.
“Whatever Coach Spo decided to do, we trust him 100 percent,” Jones said. “He’s been here for a long time for a reason.
“When you have a whole bunch of depth on your team, it’s great.”
That Spoelstra went with Tyler Johnson over Ellington spoke to the commitment to defense first.
5. Pace in its place: The Trail Blazers entered second in the league in offensive rating, the Heat fourth defensively.
The Heat then held Portland to 42 first-half points, 20 in the second period, imposing their preferred approach. It was the Blazers’ lowest-scoring half of the season.
Portland then regained its stride in the second half.
Spoelstra said before the game he views this season’s increased NBA pace as a case of teams attempting to emulate the champion Golden State Warriors.
“We are definitely not that,” Spoelstra said.