South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Heat exact revenge, shut down Beal in rout over Washington
And then there are games like this, when the Miami Heat play with aggression, hunger, relentlessness.
Which, in many ways, makes what now is an 8-14 record all the more confounding and disturbing.
In attack mode from the outset on both ends of the court, the Heat scored 40 points in the first quarter, 71 in the first half, limited NBA scoring leader Bradley Beal to 1-of-14 shooting and moved to a 122-95 victory Friday night over the Washington Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“This,” center Bam Adebayo said, “is our true form.”
Two nights after falling to the league-worst Wizards, the Heat closed out a 2-4 homestand with quality contributions from Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kendrick Nunn, Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk, among others.
“I’m happy we finally showed one of those games,” guard Goran Dragic said.
With eight of the next nine on the road, it was a welcome exhale for Erik Spoelstra’s team, who next play a 1 p.m. Super Bowl Sunday game in New York, attempting to put together just its second winning streak of the season.
“For us, it’s more about continuing to try to build our habits, just forge ahead,” Spoelstra said. “We just have to forge ahead, one day at a time. We have made improvement.”
Nunn closed with 25 points,
Adebayo 21, Herro 17, Olynyk 17, with Butler filling out the box score with 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, afforded the luxury of sitting out the fourth quarter.
“We played the way we said we always wanted to play,” Butler said.
Of course, the Heat being the Heat, they still found a way to make it interesting, allowing a 22-5 Wizards run to cut what had been a
37-point lead into the need to reinsert Adebayo midway through the fourth quarter.
“We got to be much more consistent,” Butler said. “We’re capable of it, too.”
Beal, who entered leading the NBA in scoring at 34.8 points per game, closed with seven.
Adebayo said the approach with Beal was “anybody but. He’s one of the premier scorers in the league right now.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
1. Power play: Adebayo came out in attack mode, going 11 of 11 from the foul line as part of his
15-point first quarter. That helped the Heat to a 40-27 lead going into the second period.
Only twice this season prior to Friday night had Adebayo attempted more than 11 free throws over an entire game.
“Just being aggressive for my teammates,” Adebayo said. “That was my way of saying got to find a way to win.”
He wound up playing 11:25 of the opening period because both times Spoelstra tried to sub in Precious Achiuwa, Adebayo was at the foul line.
“We were competing on both ends,” Adebayo said. “We were making shots and making multiple efforts on the other end. It’s great to see us get back to that form of last year.”
2. Role reversal: Herro played as a reserve for the first time this season, with Dragic returning to the starting lineup.
Herro then scored eight points in his 6:37 of the first period.
“He was in that role last year and it worked pretty well,” Adebayo said.
The move alleviated some of the playmaking responsibilities for Herro, with Kendrick Nunn operating as point guard with the second unit.
In the fourth quarter, Herro recorded his 1,000th career point.
“He’s been playing well,” Spoelstra said. “He’s made a lot of progress this season on both ends of the court. He’s going to play significant minutes, regardless”
3. Make it 15: The changeup with Herro was part of a move to the
15th starting lineup in the Heat’s
22 games.
The first five was rounded out by Adebayo, Butler, Duncan Robinson and Olynyk.
That quintet had not previously played together this season and had played only 20 minutes together last season.
“We shared the ball,” Dragic said. “We trust each other. I think that’s the key. Everybody got involved.”
It basically was the Heat’s 2020 playoff lineup, with Olynyk taking the place of departed free agent Jae Crowder.
“Our core guys have not been on the court together a lot this season,” Spoelstra said.
4. Nunn sense: After being held out by coaches decision the previous three games, Nunn was back in the mix with Avery Bradley out three to four weeks with a strained right calf.
“Whatever minutes, I’ll always be ready,” Nunn said. “I think I gave them some trust, to be able to trust me, to be able to call on me whenever and I’ll produce.”
Nunn opened 5 of 6 from the field, playing as the Heat’s second reserve, converting his first two
3-pointers.
“He has competitive character and he really works behind the scenes,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not by accident.
“He’s a great offensive spark.”
5. Always something: The Heat lost Dragic for the night in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle.
With Bradley already out, it left the Heat without an available true point guard for the finish, with Max Strus inserted to start the fourth quarter.
Dragic closed with nine points in his 22 minutes.
“It happened on defense,” Dragic said. “I was trying to contain [Russell] Westbrook and just twisted my ankle. So it swelled up. I mean, it hurts right now. I don’t know how bad it is. Overnight is gong to be crucial to see.”
Spoelstra said he did not know whether Dragic would travel for Sunday’s game.