The Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets, 98-94, on Wednesday night after nearly blowing a 20-point lead to improve to 8-8 on the season. Here are my observations from the win.
The Good: The Defense (For the most part)
With the exception of the Hornets getting on fire and hitting nine threes in the fourth quarter, the defense for the Heat was exceptional.
Erik Spoelstra, after the loss to the Bucks, claimed he wanted to see the Heat’s best for “48 minutes”, and on the defensive end, for the most part, Spoelstra got his wish.
The Heat held the Hornets to a whopping 33% from the field, holding the Hornets to under 100 points for only the fourth time this season. Miami also allowed the fewest points in a quarter this season, as the Hornets only scored 13 points in the second period.
The Heat now improve to 5-0 when holding teams under 100 points this season.
The Bad: A Near 4th Quarter Collapse
What a near disaster for Miami! After nearly surviving a 14-point blown lead in Miami’s first trip to the Queen City this season, the Heat escaped after almost giving up a 20-point lead. As mentioned above, the Hornets hit nine threes in the fourth quarter, and after the Head had a 17-point lead with 9:16 to go in the final period, the Hornets surged back and went on a 31-12 run to take a two-point lead with 42.1 seconds left.
Luckily for Miami, Tyler Herro’s 12-point quarter performance saved the Heat, capping it off with a clutch three to give the Heat the lead back with 28.1 seconds to go.
The Heat managed to escape, but nearly suffering a collapse against a sub .500 team like Charlotte, especially while the Heat are working to address their own issues, could have been a disastrous setback.
The Beautiful: The New Starting Lineup
After Terry Rozier was out of the lineup for two games due to right foot soreness, Spoelstra made a major adjustment to the starting five. He elevated Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith into the starting unit, as Nikola Jovic and Rozier (when he returned) would move to the bench.
In the four games Miami has used the lineup of Herro, Robinson, Highsmith, Butler and Adebayo, the Heat are 3-1, with the one loss coming in the game prior, to the Bucks by three points.
This adjustment was necessary for the Heat as Herro and Rozier were not mixing well as a backcourt pair, and it has worked. Robinson, who came off the bench to start the season, is thriving playing more comfortably with Bam on handoff actions, as Robinson had a season-high 22 points on 6 of 9 shooting from beyond the arc on Wednesday night.
The move has also benefited Rozier as playing fewer minutes has allowed him to have more energy when he closes games, scoring seven crucial points in the fourth against the Hornets tonight and 11 points in the fourth last night against the Bucks.
