Five takeaways from the Miami Heat\u2019s 114-106 win over the Charlotte Hornets (1-2) on Saturday night at Spectrum Center. The Heat (1-1) now returns to Miami to begin a quick two-game homestand on Monday against the Detroit Pistons on Dwyane Wade Statue Night at Kaseya Center: After turning in one of his worst performances in a Heat uniform to begin this season, Jimmy Butler turned in a bounce-back performance to lead the Heat to a bounce-back win. The Heat\u2019s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler combined for just 12 points on 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) shooting from the field in Wednesday\u2019s ugly season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n
The duo was better on Saturday, combining to total 38 points on 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) shooting from the field in the Heat\u2019s win over the Hornets. But Butler was responsible for most of that production, bouncing back from Wednesday\u2019s three-point performance to lead the Heat in Charlotte with 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 shooting on threes and 11-of-17 shooting from the foul line, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block. \u201cHonestly, just doing all of that and it resulting in a win,\u201d Butler said when asked about his big night. \u201cThat\u2019s the reason that we all play the game. I\u2019m just happy to get one in the win column.\u201d Adebayo closed the victory with 12 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 shooting on threes and 0-of-1 shooting from the foul line, 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.<\/p>\n
Butler was the Heat\u2019s catalyst down the stretch on Saturday, too, in a game that came down to the final minutes. It appeared the Heat was on its way to a double-digit win, pulling ahead by 11 points with 5:35 left in the fourth quarter. But the Hornets rallied, using a quick 8-0 run to cut the Heat\u2019s lead to three with 2:56 to play. That\u2019s when Butler hit a bail-out three at the end of the shot clock to push the Heat\u2019s lead back up to six points with 2:30 left. After Hornets guard Tre Mann made a three of his own on the other end to again cut the deficit to three, Butler made a 12-foot jumper while being fouled. Butler missed the free throw, but the two-point play still put the Heat ahead by five points with 1:54 to play. The Hornets kept coming back, though, as Mann made another shot to again cut the deficit to three points with 1:36 on the clock.<\/p>\n
But this time, Heat guard Tyler Herro delivered with a clutch three-pointer to give the Heat a six-point lead with 1:15 remaining. Butler then came away with a steal on the next Hornets possession and drew a foul. Butler made both free throws to push the Heat\u2019s lead up to eight with 1:06 left. When Hornets forward Miles Bridges then made a three-pointer to trim the deficit to five, Heat guard Terry Rozier responded with a three of his own to extend Miami\u2019s lead back up to eight and put the game away with 34.5 seconds to play. Butler ended up scoring 13 of his team-high 26 points in Saturday\u2019s fourth quarter. He shot 6 of 9 from the line in the final period. LaMelo Ball scored a game-high 27 points for the Hornets.<\/p>\n
The Heat was the more well-rested team after having two days off following Wednesday\u2019s opener. The Hornets were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set after losing to the Hawks in Atlanta on Friday. \u201cOur disposition, physicality, the efforts, that was much better,\u201d Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked what the Heat did better on Saturday after Wednesday\u2019s 19-point loss to the Magic. \u201cThroughout the course of the game, we would flow in and out of rhythm offensively. But our activity level defensively was pretty consistent all the way through.\u201d It\u2019s clear that Spoelstra is still working through the bench rotation.<\/p>\n
The Heat again went with the starting lineup of Rozier, Herro, Butler, Nikola Jovic and Adebayo. But the bench rotation looked a little different from the opener, as the Heat used a five-man bench unit of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson, Thomas Bryant, Dru Smith and Alec Burks on Saturday against the Hornets. In Wednesday\u2019s opener, the Heat went with a four-man bench rotation of Jaquez, Robinson, Bryant and Haywood Highsmith before emptying its bench late in the lopsided loss to the Magic. So what was different for the Heat\u2019s second game of the season? The Heat extended its rotation to 10 players, with Smith and Burks playing instead of Highsmith. But Smith played just three minutes on Saturday. He entered with 3:09 left in the first quarter and was pulled with 18.2 seconds left in the period after picking up three quick fouls, and he didn\u2019t re-enter the game. Burks, who did not play in the opener, recorded nine points on 3-of-4 shooting on threes in 25 minutes against the Hornets.<\/p>\n
The Heat outscored the Hornets by seven points with Burks on the court. \u201cHe\u2019s such a pro,\u201d Spoelstra said of Burks. \u201cYou hear that term tossed around so much in our league, but he is a pro\u2019s pro. He\u2019s professional, he\u2019s ready, he stays prepared, he\u2019s smart, he knows how to fit in and he\u2019s got a great skill set, too.\u201d The only active and available players who did not get into Saturday\u2019s game were Highsmith, Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson. Two-way contract guard Josh Christopher was available, but the Heat made him inactive for the contest.<\/p>\n
The Heat\u2019s disruptive defense was back, but rebounding was again an issue on Saturday. After forcing the Magic into just 11 turnovers in Wednesday\u2019s defeat, one of the Heat\u2019s priorities against the Hornets was to get back to its disruptive ways on the defensive end. Mission accomplished, as the Heat helped force the Hornets into 20 turnovers. Miami scored 24 points off those mistakes. That allowed the Heat to outscore the Hornets 24-11 in points off turnovers on Saturday. This is an area that the Heat wants to dominate this season, aiming to be among the NBA\u2019s top teams in forcing turnovers. It was an emphasis leading up to the regular season, too, as the Heat closed this preseason with the NBA\u2019s highest opponent turnover rate (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) at 21.7 percent. \u201cJust continuing to build good habits,\u201d Herro said. \u201cWe want to keep starting off our games on the defensive end, continuing to be disruptive, force turnovers. The last two days after Wednesday\u2019s home opener in Miami, we really watched film, we practiced to make sure tonight wasn\u2019t the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, rebounding continues to be an issue for the Heat through the first few days of the season. After allowing the Magic to score 25 second-chance points with the help of 18 offensive rebounds on Wednesday, the Heat allowed the Hornets to grab 15 offensive rebounds and total 20 second-chance points on Saturday. \u201cI think we got to clean up some of the defensive rebounding a little bit,\u201d Butler said. \u201cBut all in all, it\u2019s a win so we\u2019ll take it.\u201d The Hornets welcomed Rozier back to Charlotte with a tribute video, but Rozier wasn\u2019t as nice to the Hornets in his return. Rozier played against the Hornets in Charlotte during the preseason, so Saturday wasn\u2019t technically his first game back at Spectrum Center since the Hornets traded him to the Heat on Jan. 23. But Saturday was Rozier\u2019s first regular-season game in Charlotte since the trade. The Hornets played a video tribute for Rozier during the game\u2019s first time out midway through the first quarter and he received a nice ovation from the Charlotte crowd. Rozier, who spent four-plus seasons with the Hornets before being moved to the Heat, shared laughs and hugs with his former Hornets teammates and coaches before Saturday\u2019s game. Rozier finished the win with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. The highlight of his night was the game-sealing three-pointer he hit to push the Heat\u2019s lead up to eight with 34.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter. \u201cIt\u2019s super special,\u201d Rozier said. \u201cI told them earlier after shootaround, \u2018We\u2019re about to get this win tonight.\u2019 But it\u2019s always good to win, especially at your old stomping grounds. I\u2019m glad we got the win today.\u201d Josh Richardson is inching closer to his return, but he was again held out Saturday. Richardson missed the entire preseason as he worked his way back from March surgery on his right shoulder and then was held out of Wednesday\u2019s regular-season opener with left heel enthesopathy. The good news is Richardson was upgraded to questionable for Saturday\u2019s game against the Hornets and even warmed up right before the game. But the Heat eventually ruled Richardson out about 30 minutes before tipoff.<\/p>\n
The Heat\u2019s hope is that Richardson will make his return in the coming days, possibly during its upcoming two-game homestand that begins Monday against the Pistons. \u201cHe\u2019s making progress,\u201d Spoelstra said when asked about Richardson following Saturday\u2019s morning shootaround in Charlotte. \u201cSo I\u2019m encouraged by it. I know he is, as well. Don\u2019t have a specific date, but he\u2019s practicing and he\u2019s doing everything right now.\u201d The Heat was also without centers Kevin Love (personal reasons) and Kel\u2019el Ware (stomach illness) against the Hornets. Love has missed the first two games of the season and Ware missed his first game of the season. The Hornets were without Josh Green (return from injury management), DaQuan Jeffries (right hand), Brandon Miller (left glute) and Mark Williams (left foot) against the Heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat\u2019s 114-106 win over the Charlotte Hornets (1-2) on Saturday night at Spectrum Center. The Heat (1-1) now returns to Miami to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n