Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat make easy work of the Jazz in Utah

The Heat crushed the Jazz, improving to 2-2 on their west coast road trip.  They rampaged on the glass and scored at least 140 points (147) for the eighth time this year (8-0).

The Heat had a bumpy start, giving up three backdoor cuts and coughing up two turnovers, but they cleaned things up, and invaded the lane eight times and recovered 10 offensive rebounds. It was all gas, no brakes, and they ended the period ahead by a point. 

They separated themselves by following up with strikes to the body, corralling nine more offensive boards, and even went on a 13-6 run to close the period, while blowing up nearly everything Utah was running. 

They were up 73-52 at halftime and had five scorers in double figures. Brice Sensebaugh subsequently nailed three trifectas in the third quarter, but it didn’t make a dent as the Heat kept their feet on the accelerator. The Heat also started the fourth quarter ahead by 19 and it quickly became a formality as the Jazz never found any answers to slow them down.

The Heat won 147-116, despite allowing 70 points in the lane, which is the the second-most they’ve allowed this season.

Takeaways:

• The Heat outrebounded the Jazz by 29, and set a new season high with 26 offensive rebounds. The previous highest season was 21 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 17. Bam Adebayo (15) and Dru Smith (10) were the team’s leading rebounders against Utah.

• Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakučionis started together. Larsson was affected by two fouls, forcing him to sit in the first two minutes, yet still had a dozen on immaculate shooting by halftime and finished with 20 points on 63.6% accuracy, with two rebounds and three dimes. Furthermore, Jakučionis got the start because of Davion Mitchell’s absence (shoulder), and he scored efficiently on and off the dribble. His best spurt was in the third quarter, logging nine of his 12 points. 

• Jakučionis was accidentally hit by Ace Bailey’s elbow in the temple with fewer than three minutes left. Adebayo and Norman Powell then escorted him to the locker room.

• Myron Gardner is on a two-way contract, yet his energy is infectious, and his hustle bought the team extra possessions. He guarded his tail off, too. 

• This was the Heat’s 11th time this season scoring at least 70 by halftime (73), and they are undefeated on those nights. 

• One thing Utah did exceptionally well is cut nonstop to the hoop. Keyonte George and Bailey did serious damage on these plays, and Jusuf Nurkić set up a good chunk of them.

•  The Heat are the eighth seed, only a half-game ahead of the Chicago Bulls. Both squads will see each other thrice from Jan. 29 through Feb. 1.