Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat hold off the burning Suns in Miami

The Heat snapped their three-game losing streak, prosperously commencing their homestand (3) with a quality win against the Suns. It was a grueling effort, as they nearly blew a significant lead, yet their half-court offense delivered in crunch time.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said, “Four quarters of playing like we did in the third quarter, that’s not going to win a lot of games.”

But early, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro were raining jumpers, and the Suns called a timeout after Jaime Jaquez Jr. slashed through the lane for a second-chance layup, putting the Heat ahead by 10 points late in the first quarter. The hosts continued pouring in trifectas, but Grayson Allen scored Phoenix’s last 11 points of the period to keep them from flatlining.

Phoenix’s open, long-range misses piled up, yet Dillon Brooks carried them as he kamikazed into the lane and blasted from the middle in the second frame. Still, the other side countered with relentless inside pressure and overwhelmed them on the glass, going into halftime up by 17.

Their 20-point lead was subsequently sliced to one in the third courtesy of Brooks’ encore, punching the gas in transition and giving Miami a taste of their own medicine with strong offensive rebounding. He even drew a technical foul, his 15th for the year, pushing Norman Powell, and kept it going after that with drive-bys. One of their only mishaps was that Devin Booker limped to the locker room after a collision with Pelle Larsson.

“I thought we had the right intentions, coming out and trying to play the right way, play with the right energy,” Powell said. “I think it’s in that third quarter. It came down to missing shots, and [the Suns] capitalizing on that.”

It took fewer than three minutes into the fourth for the Heat to lose the lead because they didn’t guard the corner and got boat-raced in transition, forcing Spoelstra to call a stoppage. They fell behind by as much as five points late, then the Suns started losing their composure with excessive physicality. On top of that, Jaquez turned into playmaker #1, and Adebayo dunked twice and downed three 3-pointers to bail them out.

The Heat won 127-121 and had five players score between 10 and 29 points.

Takeaways:

• The Suns came into Miami on a three-game winning streak and had won eight of their last 10 outings. They had held opponents to 102.9 in their last seven wins, but they played like they had the South Beach flu for the first half, conceding 15 baskets in the restricted area and getting nothing on the fast break. Yet they were smacking the Heat around in the third quarter, outscoring them by 17.

• The Heat scored at least 70 points in the first half for the ninth time this season (71), remaining undefeated on those nights. Part of the reason for their early success was that Adebayo had an excellent half, making jumpers and a few shots in the paint. He had a quiet third frame, but was the team’s source of offense when they needed it the most late. He finished with 29 points on 73.3% shooting, with nine rebounds and four assists.

• The Heat couldn’t contain them on the offensive glass, permitting 18 extra opportunities that turned into 20 second-chance points. They were also clueless on how to guard the 3-point line, getting burned by six deep baskets. Keep in mind that Phoenix only had 14 treys for the game.

• The Heat started their small-ball lineup of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Adebayo. They played the best they ever have together, yet Mitchell didn’t return because of a left shoulder contusion, and the defense suffered late at the point of attack. Spoelstra gave no update on him at the presser. 

• Jaquez was a force, finishing at close range seven times on dribble moves and cuts. He also set up others through the drive and kick, including three of Adebayo’s big-time threes in the fourth, and Powell’s late shot in the corner. Jaquez had eight assists and zero turnovers, to go along with 16 points, 43.8% shooting. 

• Spoelstra said after the game that they “are going to conquer the third quarter,” and that the team has a positive teaching point from the win.