Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat outlast Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champions

The Heat withstood the Thunder in Miami behind their strong rebounding and 3-point shooting.  Bam Adebayo struggled from the inside but lit up the perimeter, and the bench had big-time contributions.

Norman Powell said, “The thing about this team [is that] we can beat anybody or we can lose to anybody. It’s all about our mentality and our approach and being collective…”

They weren’t deterred by a 12-point first-half deficit, and closed the distance with raised intensity on defense, Pelle Larsson scoring thrice at close range, and Myron Gardner, who is on a two-way contract, swishing three treys. They were only down five points at intermission despite shooting below average at 0-3 feet and in the paint non-restricted area.

The Heat subsequently took the lead, but it didn’t last long as Chet Holmgren erupted, making three shots in the square, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the third quarter on jumpers and drive-bys. 

Then they went colder than an ice box in the fourth quarter, as eight lead changes followed. Larsson was their source of inside pressure, tallying three more baskets in the paint on cuts and catch-and-go moves, Adebayo rediscovered his touch from short and long distance, and Andrew Wiggins drilled a right-side 3-pointer to give the crew the final lead.

The Heat won 122-120, setting a new season high in second-chance points (33).

Takeaways:

• The Heat were missing Davion Mitchell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro. They were most affected in the half-court, scoring only 83.2 points per 100 plays, which is good enough for the 13th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. They still made 20 triples for the fourth time this year, remaining undefeated on those nights. Norman Powell’s drive-and-kick set up Wiggins’ go-ahead triple.

• SGA scored 39 points on 63.2% shooting, and his biggest outbursts came in the first and third quarters.  He picked up the slack for Jalen Williams, who didn’t play after suffering a hamstring injury late in the first half, by scoring 21 points the rest of the way.

• While the Heat led by two with 31 seconds left, Holmgren curled to the right behind SGA’s back screen on a sideline inbound and missed the lob. Alex Caruso also missed a makeable 3-pointer after the Heat doubled SGA on the final inbound.

• Adebayo scored the team’s first nine points and continued, nailing four extra 3-pointers, setting a new career high for makes in a game (6). He recovered 12 rebounds, including six offensive and was the best big man on the court. Additionally, Myron Gardner stepped up, scoring 11 of the team’s 42 bench points.

• The Thunder being the champs had a lot to do with the Heat’s vigor, but it was the first game of the second half of the season, and they played like they were desperate to get back on track. Pushing the pace, the rebounding edge and superior ball protection allowed them to take 34 more shot attempts.

• Kasparas Jakučionis got his second start of his career and fouled out after 26 minutes. He missed most of his shots except for a corner trey, yet had seven assists against zero turnovers.

• Spoelstra accused Ware of playing for himself after Thursday’s loss against the Celtics, yet he was contrite before the Thunder game. He said he didn’t articulate his thoughts properly and that, “I’m fully invested about the opportunity to develop Kel’el…We’re going to give him everything we have to become the player he can become.”