Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 127-121 win over the Phoenix Suns (24-16) on Tuesday night at Kaseya Center to begin a three-game homestand. The Heat (21-19) continues the homestand on Thursday against the Boston Celtics:
The Heat nearly wasted a 20-point lead, but Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell came to the rescue down the stretch to end Miami’s three-game skid.
After a dominant first half that ended with the Heat ahead by 17 points, the Suns flipped the script in the second half before Adebayo and Powell’s late-game heroics.
With the Heat pushing its lead to 20 points just 21 seconds into the third quarter, the Suns closed the period on a 38-18 run to enter the fourth quarter tied with the Heat at 92.
Phoenix outscored Miami 38-21 in the third quarter to take control of the game. The Heat shot just 36.4 percent from the field and 2 of 9 (22.2 percent) from three-point range in the period after shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the first half.
The Heat, which has now been outscored by at least nine points in four straight third quarters, has posted the league’s seventh-worst third-quarter net rating this season (outscored by 5.2 points per 100 possessions in the third quarter).
The Suns’ momentum continued in the fourth quarter, taking their first lead of the night at 101-99 with 9:13 to play.
The Suns built on that lead, too, pulling ahead by six points with 3:32 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“There was a little bit of a glitch there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Tuesday’s rough third quarter. “We kind of went back to some of the things that get us in trouble.”
But Adebayo saved the night for the Heat, going on a personal 8-0 run to give the Heat a two-point lead with 1:49 to play. Adebayo hit a long two-pointer and then made two threes during his late-game run to put the Heat back ahead.
Mark Williams tied the game for the Suns with two free throws with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Then it was Powell’s turn to deliver for the Heat, sinking a 14-foot midrange jumper to give Miami a two-point advantage with 1:12 remaining.
After Williams again tied the score on a put-back with 59.9 seconds to play, Powell made another clutch shot with a three-pointer to put the Heat ahead by three with 48.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Adebayo and Powell combined to score 13 straight points for the Heat during this game-deciding stretch.
The Heat then sealed the victory on a defensive possession, as Suns forward Dillon Brooks was called for a Flagrant 1 foul for kicking out his legs on a three-point attempt.
That foul sent Heat forward Andrew Wiggins to the free-throw line, and he made both foul shots to give Miami a five-point lead with 11.5 seconds to play and put the game away.
“I thought tonight we did a great job of holding on to the rope, trusting one another, continuing to fight, continuing to make winning plays down the stretch of the game,” Powell said.
Spoelstra added: “It was good to see us overcome the third quarter. ... There’s a certain way we have to play. That doesn’t guarantee we’re going to win every game. But I’ll tell you what, we’ll have a much better shot of putting ourselves in a position to move up playing a certain style. But the fourth quarter was terrific, just from a competitive standpoint and the mental toughness to come back when we were down five after they took the momentum. There have been enough times where we’ve lost our spirit and instead that forced us to show our resolve collectively.”
The Heat’s trio of Adebayo (29 points), Powell (27 points) and Tyler Herro (23 points) combined to score 79 points for Miami.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 16 points off the bench for Miami.
Brooks and Grayson Allen each scored a team-high 25 points for the Suns. Phoenix star guard Devin Booker totaled 24 points.
It was a chippy game that included three technical fouls, but the Heat found a way to survive a fourth quarter that included two lead changes and three ties.
“You like those types of games,” Adebayo said. “Those are the types of games that really get the crowd into it, it gets intense. Every bucket is like a chirping moment. Like I said, that’s when the ball finds the energy, and it just so happens that it was finding me and Norm in some of those biggest moments.”
Adebayo has been in a dismal scoring slump, but he turned in his best offensive game in weeks on Tuesday on another milestone night.
It has been an offensive struggle for Adebayo, who entered Tuesday averaging just 11.4 points per game on 37.1 percent shooting from the field and 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) shooting from three-point range over his last 11 games.
But Adebayo broke out of that slump on Tuesday, for at least one game. He finished the Heat’s victory over the Suns with a game-high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting on threes to go with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block.
As a result, Adebayo passed Alonzo Mourning for sole possession of second place on the Heat’s all-time scoring list. Adebayo (9,461 points) is now two points ahead of third-place Mourning (9,459) and 12,095 points behind No. 1 Dwyane Wade (21,556 points).
“I knew the table was going to turn at some point, and it did tonight,” Adebayo said. “What I love about it is I got to pass Zo.”
Adebayo started Tuesday’s game strong. He scored 10 of the Heat’s first 21 points and made his first four shots (including two three-pointers).
Adebayo went on to finish the first half with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 shooting from behind the arc and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 16 minutes. It marked his highest scoring first half in over a month since he totaled 16 points in the first two quarters of a Dec. 5 loss to the Orlando Magic.
Adebayo then scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.
“He started out really assertive and he was knocking down shots,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “He was also facilitating and screening for us. He was basically doing everything. So, he filled up the box score in all the statistical ways, but then all the winning intangible ways as well.”
Tuesday marked Adebayo’s second-highest scoring performance of the season.
Adebayo and the Heat hopes Tuesday is the start of a progression to the mean in terms of scoring and shooting efficiency. He entered the Heat’s matchup against the Suns averaging his fewest points since his third NBA season at 16.8 points per game and shooting a career-low 45 percent from the field this season.
With Powell back from a one-game absence due to a back issue, the Heat returned to its new preferred starting lineup.
The Heat opened Tuesday’s game with a lineup of Davion Mitchell, Herro, Powell, Wiggins and Adebayo.
With Herro missing 30 of the Heat’s first 36 games this season, it marked just the sixth game that this group has started this season and the second time this lineup has been used since a Dec. 9 loss to the Magic.
Through its first five starts, this lineup has produced positive minutes. The Heat entered Tuesday outscoring opponents by 8.4 points per 100 possessions in the 84 minutes that Mitchell, Herro, Powell, Wiggins and Adebayo have played together this season.
The Heat then used Jaquez, Kel’el Ware, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson and Dru Smith off the bench to complete its 10-man rotation against the Suns.
The Heat entered Tuesday’s game as healthy as it has been all season, but then Mitchell hurt his left shoulder.
While trying to run through a screen early in the third quarter, Mitchell came away holding his left shoulder. He remained on the court for the next few possessions.
But during the next stoppage of play, Mitchell was evaluated by Heat trainers before heading back to the locker room with 9:07 left in the third quarter.
Mitchell didn’t return, finishing Tuesday’s contest with nine points, three rebounds, six assists and one steal in 19 minutes.
The Heat labeled Mitchell’s injury as a “left shoulder contusion.”
“He’s sore,” Spoelstra said of Mitchell after Tuesday’s win. “He got crushed on one of those screens. So, we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Mitchell has played in 38 of the Heat’s first 40 games this season, starting in each of his 38 appearances.
The only players the Heat entered Tuesday’s contest without were Vlad Goldin (G League), Myron Gardner (G League), Jahmir Young (G League) and Terry Rozier (not with team).
The Heat earned a rare victory over a winning team.
The Heat entered Tuesday with an 13-3 record this season against teams currently with a losing record.
But the Heat has struggled against teams with a winning record this season, entering Tuesday with just a 7-16 record in those games. However, Miami recorded its eighth such win of the season on Tuesday by defeating the Suns.
A big reason for the Heat’s problems against quality teams this season is its offense just hasn’t fared well against the NBA’s strongest defenses.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the Heat has posted the NBA’s 18th-ranked offensive rating (scoring 119.3 points per 100 possessions) against defenses currently ranked in the bottom 10 of the league.
But against defenses currently ranked in the top 10 of the NBA, the Heat has recorded the league’s 29th-ranked offensive rating (scoring 106.6 points per 100 possessions) this season.
Against the Suns’ top-10 defense, though, the Heat found some success.
Miami scored 127 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the field to post an impressive offensive rating of 123.3 points per 100 possessions on Tuesday. The Heat is now 9-3 this season when scoring more than 120 points per 100 possessions.