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1. It wasn’t nearly what it was the other night in Sacramento, but it was again a slow offensive start for the HEAT as they struggled to create good looks. All of Golden State’s starters were essentially in the positive column for the entire first half with Miami’s major run coming in James Wiseman’s minutes with the bench as the Warriors’ center struggled to keep up with the HEAT’s most shooting and movement heavy lineups. Miami was +10 in Wiseman’s five first-half minutes, leading by two at the break thanks largely to 8-of-16 shooting from three (including two from Butler).
The second half continued in the same fashion. Golden State’s starters, looking plenty comfortable, would start to push the lead into double digits. Miami’s bench configurations, with the ball and body movement at times looking as good as it ever has this season, would make inroads and keep things within striking distance. The entire time, as the HEAT got within two at the start of the fourth, it felt as though we were headed for a decisive final five or six minutes. That’s exactly what we got after what was, at the time, the sequence of the game when Draymond Green stole a pass and led a 2-on-1 break which ended in Klay Thompson missing a layup and Duncan Robinson tying things up at 100 going the other way.
In the end it was Miami’s veterans pulling this one out. Kyle Lowry (13 points) gave Miami a lead with a driving layup and just over two minutes to go. Jimmy Butler (23 points on 17 shots) gave them another lead with a spinning and-one. Then Erik Spoelstra made the play of the game challenging a three-shot foul on Butler that not only took Steph Curry off the line but gave Miami the ball back, up three with 1:39 to go. Nobody is going to say the HEAT’s offense was beautiful in the closing minutes and the Warriors certainly had their shots with Thompson missing two opportunities to tie the game in the final minute, but once again the HEAT won a game – 116-109 – against a very good team, as they’ve so many times over the years, when it seemed they wouldn’t based on how they had been playing in previous outings. Just as we discussed last week, Miami always plays the Warriors tough. Whether they win or lose comes down to a few big moments at the end.
2. It’s been a strange couple of years for Duncan Robinson. Opened last season as a starter in a shooting slump. Broke out of that slump to get back to his regular percentages. Became a bench player at the end of the regular season. In and out of the postseason rotation. Coming into this season it wasn’t clear where his minutes were going to come from only because Tyler Herro was going to start and Max Strus had certainly earned minutes of his own during the playoffs. Those minutes have been inconsistent so far, sometimes 10, sometimes 15, sometimes five. But it’s not like Robinson’s skills have diminished as he’s still a lights-out shooter, and with Miami struggling to generate much in the way of high-value offense tonight it was Robinson (and Strus) who got everything moving. The scales have shifted more toward pick-and-roll offense – with fewer threes – than they have in recent years with more on-ball players in the opening group than ever, yet tonight it was good old-fashioned handoffs – one play involved Robinson, Strus and Gabe Vincent running five consecutives handoffs around Adebayo before Strus got fouled taking a three – that kept the HEAT in the game. We’ve talked plenty about how valuable it is for the HEAT’s offense whenever they can generate two-on-the-ball situations and even though it doesn’t happen every night, the threat of Robinson (17 points, 5-of-8 from three) getting hot can still freak defenses out and, as we saw tonight, create all sorts of downhill space when there wasn’t much else going – with Robinson drawing two and hitting Adebayo for a game-tying dunk with about five minutes to go. That it was Robinson finishing the game in those final minutes – with Herro out after getting hit in the eye – speaks volumes about his impact.
3. It’s been a strange couple of years for Max Strus, too. Began last season as a role player. Finished it as a starter getting big minutes in the playoffs after putting up one of the best high-volume shooting seasons in recent history. Came into this year not knowing his role, eventually learning that he would be coming off the bench. And yet he’s never missed a beat throughout as he’s fashioned himself into one of the HEAT’s most consistent and reliable players no matter how many minutes or however many lineups he’s asked to play in. With there being something of an on-ball usage void in the second unit Strus has continued to flash his ability to make an impact even when he’s run off the arc while coming up with a few defensive plays – his 24 points on 17 shots were quite literally irreplaceable both for the shots he made and the shots he was able to take. He probably won’t have the scoring totals to put him over the top, but it certainly seems as though Strus has a chance to keep himself in the Sixth Man conversation.
For more News about the Miami Heat visit: www.miamiheat.com
For more sports coverage from NBA,NFL, to NCAA contact Julian Ojeda: julian@communitynewspapers.com
