The Miami Heat bounce back after the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday as they beat the Orlando Magic Tuesday night, 121-95. Miami's win gives them the season series victory over Orlando 3-1.
FINAL: Heat 121 – Magic 95
Despite losing a 21 point lead down to 10, Butler had enough and took over the game to seal the deal.
He finished with 23 pts, eight rebs, and eight asts. Rozier had 18, Herro and Bam with 14.
Back to back continues tomorrow vs. Spurs. #HeatCulture
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 7, 2024
It was an intriguing game as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra tried different rotations, especially involving star Jimmy Butler who would act as the point guard for the second unit and it led to finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Terry Rozier would also have a solid game with 17 points, making seven of his 12 shots from the field. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro each had 14 points.
On the Magic's side, their main star in Paolo Banchero led with 23 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points. but it wasn't enough to take down the home team.
Here are three takeaways from the Heat's win over the Magic in their final matchup of the season:
A sign of good things to come in the first half
It was a solid first period for the Heat on both sides of the ball, especially defensively as they held the Magic's main star in Banchero to four points and just 19 points total from the whole team. Offensively, they started hot as Caleb Martin, who was inserted into the starting lineup, hit two big shots that led the team to a 11-2 start.
Miami would cool down a bit as Orlando started to make more shots, but the Heat still led 26-19 by the end of the first period. The second quarter would see the Heat open up their biggest lead of the game at 18 in what was an offensive resurgence, especially from deep as Herro and Richardson would hit back-to-back deep balls.
The Heat would keep up the offense as they had 30 points in the quarter that led to a 20-point lead at one point. However, they had a susceptible quarter defensively giving up 30 points of their own. What was once that 20-point lead, was down to seven at halftime.
Miami shot 47.8 percent from the field and made six of their 20 shot attempts from deep in the first 24 minutes of the game. On the other hand, Orlando shot 44.7 percent from the field and made four of their 14 attempts from deep. Rozier, who was critical of himself after the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers of his slump, led the team with 11 points making four of his seven attempts.
Playing to their strengths in the second half
The third quarter was the best offensive outing fans have seen from the Heat in a while as they scored 40 points to build up a 21-point lead going into the final period. Orlando would score 26 in the quarter which couldn't keep up with Miami's effectiveness on the fast-break and shooting the ball.
This was very much a breath of fresh air to see from the Heat as it seemed they were finally playing to their strengths. All they needed was to close it out on the fourth quarter and bounce back from the Clippers loss last Sunday.
The final period was a bit scary as the Magic cut down the Heat's 21-point lead to 10, but Butler came through with eight straight points to bring their lead back up to 16 with 6:14 left. He even hit his defender with the “too small” gesture.
After that, the Magic's possible miracle run was put to bed and the Heat take out their main stars with just over 3 minutes left in the game. Despite losing a 21-point lead, they would gain it back and sustain a lead to get a crucial win against the Magic who were one seed above them in the Eastern Conference.
A chance to finish the home-stand strong
This was a much needed win for Miami as they take care of business at home and win the season series against a solid Magic team. The four-game home stand continues tomorrow as it will be the tail-end of the back to back against the San Antonio Spurs who only have 10 wins on the season.
Still, the Heat are not in the market of overlooking any opponent, especially one with rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama who looks to be one of the league's top players in no time. Still, the team could use the game facing San Antonio as another “get right” game to prepare for another huge contest against the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon.
However, this was a complete Heat win where the defense allowed under 100 points and the offense scored over 120. Let's see if this is the breakthrough that Erik Spoelstra said was coming during the horrid seven-game skid.
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