In their first home game of the New Year in 2024, the Miami Heat handle business against the Houston Rockets, 120-113. This brings their record to 21-15 on the season as they try to climb the rankings of the Eastern Conference.
Going into Monday night, the Heat's next 13 of 18 games would be at home, making this a prime opportunity to capitalize and get their record up. It was a solid night for Miami in every facet as they shot 50 percent from the field and 41.7 from three-point range.
Tyler Herro led the way once again with 28 points, shooting 50 percent from the field himself as Miami needed him when a bucket was needed to stifle Houston. After getting into early foul trouble, Bam Adebayo finished the game with 22 points and collected 12 rebounds to add another double-double to his resume for this season.
Miami would also get some little, but large in scale contributions from the likes of Nikola Jovic, Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and others that show the team's depth.
The Heat's top two stars came to play, but how did they get to the win? Here are three takeaways from the Heat's win over the Rockets:
Starting hot in the first half
While the first game off of a brutal five-game road trip can result in the home team being sluggish to start, it was the exact opposite this time around. The Heat scored 34 first quarter points while shooting 54.2 percent from the field, and 50 percent from three-point range.
It was an efficient an all-around first period as everybody had the opportunity to join the party as Herro and Kevin Love each scored seven points. Duncan Robinson hit two deep balls to give him six points and the rookie sensation in Jaime Jaquez Jr. had five. The numbers for Miami were really good in the first 12 minutes, but the Rockets were still in it as they shot 41.2 percent from the field and 44.4 from deep.
The second quarter was a dogfight for most of the quarter, but Houston found more fire, especially from guard Fred VanVleet as he scored 16 points in the first half where he made his first five shots, four of those being three-pointers. Despite the Heat shooting well from the field as they were 50 percent, they were poor from deep as they only made two of their attempted seven shots.
Houston would take a nine-point Heat lead and tie the game up at the very last remaining seconds of the first half. In comes another clutch situation for Miami in final two quarters.
Closing out in the second half
Miami got the better hand of Houston in the third quarter as they outscored their opponent, 32-23. Defensively, the Heat had their best period holding what can be an explosive offense to their lowest scoring quarter up until then.
Having a great night overall, Herro had 10 points in the third quarter alone, mostly making an impact from deep as he made three of his four shots from the three-point line. While Adebayo had three fouls in the first half, he would start the second and contribute eight points.
Houston would shoot 40 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three as Miami provided some tough defense that also led to four turnovers. Miami would take a nine-point lead going into the fourth quarter as they have historically been bad in the final period.
The fourth quarter saw the Heat keep their lead and sustain it, despite the numerous amount of attempts from Houston to claw back in. However, a spurt by Miami towards the latter moments of the final period would put the Rockets away. The home team look composed and never flinched in the fourth. On the other hand, the Rockets looked uncomfortable and tried to adapt to the Heat's pace.
The road (or home) ahead
Miami's record against teams inside the Kaseya Center hasn't been that great as they were 9-6 heading into Monday night. It's always important to rack up wins at home and these next 17 games are a prime opportunity as 12 of them will be inside the Kaseya Center.
They will only get one day breaks between games this week as they have games Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday before going back on the road for two games. Up next is a dates against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, and Charlotte Hornets.
In the game ahead though, the team will know more about the statuses of injured players such as star Jimmy Butler who is dealing with a toe aliment, Caleb Martin who is still suffering from an ankle injury, and now Kyle Lowry who left the game Monday night with an apparent hand injury.
Safe to say, it is going to be an interesting 2024 for the Heat.
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