It was a historic night for the Miami Heat Friday as they destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers by 60 points, 142-82, inside the Kaseya Center. However, it wasn't just the featured stars like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo leading to the monstrous win, but several of the rotational players like Haywood Highsmith and Thomas Bryant excelled as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra praised them after the game.
Huge nights for Bryant and Highsmith
Highsmith would score 20 points along with collecting six rebounds, but his shooting numbers have been electric as he made seven of his nine attempts from the field and made a whopping five of six from three-point range. As for Bryant who has been the primary backup for Adebayo amidst the absence of Heat star Kevin Love, he scored a game-high 26 points, collected 12 rebounds, and had two blocks.
The Blazers had no answers for the Heat's stars and their rotational players Friday leading to the biggest win in the Heat's history of 60 points where their previous highest was 43 in 1994. Spoelstra spoke after the game and said that Highsmith and Bryant are “both playing their best basketball right now.”
“They're both playing their best basketball right now,” Spoelstra said. “It really is encouraging to see, you're happy for those guys. I get to see them the behind the scenes, they put so much into this. Early on in the year because we had our depth, they didn't know necessarily whether they're going to play every single night, but they stayed the course.”
“They continued to stay ready and then also improve. So when they got their opportunities, they're ready for the opportunity and then we're able to produce and be better for the team than at the start of the season,” Spoelstra continued. “That's when you hope for everybody, but not everybody approaches that during a long NBA season when you're not necessarily getting what you want. It's the long game. It's not searching for instant gratification. Then you're just really happy, you know for those guys, so they're pros pros. And now they're playing really well right now.”
Erik Spoelstra talks about the big performances from Haywood Highsmith and Thomas Bryant.
“They’re both playing their best basketball right now…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/cQHQAKrqQL
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 30, 2024
Highsmith talks about his confidence with Heat on offense
Highsmith's night is just one of three straight performances where he has shown to be a Swiss army knife of sorts for Miami where besides being known for his defensive ability, he is a threat from deep. In the past three games in total, he has made 12 of his 13 attempts from beyond the arch as he said hearing Spoelstra's praise “means a lot” to him.
“That means a lot coming from coach Spo [Spoelstra],” Highsmith said. “I mean, this is the time of year you kind of want to play your best basketball in the end of the season going into the playoffs. So it means a lot, just shows the confidence he has in me and how much he believes in me. It's amazing, just gotta keep it going and stay consistent.”
There is no doubt that Highsmith is catching a fire at the most important part of the season, especially showing off his offensive ability instead of being type cast as a defensive player. Highsmith mentioned in his press conference after the game that he's seeing the work he put in over the summer come into fruition and besides the technique, the 27-year old's confidence is at an all-time high as whether he's cold or hot, he's “letting it fly.”
“It’s just me just really locking in and zoning in, and all that work I put in over the summer, throughout the season, just working on my shot, just making it consistent, just being consistent, just being confident and letting it fly,” Highsmith said. “That’s really what it is for me — confidence and just keep shooting whether I’m making ’em or missing ’em. It’s an open shot.”
Highsmith believes the win is something to “build off of” for Miami
For Highsmith, the win over the Blazers was crucial as they were getting over a loss the Tuesday before where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors. Let's just say the 60-point margin was the cherry on top, but Highsmith talks about how the Heat are “dialed in” and that they can “build off of this.”
“A game like this, we definitely want to come on here and and bounce back from the loss against Golden State the other night. But this was just a very complete game all around and I think we can definitely get some momentum of this,” Highsmith said. “We got nine games left, so just take it one game at a time and build off of this. We were dialed in, locked in, obviously they had some guys out but at the end of the day it's the NBA, you got to go out there and play.”
So far this season, Highsmith is averaging 5.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and one assist while shooting 45.9 percent from the field. While those numbers don't jump off the page, he has not been called upon to be a big-time scorer, but has a boatload of performances like he's been having the past three games with all the injuries.
Spoelstra pinpoints Heat's “professionalism” with the huge win
Even with the huge win, there wasn't a boisterous attitude from the team, showing that the job isn't finished as there is nine games left in the regular season. However, Spoelstra said that “there was a professionalism from our part” in how the Heat approached this game.
“I mean, there's a bunch of different ways you could approach this game but there was a professionalism from our part, and an energy and an intentionality,” Spoelstra said. “That's really what we're aiming for right now. That doesn't guarantee you get the results you want, but you stack those kinds of minutes, possessions, quarters, games, and then you start to build those habits and hopefully that becomes more of who you are. But that was encouraging to see us be able to sustain that kind of energy and intentionality throughout the course of the game.”
Erik Spoelstra talks about the Heat’s 60-point win over the Blazers.
“There’s a bunch of different ways you can approach this game, but there’s a professionalism on our part…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/IPfXHnssQB
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 30, 2024
The Heat are now 40-33 on the season which puts them seventh in the tightly packed Eastern Conference. They have another winnable contest Sunday as they next face the Washington Wizards on a quick one-game road trip.
Follow Us
Subscribe