MIAMI – Despite Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra going through a devastating house fire on Thursday morning, he would coach the next day and lead the team to beat the Charlotte Hornets, 126-108. It was no doubt a difficult time for the long-time Heat coach regarding his house, as speaking after the win, he would give his true thoughts about the recent events.

Spoelstra would say before the game that the primary focus was that there were no injuries, as no one was in the house when the fire happened, emphasizing that, besides it being difficult, material things can be replaced. Still, Spoelstra would say that it “hit” him after the game and that in a “perfect world,” he would go back to his home.

“There are a lot of emotions,” Spoelstra said. “Look, I'm human, like anybody. I've been so busy, managing everything with my kids and then also preparing for the game. It just hit me, you know, right now, after the game, I just wanted to go home. My kids were, obviously, taken care of. I will see them, you know, tonight. But in a perfect world, I'd rather go home.”

Here is a look at Miami's win over Charlotte in their first NBA Cup group stage game.

Heat have tale of two quarters in first half, despite historic first quarter

Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) lays up a shot against Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate (14) during the third quarter of an NBA Cup game at Kaseya Center.
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Despite the Heat missing Bam Adebayo because of a toe injury, the team was off to the races on Friday night against the Hornets in the first group play contest for the NBA Cup. As it has been the storyline all season, Miami would display its new and improved up-tempo offense that doesn't slow down for anyone.

It also helps that the team rarely missed a shot to start and by the end of the period, made 67.7 percent of their shots from the field and an impressive 10 makes out of 15 tries from three-point range. This equaled a quarter where the Heat scored 53 points, a franchise record for most points scored in any period, and tied for fourth all-time with any team.

As everyone on Miami contributed, especially Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins with 11 and eight points respectively, the second quarter looked vastly different. Going from a franchise record 53-point quarter, the team would score 19 points in the second period, seeing their largest lead of 26 points, go all the way down to single-digits as Charlotte caught fire, scoring 36 in the 12-minute duration.

The Hornets would adapt to the Heat's fast offense, holding them to shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and only making one three-point shot out of seven attempts. With Miami thriving in transition and fast break opportunities, Charlotte would clog driving lanes and up their defensive pressure to keep them at bay, though still, the home team had a three-point lead at halftime.

Heat closes out the second half with a strong outing

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After the Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets in their last game, the team desperately needed an efficient second half against the Hornets to give them back their mojo. A concern that quickly vanished coming out of halftime was that Powell went to the locker room towards the end of the second quarter, with the team saying that he was dealing with an ankle sprain.

However, after the team released that he was questionable to return, Powell would end up starting the third quarter, leading Miami to get back to the ways that made them successful in the first place. This time, their defense was a standout in the second half, holding the surging Hornets to just 19 and 20 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

The Heat would come alive when it mattered in the fourth, scoring 32 points with the help of Powell and Jaquez, who both have been standouts to start the season. As the team would finish off the game with a victory, Jaquez would be injured with an ankle sprain, and the team says they'll know more about the injury on Saturday.

Heat's Erik Spoelstra on the many shifts in the NBA Cup win

There's no denying that the shifts in the game were consequential to both teams, going from the explosive first quarter, the slog of the second period, and closing out the outing strong with a win. Spoelstra would tell ClutchPoints about the team never ‘establishing' their defense from the beginning, having to be the “buzzkill” when telling the team about letting go of 33 points in the opening frame, despite scoring 53 points.

“I loved, obviously, the offense in the first quarter; that's only going to get better,” Spoelstra said. “I'm not saying we're going to score 50, but guys are gaining confidence, they’re understanding what we're trying to do. It can ignite fast, but I had to be the buzzkill, you know, after the first quarter, saying, ‘Hey, we go 33,’ I’m sure they're rolling their eyes, but then we thought that it would be easy, and then they started to go on a roll.”

“And I think it went on a 31 and 10 run,” Spoelstra continued. “But we've never really established our defensive game to start, we just caught fire in that first quarter, but in the second half was much better. Held them under 40 percent, the efforts were better. Guys were challenging in the paint, containing off the drill, making multiple efforts.”

At any rate, Miami will look to quickly prepare for the Portland Trail Blazers in the latter half of the back-to-back on Saturday night.