HEAT Fall To Hornets

The HEAT couldn’t quite overcome a tough second quarter and eventually fell to the Hornets 109-98 Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Let’s get into some takeaways.

From start to finish, Kendrick Nunn was in his bag against Charlotte.

So, as you’d expect, that meant he finished plays in transition and drilled treys both off the catch and off the dribble, like this one in the fourth quarter:

Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough in the end.

Nunn finished with a team-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-10 from deep, three assists and two rebounds.

So…Derrick Jones Jr. essentially couldn’t miss in the first quarter.

Seriously, he led all players with 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field in the opening period.

What’s more, three of those shots came off threes, including this one immediately after he blocked Bismack Biyombo inside:

Talk about getting the job done on both ends of the floor.

As the game progressed, Jones Jr. continued his offensive onslaught with some of his usual cuts to the basket.

Of course, jams like this were also part of the equation:

When it was all said and done, “Airplane Mode” tallied 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown, two rebounds, a game-high two blocks (tied with Solomon Hill) and a steal.

Simply put, Bam Adebayo picked up where he left off in D.C. and remained aggressive on the offensive end.

In fact, he hit his first five shots and mixed things up with takes to the rack and jumpers.

Oh yeah, he also led all players with 10 assists, including these two lobs to Jones Jr:

As such, Adebayo became Miami's all-time leader in assists for players taller than 6-foot-9.

In total, the big fella amassed 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting and seven boards, to go along with his aforementioned game-high 10 dimes.

-Kyle Alexander (Hyperextended Right Knee & PCL Sprain), Jimmy Butler (Left Big Toe Injury), Meyers Leonard (Left Ankle Sprain) and KZ Okpala (G League - On Assignment) were inactive.