If you know anything about the HEAT, you know that defense is the name of the game.
And that has been front and center for Miami over the past few outings.
After capitalizing on turnovers Thursday against the Lakers, the HEAT were at it once again versus the Blazers.
SHOP
This time around, Miami scored 28 points off 17 Portland turnovers, led by as many as 20 points and ultimately defeated the Blazers 107-98 Sunday night at Moda Center.
Let’s get right into some takeaways, shall we?
1. Jimmy Reaches 1K
Though Jimmy was Jimmy on the offensive end with drives, jumpers and crazy passes like this one in the third quarter…
…his defense was absolutely vital in this one.
In fact, he racked up a game-high four steals, including his 1,000th-career swipe early in the first quarter.
But more than the raw numbers, he made things extremely tough on both CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard from start to finish and trapped well when the opportunity presented itself.
When it was all said and done, Butler amassed 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, including 1-of-2 from deep, and 5-of-6 from the line, a game-high five assists, four boards and a team-high two blocks to go along with his aforementioned game-high four steals.
2. Bam Does It All
Simply put, Bam Adebayo set the tone with a steal and alley-oop slam on the very first possession and never looked back.
From there, Adebayo continued to finish plays inside after rolling to the rim, but we can’t forget about this tough turnaround jumper over Robert Covington with the shot clock winding down early in the second quarter:
No ceiling.
And on the defensive end as a whole, Adebayo racked up deflections, played tough man defense on Jusuf Nurkić and Enes Kanter and trapped or contested Lillard and McCollum well along the perimeter.
Again…no ceiling.
Adebayo finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
3. Nunn Sharp In Return
Entering the night, Kendrick Nunn hadn’t played since March 26.
But you wouldn’t have been able to tell from his performance.
Per usual, Nunn showed his quickness off the dribble and pretty much got to wherever he wanted on the floor.
Perhaps his best sequence came on this sick crossover and finish late in the fourth:
Which way did he go?
Nunn ended up with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, four assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block.
Other Takeaways:
-Like Nunn, Tyler Herro picked apart Portland’s defense and did plenty of damage off the bounce.
I mean, take a look at this gorgeous finish over Nurkić in the fourth:
Herro concluded with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, a team-high seven boards, three assists, two steals and a game-high plus-11 rating (tied with Goran Dragić).
Game Notes:
-The HEAT committed zero turnovers in the first half, which was just the second turnover-free half in franchise history.
-KZ Okpala (health and safety protocols) and Victor Oladipo (right knee soreness) were inactive.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will head to Phoenix to face the Suns on Tuesday at 10PM. After taking on the Nuggets and Timberwolves later in the week, Miami will then head home to host the Nets on Sunday at 3:30PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.