After a disappointing outing against the Mavs, the HEAT got back on track in a 118-90 thrashing of the Thunder Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
SHOP
And while Miami played well through the first two quarters, the team blew the game wide open with a 32-7 run in the second half thanks to superb ball movement and stout defense.
Let’s get right to it.
1. Bam Dominates
Bam Adebayo just keeps on keeping on, doesn’t he?
From the start, Adebayo emptied the tank on both ends and left OKC looking for answers more often than not.
In addition to defending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quite well on switches, he also limited his primary covers in Al Horford and Mike Muscala.
Though that was great, Adebayo really shined on the offensive end, as he hit his first six shots, rolled to the rim with force and knocked down a couple jumpers.
That said, nothing, and I mean nothing, touches this alley-oop poster jam over Muscala with contact early in the fourth:
Holy s-.
(By the way, don’t sleep on that perfect lob by Goran Dragić, who dished out seven assists on the night.)
When it was all said and done, Adebayo amassed a game-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting, eight boards, four assists and a game-high plus 25-rating.
2. KO Takes Over The Third
So…Kelly Olynyk was ready to rock in his first start since Aug. 14.
After scoring five quick points in the first quarter, Olynyk powered the HEAT’s huge run in the second half by virtue of 11 points in the third.
Naturally, treys were part of the equation, but this crafty slip, roll, pump-fake and finish was also quite impressive:
That’s KO for ya.
In all, Olynyk tallied 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-7 from deep, eight rebounds, one assist and a plus-18 rating.
3. Jimmy Attacks
Coming off a quiet night in Dallas, Jimmy Butler wasted little time to get going in this one.
In fact, he kicked off the game with a give-and-go layup courtesy of Adebayo and never looked back.
From there, Butler continued to finish plays at the rim and set up his guys with some great feeds.
Butler finished with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the stripe, six assists, three rebounds, one steal and a plus-17 rating.
Other Takeaways:
-Tyler Herro dished out a number of fantastic passes and flirted with a triple-double.
In particular, he showed great chemistry with KO, who was the beneficiary of five of Herro’s game-high eight assists.
This lead pass in the first quarter was a thing of beauty:
Herro ended up with seven points, a game-high nine boards, one steal and a plus-17 rating to go along with his aforementioned eight dimes.
-Duncan Robinson moved off the ball like a madman and did damage in the two-man game with Adebayo early in the contest.
Robinson concluded with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and a plus-21 rating.
Game Notes:
-Miami recorded a season-high 34 assists on 46 made field goals.
-Official Kane Fitzgerald hurt his leg in the first quarter and did not return.
-Max Strus (G-League two-way) and Gabe Vincent (G-League two-way) were inactive.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will host the Celtics on Wednesday at 7:30PM. Depending on your location, you can catch the game on either FOX Sports Sun or ESPN.