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HEAT Take Down Spurs 116-111

In a tightly contested affair that went down to the wire, the HEAT made enough plays late to defeat the Spurs 116-111 Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

And of course, Jimmy Butler played a major role in that.

SHOP

Let’s get right into his performance and some other takeaways.

1. Jimmy Seals It

While Butler set the tone in the first quarter with some hard-nosed attacks in transition and solid defense, his impact in the fourth was even greater.

In fact, he scored a game-high 12 points in the final period, including eight straight for Miami at one point.

For a perfect example of just how much he wanted it, check out this sequence:

Oh yeah, four big free throws (two pairs, with the HEAT only up one possession each time) were also part of the equation.

That’s Jimmy for ya.

When it was all said and done, Butler amassed a game-high 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field and a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the line, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and a plus-seven rating.

2. Bam Stays Aggressive

From the opening tip, Bam Adebayo put a ton of pressure on the rim and took advantage of mismatches quite often.

That manifested itself into a 12-point second quarter, but he also would not be denied down the stretch.

After putting yet another guy on a poster (this time it was Jakob Poeltl)…

…he came through with a big offensive rebound and finish with contact with 51.8 seconds remaining…

(Also note how Trevor Ariza’s effort helped make that all happen.)

Adebayo finished with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe, a game-high 11 rebounds, two assists and a steal.

3. Dedmon Keeps Bringing Energy

Before Butler closed things out, Dewayne Dedmon helped power a 15-0 run to end the third quarter thanks to strong help defense, solid screens and more offensive rebounds and finishes like this:

He’s just energy personified, isn’t he?

That wasn’t all, though, as Dedmon also threw down some rim-rocking jams earlier in the contest…

…and continued to show a great rapport with Butler.

Dedmon ended up with a season-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the line, nine boards, one block and a plus-11 rating.

Other Takeaways:

-Like Butler, Goran Dragić saved his best for last, as the Slovenian racked up seven points and five assists in the fourth, including this dime to Kendrick Nunn that tied him with Mario Chalmers for third on the franchise’s all-time list:

The Dragon concluded with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 from distance, and a perfect 2-of-2 from the line, a team-high seven assists and a plus-12 rating.

-After missing Monday night’s game against the Bulls, Nunn wasted little time to get going and provided a big boost for the HEAT.

And while he hit that big 3-pointer above, he did the bulk of his work off middys and finishes in the paint.

In all, Nunn tallied 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-6 from downtown, four rebounds, one assist and a plus-five rating.

Game Notes:

-With the win, Erik Spoelstra earned his 600th career regular-season victory.

-Tyler Herro (right foot soreness) was an active scratch.

-Victor Oladipo (right knee soreness) was inactive.

Looking Ahead:

-The HEAT will head out on a two-game road trip, which starts Saturday in Cleveland. After facing the Hornets on Sunday, Miami will then return home to host the Mavs on Tuesday at 8PM. Tickets for that game against Dallas can be found here.