The Miami HEAT fell to the San Antonio Spurs 117-105 Wednesday night at AT&T Center. Tyler Johnson led the way for the HEAT with a season-high 25 points.
1. TJ Sets A Career High
While Tyler Johnson played great in the first half, he absolutely went off in the third quarter with 10 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from downtown.
He carried over that hot shooting into the fourth and nailed this huge three to cut the deficit to six with 3:03 remaining.
As a whole, the 25-year-old did a great job of getting to his spots off the ball and was very assertive in his approach. As a result, he hit a career-high five threes for his season-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He also had three boards and two assists on the night.
2. Waiters Aggressive
As usual, Dion Waiters was not fazed one bit despite going up against one of the best defenses in the league. From the very beginning, Philly Cheese attacked the basket and set up his teammates with some great looks. When he wasn’t doing that, he knocked down some of his usual pull-up jumpers and also drilled a bunch of catch-and-shoot treys for good measure.
All that said, this finish at the rim over Rudy Gay in the fourth was perhaps his most impressive play of the night:
When it was all said and done, the 25-year-old tallied 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, five assists, one block and a team-high plus-10 rating.
3. Bam Looks Sharp Early
Although Bam Adebayo came off the bench on Wednesday after starting the last three games, he still made his presence felt.
In particular, his defense in the second quarter against Pau Gasol was quite impressive. After swatting Gay at the rim and creating a dunk in transition for Tyler Johnson, Adebayo blocked a jumper from Gasol and then forced the vet to commit a turnover on back-to-back possessions.
Of course, he also had a BAM SLAM over Davis Bertans late in the quarter:
In all, Adebayo scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting and had a steal to go along with his aforementioned two blocks.
Other Takeaways:
-Josh Richardson continued to be effective on the offensive end thanks to his usual catch-and-shoot threes and pull-up mid-range jumpers. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, two rebounds and two assists.
-In his first start since opening night, Kelly Olynyk did a nice job of defending LaMarcus Aldridge and helped hold him to 7-of-16 shooting. In total, Olynyk had five points, a team-high eight boards and four assists.
Game Note:
-Hassan Whiteside (left knee bone bruise) sat out. Okaro White (left foot surgery), Rodney McGruder (left tibia surgery), Derrick Walton Jr. (Sioux Falls assignment), A.J. Hammons (Sioux Falls assignment) and Matt Williams Jr. (Sioux Falls assignment) were inactive.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will now head to Mexico City to take on the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night. Miami’s next home game won’t be until Wednesday, Dec. 13 against the Trail Blazers. Tickets for that matchup at AmericanAirlines Arena can be found here.