Charlotte Hornets

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Couper Moorhead

1. All you really need to know about this one is that the Charlotte Hornets scored 31 points in the first half, the lowest scoring half for any team in any half this season. Only one team has won a game scoring under 40 in the first half this year, and it wasn’t the Hornets.

Charlotte has seen plenty of Jaime Jaquez Jr., with this already being the fourth matchup between these teams before we reach the midway point of the season, but Jaquez Jr. had little issue doing what he does best in scoring 15 of Miami’s first 22 points. He already does a bit of a Jimmy Butler impression on a nightly basis, but with Charlotte’s transition defense a little all over the place Jaquez Jr. added the Butler hit-ahead receptions as well, scoring shoulders first with regularity. Unfortunately he wouldn’t play much more than that, announced out for the game at halftime – with Miami up 52-31, Charlotte shooting 28 percent from the floor – with a groin strain.

And yet the lead was down to 11 just four minutes into the third quarter even as the Bam Adebayo dunkathon continued, Charlotte choosing the tougher road as a few more threes started to fall. They wouldn’t get much closer than that, still down 16 going into the third, but they prevented things from going the other way.

Then a minute into the fourth, back to 11 after a LaMelo Ball three. Once again, that was as close as the Hornets would get as the competitive portion of this game ended early, 104-87 in the end for Miami. While neither team was particularly healthy, the degree to which Adebayo was the best player on the court at all times was rather stark. His line – 24 points on 17 shots, 10 rebound, seven assists – may not be one for the record books, but it was sheer, casual two-way dominance all the same. It’s been a while since we’ve seen even one team in a HEAT matchup mostly healthy, much less both, but that’s midseason in the league. You rack up the wins when you can and worry about what they mean, if anything, later.

2. Outside of a select few teams with MVP-caliber players who can change the game in ways other can’t even attempt, there just aren’t many teams that can stay in a game with Miami while also shooting 1-of-18 from three as Charlotte did in the first half. Granted that may have been slightly more true in the past two seasons given some of Miami’s on-ball defensive issues with regards to giving up drives that have sprung up here and there this year, but the general truth remains because the HEAT’s defensive system has the same philosophy it always has – keep the ball out of the paint, even if that means allowing a few extra catch-and-shoot threes. A certain percentage of your shots are almost always going to be from beyond the arc against this scheme, and if you aren’t making enough of those then you aren’t scoring at anything close to a league-average rate.

No surprise, then, that Charlotte started to turn a few things around, as temporary as that turning around was early in both the third and fourth quarters, when they actually hit the shots you have to hit against the HEAT. It wasn’t enough, at 10-of-40 in the end (25 percent), not nearly enough, but the point was well illustrated tonight.

3. The most important bit of news tonight– the degree to which Jaquez Jr.’s groin strain matter will only reveal itself in upcoming reports – came from Pat Riley as he announced that that Dwyane Wade, on the night his Hall of Fame accolades were added to his jersey hanging in the rafters, will be getting a statue out front of the Kaseya Center this coming fall. Needless to say, it’s a more-than-well-deserved gesture.

It’s also an incredibly rare one. There are many retired numbers in this league. There are many Hall of Famers in this league. There are fewer true franchise icons, and even fewer statues, which has become pretty close to the highest honor a player can receive in modern times. Banners fly forever, sure, but statues represent a different kind of immortality. Just ask the ancient Greeks and Romans.

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Coup's Takeaways: HEAT Cruise To Victory Behind Bam Adebayo, Dominant Defense Performance

The Miami HEAT are 15-11, No. 5 in the Eastern Conference with a Net Rating of +1.3, No. 15 in the league. With a pair of baseball series against Charlotte and Chicago over with and a game winner from Jimmy Butler on the ledger, here’s what we’ve been noting and noticing.

Unquestionably one of the best moments of the season so far, Butler’s game-winning jumper over Coby White seems a rather simple affair. One hard dribble, step back and rise up over a smaller defender and Butler had himself his second game-winning shot with under a second remaining in a HEAT uniform – tying him with LeBron James, Tim Hardaway and Voshon Lenard for second on the franchise leaderboard, trailing only Dwyane Wade’s three such shots.

Of course, much more goes into a possession like that than just the shot. The first thing most people noticed in real time was that Erik Spoelstra opted not to call a timeout, something he said he did both strategically and almost out of a sense of debt to the game, noting how neither team calling timeouts in the last three minutes of the game was such a great experienced for the fans.

“What a buzzkill that would have been,” Spoelstra said of the possibility of calling a timeout.

Even without a stoppage, Butler didn’t just run up the floor and immediately go into isolation mode. Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry set a double-high screen on the left wing to get White switched onto Butler – setting the double makes it tougher for DeMar DeRozan to fight through, forcing either Nikola Vucevic or White to slide out onto the ball – and that call is coming from the veteran point guard.

“It’s more so Kyle telling everybody what to do. He’s the PG, he’s the one that’s getting everyone to their spots,” Butler said.

“He’s just nonstop talking,” Caleb Martin said. “He’s just letting us know as we’re walking, we’re talking, organizes stuff, who goes first, who goes second.”

As Butler brings the ball up the floor, watch how Lowry waves Love up to set the first screen, knowing that if Lowry sets the second screen it increases the likelihood that White will end up on Butler.

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Notebook 62: Lowry Organizes Game Winner

The team still has to get properly set up after the switch to make it more difficult, or at least more of a risk-reward proposition by elongating the closeout to a shooter, for help to come. That’s why Butler takes the ball out wide before making his move to go back middle.

“Whenever I sweep, I’m just giving our team the time to get to the correct spacing so I can get into a move,” Butler said.”

“He does do that, drags it a little wide, it gives us an extra second to get the spacing right,” Martin said. “It also tells you how mentally locked in he is with the time on the clock and where guys are on the floor. He just does such a great job of manipulating the defense and getting to his spots.”

Love added that he took Vucevic down to the dunker spot, rather than space out to the wing, because they were trying to clear the elbows as much as possible. If Love is on the arc, joining Lowry up top and Martin in the left corner, then DeRozan could have helped off Lowry knowing he had two teammates nearby to cover shooters one pass away. With Love down low, DeRozan had no backup and help would have meant an open three for Lowry.

Even with the spacing perfect as it was, Chicago had been doubling Butler on many of the previous possessions – the Bulls scrambling after the double is part of why Miami scored on three consecutive offensive rebounds to stay in the game – and they could have done so again, but doubling requires five players to know what’s coming. If DeRozan had doubled and his teammates not known it was coming, it’s even tougher for help to be on time and on target. With no stoppage, Bulls coach Billy Donovan had no time to set up rules, such as doubling specifically when the clock ticked below five seconds.

“That’s the beauty of not calling a timeout there,” Love said.

“If we had called a timeout there probably would have been a different scheme, we probably would have been jammed up,” Spoelstra said. “The likelihood of getting that kind of shot would have been much less.”

Chicago’s best shot in real time may have been for Patrick Williams, on Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the corner, to pre-switch himself onto Lowry, but again that takes communication and preparation. There’s a certain irony to all this, too, in that White defended Butler’s shot about as well as could have possibly been expected. White just didn’t quite have the length to get to the ball, which is why you hunt that specific matchup in the first place.

Not calling a timeout on those possessions always sounds great, but having veterans processing, communicating and setting things up in real time will give any coach the confidence to do so.

Speaking of confidence in veterans, on Monday night in Charlotte Erik Spoelstra made a choice he has almost never made.

As the HEAT protected a lead against a Terry Rozier-led Hornets fourth-quarter surge, Charlotte found themselves with the ball down three, no timeouts left, and 9.8 seconds on the clock. Every coach has a different philosophy in those situations, and when Jimmy Butler immediately fouled Rozier on the inbounds to put Rozier on the line for two shots, any longtime HEAT observers found themselves surprised because Erik Spoelstra’s philosophy has always been to play those possessions out.

“Jimmy came into the huddle and he said he felt most comfortable doing that,” Spoelstra said afterwards. “He’s the guy I definitely feel the most trust that he can make the proper decision.”

Trust is the key word there. Part of the reason coaches choose not to foul in those situations is because if the other team has a player smart enough to expect it, they can try to draw a three-shot shooting foul in the process. Spoelstra also brought up what happened last season when Jaylen Brown forced overtime, in a game Miami won anyway, with desperation three. With Charlotte not having any timeouts with which to advance the ball as Miami’s next set of free-throws – you also have to trust that your players will convert a pair – he chose to trust his star. It doesn’t matter what any time and score formula or algorithm tells you if you don’t trust the players involved to properly place an X into a X+Y=Z equation.

In the past 11 seasons, this is only the third instance we could find of Miami fouling up three in the last 10 seconds of a game. To the surprise of nobody, Butler was involved in all three. Last March 10 against Cleveland, Butler intentionally fouled Donovan Mitchell as Mitchell streaked up the court. It’s unclear whether or not that was Butler’s plan all along, but as soon as Mitchell got a step on him the foul was immediate. Then, all the way back in 2019 against Chicago, Butler fouled Zach LaVine after LaVine turned and got a step going towards the arc. Now, you could make an argument that neither was the same situation as against Charlotte as neither foul was immediate on the inbounds, but you could also argue that Butler was smart enough to eat up some clock and still foul once he didn’t like where the ball was going.

Whichever way you look at it, whether Butler called an audible in real time or not, Monday night was either the only time or only the third time the HEAT have fouled up three in over a decade. And Butler is the only player Spoelstra has trusted to make those decisions.

Miami’s lineup numbers are a bit of a mess. With so many players missing time, they’ve already used 14 different starting groups. They don’t have a single lineup that has played over 100 minutes where the four teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference (Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Orlando) all have lineups above or near 200 minutes. The sample sizes are all too small for the numbers behind five-man groups to mean much of anything, particularly with Miami having faced the easiest schedule in the league so far according to Basketball-Reference.com.

The stories of the past few weeks have largely been the resurgence of Duncan Robinson, with his tweaked offensive profile and greater pick-and-roll usage, and the surgence of rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., but within that same timeframe Miami has had remarkable stability brought on by the veterans, 37-year old Lowry, 35-year old Love and 34 year-old Butler, without whom Robinson and Jaquez Jr. wouldn’t have a productive environment to thrive in. When those three players have been on the floor together, 229 minutes in all, Miami is +7.9 per 100 possessions with an Offensive Rating of 121.0 and Defensive Rating of 113.2. Yes, the HEAT have been shooting extraordinarily well during those minutes, more on that in a moment, but those are numbers that give you a chance to win every night, especially when one of your younger players pop offensively.

What’s more, in the games that both Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro have missed Miami, in 168 minutes, is +8.9 per 100 with Love playing center, a five-out ecosystem which clears the paint for everyone else to attack. Defensively, those lineups have allowed 119 per 100, which may be an issue against better opponents – not that Miami’s other defensive groups have been particularly great without Adebayo, either – but the offense has been so goosed it’s been a dramatically positive look that’s helped keep the team’s head above water during this stretch.

The young guys are always fun to talk about as their skillsets change and evolve and we learn more about them, but the older players are there for a reason. Having Lowry and Love out there making the right passes, getting the team out in transition and setting up Butler at the right moments has been hugely important.

As of December 17, the HEAT lead the league in three-point shooting at 39.1 percent, even better than the 37.9 percent they led the league with two seasons ago. Historically this group has had among the toughest three-point Shot Quality marks in the league, according to Second Spectrum’s player tracking, and while those numbers have improved somewhat – again, they’ve faced more Bottom 10 defenses than Top 20 defenses, so things will likely change some – they’re only up to No. 23 in the Shot Quality rankings. Even with that scorching shooting, the HEAT are only No. 13 in Offensive Rating, No. 13 in the half-court and No. 13 against Bottom 10 defenses. In other words, league-best shooting has been good enough for about average offense. It’s very possible that the shooting cools off as Adebayo and Herro return, so it’ll be interesting to see if the HEAT, currently with the fifth-lowest rim rate in the league, can compensate on the interior.

That’ll be something to talk about another day, though. For now, let’s address the idea that this is what the HEAT should be doing, that because they were No. 1 in the league in 2021-22 and No. 27 last season before shooting historically well in the postseason, this is where this team is supposed to be.

It’s hard to say that considering how different the roster is. Of the HEAT’s Top 10 players in three-point attempts in 2021-22 only five of them remain on the roster. Those five have attempted about 57 percent of Miami’s threes this season. There’s no baseline, no should be, with a rookie like Jaquez Jr. shooting 39.2 percent from deep, and the player with the third-most attempts in Love wasn’t even on the team until after the All-Star break last year. Butler is sitting at 38 percent on his highest volume in years.

The current leaders in attempts, Robinson and Lowry, both had down seasons last year, Lowry at 34.5 percent playing through a knee injury for stretches of the season and Robinson at 32.8 percent playing through a finger injury, and inconsistent rotational minutes, that eventually needed surgery. They’re much closer to what they should be now that they’re both healthy, though Lowry’s 43.9 percent is a career-high by a wide margin and will likely come down some.

Should Miami be the best shooting team in the league? We probably can’t say that. Robinson and Lowry are healthy, and that matters a ton, but there has otherwise been too much roster turnover to say they should definitively be here. It’s safer to say that Miami shouldn’t be a Bottom 5 shooting team. As for the rest, we’ll see.

The three-point volume remains down, however, as only 35.4 percent of the HEAT’s shots are coming from three, No. 15 in the league. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially as Herro and Adebayo return with their expanded offensive games, because of how two-point prowess translates to slower postseason basketball, but it does bring into question how scalable the volume is against matchups which require it. Two years ago Miami had 28 games (34 percent of the season) with at least 40 three-point attempts – many of those coming when Adebayo missed a month – and last year they had 14 (17 percent of games). This year they’ve topped 40 attempts just once in 26 games (3.8 percent). Again, this is neither good nor bad right now, it just is. But considering Miami is No. 23 in two-point percentage at 52.3 percent – right where Adebayo was before his injury and above Herro’s norm – this team’s offensive profile is too different these days to say what happened two years ago is simply repeating itself.

-Miami’s crash rate on offensive rebound chances is at a three-year low right now as Spoelstra emphasizes transition defense, but Butler was only in position to beat Chicago Saturday night because of three consecutive second-chance scores, the first of which came from Caleb Martin, who said he got more aggressive on the glass at that moment because those late-game minutes are, “prime ball watching time” for the defensive team. Just as a coach has control of a team’s rebounding philosophy, so too can players flip that switch when the moment calls for it.

-Welcome back Haywood Highsmith, who still leads the league in points-per-isolation allowed (30+ possessions) despite DeMar DeRozan hitting an incredibly tough jumper on him Saturday night. One isolation that wasn’t logged as such came in the second half when Highsmith picked DeRozan’s crossover dribble cleanly, a move Highsmith said he “could see coming”. Highsmith was in the starting lineup before his lower back injury so keep an eye on his place in the rotation once Herro and Adebayo return.

-Butler is currently taking fewer shots at the rim, as a percentage of his total attempts, than at any point in his career other than his 2017-18 season in Minnesota. At least, that’s according to play-by-play data. The tracking data says his rim attempts (7.2 per 100) are down from last year but above his rate in his first three HEAT seasons. In other words, it’s all a matter of perspective at the moment, though Butler’s finishing on those shots (60.6 percent) is well below his averages. Worth noting here that Age 33/34 is about where Dwyane Wade’s rim attempts and efficiency started to drop off a little, which is normal for most players at that point in their careers.

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Coup’s Notebook Vol. 62: The Organization, Trust And Stability Of Veterans Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love And Jimmy Butler, And What Miami Should Be Shooting

1. You’re going to have to grind out some wins every year. This was unmistakably one of those.

With both teams still missing lead playmakers – Miami also without Josh Richardson after he was available two nights ago – nobody could take care of the ball in the early going, the HEAT with nine turnovers and the Hornets with seven in the first quarter. It wasn’t much prettier in the second quarter, Charlotte hanging around despite not having much of anything going on offense that wasn’t Terry Rozier or Gordon Hayward self-creating. Miami still has their shooters, though, Duncan Robinson and Kyle Lowry (seven combined first-half threes) enough to break a 45-45 tie and put Miami up 56-45 after a half few will ever speak about again.

Same guys, same story to open the third as Robinson and Lowry added another pair of threes to extend the lead quickly to 17. As Charlotte struggled to hit a shot on the other end, the Hornets didn’t have much to offer for that stretch – their tough-shot shooting being exactly what nearly brought them back down the stretch on Monday. By the time Miami was up 21, they were 10-of-15 from three with Charlotte 3-of-15. Even veteran, contending teams are going to have trouble making up that difference, and Charlotte is not one of those.

Charlotte made a small push to open the fourth as they finally got a few to go in, but with Miami getting plenty in easy fashion on the other end the run didn’t have the look of a sustained effort. Still, the lead was only 13 with 5:31 to go and after a timeout Erik Spoelstra opted to keep Jimmy Butler and Lowry on the bench so the bench could close it out – which they did without too much trouble despite Charlotte’s shooting surge. The turnovers, 41 combined between the two sides, didn’t give this one much of a rhythm or aesthetic appeal, but the result, 115-104 tonight, is a sweep of this two-games series with Charlotte as another baseball series looms with Chicago.

2. The HEAT came into this game third in the NBA shooting 38.6 percent from three and they’ve got nowhere to go but up after finishing this one 15-of-30 for 50 percent. While the bulk of the volume came from Robinson (6-of-9 for 23 points as Charlotte couldn’t keep track of him, again) and Lowry, it was nice to see Jamal Cain hit a pair, particularly with both coming above the break, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. continued the hot start to his campaign going 2-of-2 from outside.

It was Jaquez Jr. also doing fine work to open the fourth, as we have seen from him so often, finishing with a euro-step in the open floor and making a number of strong reads out of the pick-and-roll to take advantage of the holes in Charlotte’s defense. Most notable, however, might have been the way Jaquez Jr. was able to target Charlotte center Nick Richards off screens, driving the big man into the paint and creating space with his shoulder just as Butler (15 points on eight shots) so often does. It didn’t lead to the rookie’s most efficient night, 17 points on 16 shots, but it’s no small thing to see him able to use his physicality against much larger players.

3. On one possession late in the second quarter, Kyle Lowry (17 points on five shots) drew JT Thor out to the three-point line on a switch. Thor is 6-foot-10 and could easily contest Lowry’s jumper with the shot clock dwindling, but Lowry has been around a while and he’s picked up every trick in the book. So, Lowry collected his dribble on a short stepback going to his left, as he so often does, faked the shot, as he so often does, and got Thor into the air for a foul.

Later on, midway through the third, Brandon Miller caught the ball on the right wing and drove, going right-to-left, into the lane. The middle of the floor was open enough that any astute observer could see Lowry already down there, setting up to take the charge before Miller had even approached the paint. Miller, like so many young players, did not see Lowry, and Lowry took yet another charge, saving what would have otherwise been a layup.

Lowry might be turning 38 in a few months, but experience still counts for plenty and he can still make things happen in dire situations on either end of the floor, saving a handful of points every night that a younger, developing player wouldn’t. It helps that he’s shooting over 42 percent from three for the first time in his career, too, but make or miss Lowry continues to be a big part of why Miami takes care of business no matter who they’re missing.

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Coup's Takeaways: Hot Shooting Carries Miami To Second Consecutive Victory Over Hornets

1. Another shorthanded night, another strong start for the HEAT as they opened 4-of-7 from three for a 15-6 advantage in the first six minutes.

That lead would dissipate as the first half wore on because that’s just what happens to early leads in today’s NBA, but Miami had the Charlotte Hornets on their heels for much of the opening stretch, the drive-and-kick game taking full advantage of Charlotte’s paint collapsing help. It’s no mistake that the HEAT start so many games shooting well from three when so many of those attempts are clean, assisted catch-and-shoot looks as defenses adapt to the way Miami runs their offense. And with Jimmy Butler incessantly hunting the Ish Smith matchup as usual – the Hornets were otherwise mesmerized by Butler’s post-ups, falling asleep as Miami’s cutter slashed right down the middle of the paint – offense wasn’t an issue at a 122.9 Offensive Rating in the first half.

Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier kept pace, taking advantage of the holes in Miami’s defense with Bam Adebayo unable to play, but everything looked just a little more difficult for the home team, the HEAT playing the beautiful game with a bit more beauty, the brute force game with a bit more force. A pair of Kevin Love threes, with a Rozier pick-six turnover mixed in, pushed the HEAT out front 59-50 before the break, Caleb Martin and Jaime Jaquez Jr. combining for 28 points on 16 shots.

Six minutes later it was Miami by 12 despite Charlotte’s perimeter shooting coming along, and it felt like the HEAT were playing twice as well as their actual lead, which sustained through the end of the period. And yet, Charlotte was within five less than two minutes into the fourth with a surge of energy, the dangers of letting a professional team hang around long enough. Martin, Jaquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson held off the run as best they could, but Charlotte eventually pulled within one after Rozier (34 points on 17 shots) hit a three on a broken play. It looked like Miami would finish things off comfortably, but another series of Charlotte threes had the Hornets with the ball, down three, and the shot clock turned off. Rozier would make only one of two at the line after drawing a foul, called for a lane violation on the second attempt.

Erik Spoelstra typically hasn’t opted to foul when up three in the final seconds, but he did here when Charlotte had another opportunity to tie. It was not without some drama, but Miami survives, 116-114.

2. Butler did his efficient thing tonight, scoring 23 on 12 shots with eight assists, but there were 20 or near-20-point games up and down the roster which defined the evening.

Martin (20 points on 14 shots) and Jaquez Jr. (18 points on eight shots before fouling out) had fine nights of work, their timely drives around the edges of the paint balancing out Miami’s perimeter efficiency. Without Adebayo Miami needs sources of paint points and Butler’s drives can’t be all of it with how much defensive attention he draws, so the pressure from Miami’s two offensive swiss army knives was a large part of why Charlotte failed to gain much defensive traction until the final period. Love, too, was a timely contributor, shooting 4-of-8 from deep for 19 points on 11 shots, cleaning up a few misses inside along the way.

But as has so often been the case in recent weeks the difference in this one was Robinson – himself coming off his worst game of the year Saturday against Cleveland. With five threes and three twos, it was as balanced a game as we’ve become accustomed to from Robinson, who Charlotte couldn’t keep track of on the perimeter as Robinson was left either open or facing a hard closeout he was either able to drive on or allow to fly by as he relocated into another triple. A balanced effort overall on another shorthanded night, pushing the HEAT to 31 assists and 15-of-35 from three with Charlotte finishing 17-of-41.

3. One of the small pleasures of the regular season is watching Jimmy Butler hint the Ish Smith matchup no matter what team Ish Smith, a legendary journeyman who is nevertheless still in the league for a reason, happens to be on that year. Tonight was no exception, full of Butler picking Smith’s side of the court to sprint down in transition to force the crossmatch and Kyle Lowry screens to force the switch.

Charlotte was prepared, for the matchup at least. They did well to scramble switch Smith out of the matchup, a weakside defender pulling him out as Butler rolled from the initial screen down into the post. And when Butler did have Smith in a good spot, help was ready, with plenty of eyes looking Butler’s way. Problem was, those eyes weren’t focused on everything else happening on the floor, and time and again Butler was left with open teammates in scoring positions. Early on it was Love and Jaquez Jr. cutting down the lane, Charlotte defenders failing to pick them up until the catch was made. Later it was Duncan Robinson left open in the strong-side corner because his defender was so concerned with Butler, the shot clock under five with Smith on him behind the arc, driving the ball. Such is the gravity of Butler, especially when he has a matchup worth seeking.

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Coup's Takeaways: Five Players Score 18-Plus As HEAT Hold Off Late Hornets Surge

1. Different city, different context – this being an In-Season Tournament game – but you could copy and paste the story from the other night in San Antonio and come away with the gist of the path this one took.

Charlotte – missing a huge chunk of their rotation – came out firing, hitting their first six threes, including four from P.J. Washington after a 2-of-20 stretch from him in previous weeks, taking both a 14-5 and a 32-21 lead in the first quarter. But like San Antonio they’re young and relatively inexperienced, and unlike Miami they’re typically not a team that has plenty of guys to assume larger roles when veterans go down. That combination of youth and simply not having the ballhandlers and playmakers to run offense when LaMelo Ball wasn’t trying to do everything not only left the door open for Miami but practically held it open.

One halfway-unforced turnover after another – eight steals combined from Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith in the first half – the HEAT casually walked their way back into the lead, Butler getting to the rim without much trouble and other HEAT players being left alone in the paint as Charlotte miscommunicated. Once a little cold three-point shooting started to turn, with Butler banking in a buzzer-beating heave to take a 57-48 halftime lead, it all started to feel like a foregone conclusion.

Like the Spurs a couple nights before, Charlotte didn’t fold, chilling their turnover rate (18 in total to Miami’s seven) down to something manageable after the break while hitting enough from deep to stay over 50 percent from range. They didn’t feel like much of a threat despite being down only seven after a relatively drama-free third, but that’s also how games like this get you. Teams hang around quietly only to storm forward at the close. You don’t always feel the danger.

With eight minutes to go, there was Charlotte, down just five. Eventually, another clutch game. Charlotte had their chances, but strong closeouts on Washington (32 points on 23 shots) pick-and-pop threes kept them at bay, with Jimmy Butler delivering the most important blow with a pull-up over the top of Washington on the other end to put Miami back up seven with a minute to play. Another Tournament win, now 2-0, at 111-105, as the HEAT get to head home for one before heading back out for another trip.

2. It’s been a relatively understated start to the season for Butler, who came into this one with the lowest usage and scoring average of his HEAT tenure. None of it has been of concern. Butler has clearly been content with Adebayo (21 points on 16 shots, 11 rebonds, four assists, three steals and a block) and, when he was healthy, Tyler Herro expanding their offensive roles. You always knew he could turn it on when necessary.

Whether or not Butler (32 points on 10-of-14 shooting) truly shifted into a higher gear tonight is up for debate, but this one was a clear reminder of the difference between him and your average, or perhaps more accurately at times your replacement level, NBA player. It didn’t really matter who was on him, who was in front of him or who was waiting to help on his move, he got to his spot and he got to them without much trouble. Great players make it look easy when what they’re really doing is incredibly difficult and, through pace and footwork, highly nuanced.

There also aren’t many players Butler will hunt more than Ish Smith, who had the bad luck to either end up on Butler when Butler ran the floor hard in transition or to be the help man when Butler called up Smith’s assignment. The times when you really felt for Smith was when Butler didn’t even wait for the switch to post him up – when help could arrive soon after – and simply put his head down on a side pick-and-roll, muscling right through Smith. Down the stretch, with Smith on the bench, it was Butler in the post going at Bryce McGowens giving Miami their most effective offense. He’s still the closer, enough if he’s willing to share the role this time of year.

3. Jaime Jaquez Jr. (17 points on 8-of-13 shooting) played the entire fourth quarter for his fourth consecutive game, and he did it once again with his best Butler impression – picking his spots, rarely forcing anything with the ball and offering top-end efficiency inside the arc (7-of-10 shooting). He even would have matched Butler with a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter had it not been taken away when cameras caught the ball on his fingertips.

Look, Jaquez Jr. isn’t Butler. Nobody really is. The comparison isn’t just lip service. Yes, there are the smart cuts – there have been plenty this season, but let’s just say Charlotte forgot players are allowed to move away from the ball tonight – and there is the calm, low turnover play. There is also the footwork, both in the post and on the drive, where Jaquez Jr.’s spin move continues to work two feet into the paint. That would all be nice, but at some point to be mentioned in the same breathe as Butler there has to be an element of shotmaking. Not in the sense of making an open corner three to ice a game as he’s already done. Shotmaking in the way that you can find yourself with nowhere to go, with a defender who didn’t bite on your moves, and still find a way to fade or footwork your way into daylight and a smooth, soft-touch finish. There’s no panic for Jaquez Jr., and he has the fundamentals to back up the poise. Granted, Butler paraded himself to the free-throw line tonight as he often does, 11-of-14 in this one, and that’s something doesn’t come for many rookies, but nobody is saying Jaquez Jr. can do what Butler does right now, only that his success comes in the same way, in the same style, and it has rightfully earned him the trust of those around him with the quickness.

Charlotte Hornets

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