MIAMI — Amid its seemingly non-stop coverage of all things New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN was courteous enough to offer some prime time Wednesday night to the Miami Heat.
Considering what the Heat did against LeBron James and the Lakers for most of Sunday’s matchup and how they managed to quiet the Knicks’ snowbird following for most of Wednesday night, the respect for Erik Spoelstra’s team only figures to grow.
This time it was going up by 30 in the third period on the way to a 110-96 victory at FTX Arena, the Heat’s eighth victory in their last 10 games.
Along the way, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy noted the Heat as a championship contender when whole.
But even when not whole, with point guard Kyle Lowry missing his fourth consecutive game due to personal reasons, the Heat had more than enough.
There were 22 points, six rebounds and five assists from Jimmy Butler, who earned the fourth quarter off. There was a 7-of-11 3-point-a-thon from Duncan Robinson, on the way to 25 points. And rounding out the box score were 21 points from Tyler Herro in his first game back from COVID-19 protocols and 20 from P.J. Tucker. Center Bam Adebayo contributed 11 assists, which tied his career high, and eight rebounds.
It was the fourth time the Heat won this season without trailing.
The schedule now takes a turn for the tedious, with a set of four games in five nights opening Friday night against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers, followed by a Saturday home game against the Toronto Raptors, and then road games Monday night in Boston and Tuesday night in Toronto.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday’s game:
— 1. Thibs torment: Even with the ultimate respect of his former coach with both the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, Butler appears to take particular pride in playing in from of Tom Thibodeau.
Although not up to the standards of Sunday’s triple-double against the Los Angeles Lakers, Butler against filled the box score.
Along the way, with his 13th point, Butler passed Steve Smith for 21st on the Heat all-time scoring list. Also, Butler’s fourth rebound was the 3,500th of his career.
— 2. Robinson again: Asked at Tuesday’s practice if he was hopeful of an invitation to the 3-point contest during All-Star Weekend, Robinson said, “I’d take one, for sure. We’ll see how that all plays out. I don’t know if I’ve exactly earned it this year, but whatever, we’ll see.”
Robinson appears to be warming up to the moment, slowed Wednesday only when forced to the bench with his third foul with 3 minutes remaining in the second period.
While the percentage is down from Robinson’s typical lofty standard, he has returned to the NBA’s top five in conversions
— 3. Herro returns: Herro was back after missing three games in NBA health-and-safety protocols.
His first scoring play back was a driving three-point play with 1:32 left in the opening period.
Herro then followed with a pair of second-period 3-pointers in his 12-point period as part of his 11th consecutive game scoring at least 16.
— 4. Early damage: An ignore-at-your-own-risk presence, Tucker scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first period, his highest-scoring period of the season.
Tucker made both of his 3-point attempts in his nine minutes in the period.
The Heat’s 9-0 start was their best of the season while keeping an opponent scoreless, surpassing an 8-0 start in their road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Tucker kept going from there, until he was rested for the night with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter, closing 7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.
— 5. Everything but: As if to show he was more about scoring, Adebayo went into the fourth quarter with the unusual stat line of eight assists, seven rebounds and two points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Adebayo’s second basket did not come until 6:14 remained.
