The Heat played with fourth-quarter fire again on Sunday night.
Yet to get burned.
So make it six consecutive road wins and victories in 10 of their last 11, with a 102-97 decision Sunday night over the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.
Having dominated crunch time in recent games, the Heat again found a way in the absence of center Bam Adebayo, who missed his fourth consecutive game with knee tendinitis.
“It shows our grit,” guard Tyler Herro said of yet another late stand producing victory. “We know how to persevere, and we never give up.”
Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 29 points, along with nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals, including one late that sealed the win. It was the sixth consecutive game with 27 or more points from Butler.
Herro added 22 points for the Heat, Kelly Olynyk 18 and Duncan Robinson 14.
The Magic, with their perimeter rotation ravaged by injury, got 38 points from center Nikola Vucevic and 31 from forward Terrence Ross, both doing the majority of their damage from beyond the 3-point line. No other Orlando player scored in double figures.
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat led 22-19 at the end of the first period and 48-45 at halftime, before going into the fourth down 77-73.
The Heat had led by 12 points in the first quarter, 13 in the second period.
After the Magic went up six early in the fourth quarter, Butler converted a layup after his fourth steal of the game for a 90-89 Heat lead with 5:21 to play.
The teams matched 3-pointer from there, two by each team, including one from the Heat’s Andre Iguodala.
From there, a Butler jumper with 3:22 to go put the Heat up 95-94, with a Herro 3-pointer following with 2:21 to play for a 98-94 lead.
The Heat then would go up six, before the Magic drew within 100-97 on a Vucevic basket with 27.5 seconds to go.
After a Butler miss, the Magic called time down three with 22.1 seconds to play.
A missed 3-pointer by Ross followed, as did one by Dwayne Bacon off an offensive rebound.
Finally, a steal and basket by Butler with 4.3 seconds to play put it away.
2. Heavy lifting: Butler again was forced to carry a considerable load in Adebayo’s absence.
With the Heat passive with their offense early, Butler was the lone Heat player to get to the line in the first half, 3 of 4 on free throws. The Magic were 12 of 15 from the line in the first half.
Butler had 21 points going into the fourth.
It was Butler’s seventh consecutive game with eight or more assists, tying a franchise record.
3. Working back: Having struggled with his game in recent weeks, including 1 of 7 on 3-pointers Friday in Chicago and 1 of 7 overall from the field in Thursday’s game against the Magic, Herro came around with a 10-point first half.
Herro had scored in single digits in three of his previous four games, including four points in his previous game, against the Bulls.
Herro was listed as questionable earlier in the day with a shoulder strain.
“Just happened in one of these two games,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the previous two games. “It’s been bothering him a little bit.”
4. Power loss: Chris Silva again played as the Heat first power player off the bench, ahead of Precious Achiuwa, but lasted just 1:56 in the first half after two quick fouls.
Achiuwa played 5:27 in the first half, with two early fouls of his own.
The two combined for zero rebounds and two points (from Achiuwa) in the first half.
Achiuwa then played ahead of Silva in the second half, after not playing in the second half Friday in Chicago.
5. Magic man: With their perimeter rotation ravaged by injury, the Magic made little pretense about where the ball was going.
Vucevic then took his game to the 3-point line, with the Heat consistently caught in scramble mode against Orlando’s inverted offense. He tied his season high of six 3-pointers during the third period.
Vucevic, a week removed from his All-Star Game appearance, had scored a team-high 24 points in the Magic’s Thursday night loss in Miami. He was up to 17 points by Sunday’s intermission, with another 17 points in the third period.
It was Vucevic’s ninth 30-point game of the season.
