The Miami Heat was already playing without so many of their top players. No Bam Adebayo. No Jimmy Butler. No Dewayne Dedmon. No Markieff Morris. And, for the second half Wednesday, the Heat had to play without their starting point guard after Kyle Lowry was ejected with 1:14 remaining in the second quarter.
But behind a balanced effort from the rest of the roster, the Heat held on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 115-109 at Moda Center to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Heat (24-15) had six players score in double figures on Wednesday. Max Strus led the group with 25 points on 9 for 17 shooting (including 7 for 13 from 3-point range) in his return after missing four games due to health and safety protocols.
Tyler Herro added 16, Omer Yurtseven 14, P.J. Tucker 14, Duncan Robinson 12 and Caleb Martin 11. Yurtseven and Tucker had double-doubles with 16 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Miami led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, a lead that shrank to 11 points at halftime (58-47) and three points at the end of the third quarter (83-80) before Portland (14-23) tied it at 90-90 with 9:41 left in the fourth quarter on a Dennis Smith Jr. driving layup.
The Heat outscored the Trail Blazers 25-19 after that to seal the win. Lowry had 7 points, nine assists and two rebounds in 16:08 before his ejection.
Herro and Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic also were ejected with 59 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
3-point shooting sets the tone early.
The Heat can credit their early lead in part to clutch shooting from beyond the arc. Miami was 12 for 22 from 3-point range in the first half.
Slow shooting start for Tyler Herro, but he takes on a different role in the second half.
Herro, back in his usual bench role Wednesday, had just 3 points on 1 for 10 shooting in the first half. He made some clutch shots in the second half, but equally as important was his ability to become the team’s main ball handler following Lowry’s ejection. Herro took on the bulk of the point guard duties in the second half and helped keep Miami in the game.
Foul trouble hinders young big men early.
Yurtseven and Chris Silva each picked up three personal fouls midway through the first half, forcing coach Erik Spoelstra to play Haywood Highsmith for the final 4:08 of the second quarter. Miami was outscored 15-8 in that stretch to cut an 18-point lead to 11 points at the half.
Yurtseven did not commit a foul in the second half and finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds. With that, he set a Heat record with his 10th consecutive game with at least 12 rebounds. It broke Hassan Whiteside’s mark of nine consecutive games with at least a dozen rebounds.
Yurtseven is only the third rookie to accomplish this feat and the first since Blake Griffin.
Miami Heat almost completely free from health and safety protocols.
With Robinson, Tucker and Strus back on the active roster, Miami has only three players out due to COVID-19: Udonis Haslem, Gabe Vincent and Marcus Garrett. Now, the team is still dealing with injuries. Miami is still without Adebayo (right thumb surgery), Butler (right ankle sprain), Dedmon (left knee sprain) and Morris (whiplash). But rotation members are returning, and any increase in depth helps.
Aric Holman, Nik Stauskas and Mario Chalmers — three of the players the Heat signed to 10-day contracts under the NBA hardship allowance — were inactive on Wednesday with the Heat getting Robinson, Tucker and Strus back from health and safety protocols.
The road trip continues.
The Heat have two games left on this six-game road trip. Miami plays the Phoenix Suns next on Saturday before closing the trip on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.
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