Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 103-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans (15-21) on Thursday night at Smoothie King Center in the final game before the All-Star break. The Heat, which resumes its schedule with a March 11 home game against the Orlando Magic, enters the break at 18-18 after a 7-14 start to the season:
-- Jimmy Butler returned from a two-game absence, and the Heat’s offense looked better because of it. But there were some bumps along the way.
After the Butler-less Heat scored a season-low 80 points on 37.3 percent shooting in Tuesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Miami’s offense looked better with Butler back on the court on Thursday.
The Heat totaled 103 points on 49.3 percent shooting from the field and committed just 11 turnovers in its win over the Pelicans.
Butler, who missed the previous two games because of right knee inflammation, finished with 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting, three rebounds, nine assists and three steals in 34 minutes. He scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.
The Heat was very sharp to start, with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 shooting on threes to go with nine assists in the first quarter.
The Heat led by as many as 17 points in the first half and entered halftime with a 10-point lead. Miami recorded 55 points on 53.8 percent shooting in the first two quarters on Thursday.
For perspective, Miami finished Tuesday’s 80-point performance with just 15 assists on 28 made baskets. The Heat also scored only 37 first-half points in that game.
But the third quarter was Miami’s worst offensive stretch of the night. The Heat scored 22 points on 35 percent shooting from the field and 1-of-9 shooting on threes in the period.
Those offensive struggles allowed the Pelicans to get back in the game, as the Heat’s lead was cut to two with 6:26 to play.
But then Butler led the Heat on a 16-8 run, scoring 10 of its points during that spurt to push Miami to the victory.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Miami’s offense produced better results upon Butler’s return.
Without Butler on the court, the Heat entered Thursday scoring 104.2 points per 100 possessions this season. For perspective, that would be tied for the worst offensive rating in the NBA this season.
When Butler is on the court, the Heat’s offensive rating jumps to 110.8 points scored per 100 possessions.
In other words, Miami is a much better team when Butler is playing. That’s not surprising considering he’s a five-time All-Star and max player, but the swing when he’s on and off the floor is more drastic than expected.
The Heat improved to 14-8 in games that Butler has played in this season. Miami is 4-10 in games that he has missed.
-- The Heat was without its other star, though. It’s not often that Bam Adebayo misses a game because of a legitimate injury, but Thursday was one of those times.
Adebayo’s name surfaced on Thursday afternoon’s injury report and he was eventually ruled out for the Heat’s matchup against the Pelicans because of left knee tendinitis. It’s the same knee injury that had Adebayo on the injury report for two of the Heat’s previous three games, but he ended up playing in both of those games.
“We just want to be proactive about it, particularly before the break and make sure we take care of it right now,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s knee issue in advance of Thursday’s game. “He’ll continue to just be day to day.”
It’s fair to wonder how much Adebayo’s knee tendinitis has been bothering him recently, though.
Adebayo, who has averaged 2.2 dunks per game this season, only completed one dunk in the previous three games. And he also turned in one of his quietest performances of the season in Tuesday’s loss to the Hawks, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting, two rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes.
“I think if you polled every NBA player that had knee tendinitis, you would want to make sure that it doesn’t become something more than that,” Spoelstra said. “Bam obviously plays a major role for us, big minutes and is an explosive player. Just want to make sure that we can take care of this now.”
With the arrival of the All-Star break, the hope is that the next week off from game action will be exactly what Adebayo needs to return to the court when the Heat’s resumes its schedule on March 11.
Thursday marked the first time Adebayo has missed a regular-season game because of a legitimate injury since his rookie season in 2017-18. He played every regular-season game in 2018-19, missed the regular-season finale last season as a precaution with the start of the playoffs just days away, and had previously missed just two games this season because of contact tracing related to the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Adebayo was also unavailable for two games during last season’s playoff run in the NBA Finals because of a neck strain.
Adebayo, 23, is averaging 19.2 points on 56.3 percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 33 games (33 starts) this season.
The Pelicans were also missing one of its stars, and their offense wasn’t as good as usual. But New Orleans still found a way control the glass.
New Orleans was without second-year forward Zion Williamson (right fifth toe irritation), who made his first All-Star Game this season. Williamson is averaging 25.6 points on 61.4 percent shooting, 7.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists this season, and is also averaging a league-high 19.3 points per game in the paint.
-- The Pelicans were also without one of their top shooters JJ Redick, who missed Thursday’s game because of a sore right heel.
Without Williamson and Redick, the Pelicans’ offense struggled. New Orleans finished with just 93 points on 39.8 percent shooting.
But the Pelicans still outrebounded the Heat 44-40.
New Orleans, which entered averaging a league-high 11.6 offensive rebounds per game, also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds on Thursday. But those extra opportunities resulted in just 11 second-chance points because of the Pelicans’ inefficient offensive display.
The Heat, without its leading rebounder in Adebayo, totaled just five offensive rebound on Thursday.
Miami entered with a rebounding percentage that ranks 21st in the NBA, and the Heat has been outrebounded 140-111 in the past three games.
-- Without Adebayo, the Heat used its 18th different starting lineup in the 36th game of the season. But it was an established start who really stepped up in Adebayo’s absence.
Second-year forward KZ Okpala started in place of Adebayo alongside Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Butler and Kelly Olynyk.
Okpala, who made his sixth start on Thursday, finished with five points, five rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes.
It was Olynyk, though, that took on more of an offensive workload with Adebayo out. Olynyk, who has started 30 of the past 31 games, contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
-- Heat veteran guard Avery Bradley hasn’t been available for many games this season, but the hope is he’ll be close to a return when the second half of the regular season begins.
Bradley, who last appeared in a game on Feb. 3, missed his 15th straight game on Thursday. At the time of the injury, doctors told Bradley he could return in three to four weeks, which should mean he’ll be close a return when the Heat returns from the All-Star break next week.
“I’ve been really encouraged by his work behind the scenes,” Spoelstra said Thursday of Bradley. “I’ve watched his last two workouts on the court. I’ll have a better indication where we are after the break. But he’s really progressed in a good way.”
Bradley, who signed with Miami as a free agent this past offseason, played in just 10 of the Heat’s first 36 games. Along with missing the past 15 games because of a calf injury, he also missed eight straight games in January after testing positive for COVID-19.
Used in a bench role, Bradley averaged 8.5 points on 47 percent shooting from the field and 42.1 percent shooting on threes, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in the 10 games he has played this season.
