Miami, Oct. 26 (US): Jimmy Butler kept hitting the edge, and scoring was expected to suddenly become very easy.
Butler scored 36 points on a 15-21 shot, Pam Adebayo added 16 points and 13 rebounds and the Miami Heat pulled out in the fourth quarter to beat the Orlando Magic 107-90 Monday night, the Associated Press reported.
“Jamie is an elite scorer. He is an outstanding playmaker and an elite defender,” Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said. “He can do a lot of different things.”
Butler had 10 baskets inside that were 10 feet long. He was 13 versus 32 in the first two games of the season.
“I fired the same shots. They just got in tonight,” Butler said.
Markiv Morris scored 16 points from the Miami bench and Tyler Hero finished with 13 points, five rebounds and nine assists for the Heat.
Miami was 19 to 19 of the spoiled streak, and tied for second with no misses in team history. The match was 30 to 30 against Boston on March 24, 1993.
Franz Wagner and Galen Suggs led Orlando with 15 points, while Cole Anthony and RJ Hampton each added 12 points for magic. Mo Bamba and Robin Lopez each had 11 times with Orlando.
“We’re a very small team,” Hampton said. “Facing very experienced teams like New York, like Miami, like San Antonio, that’s going to benefit us.”
Butler also made five robberies. He had 11 field goals – his career best in the opening two quarters of the game – by the end of the first half, the majority of those were loose goals or fast passes, and the Heat had led as many as 19 early on before going 57-44 in the stop.
Orlando, who rebounded from a double-digit deficit to win in New York Sunday night, tried to do it again in Miami. Anthony had five points in a row midway through the third quarter for Orlando to score within six, and another scoring from Anthony slashed Miami’s lead to 86-77 early in the fourth.
That’s when the heat is gone forever.
The 12-2 series started with a basket by Herro, and it inadvertently ended him in a 3-pointer with a big smile, regaining the lead to 98-79 with 6:47 left.
“I don’t want to make excuses,” said Magic coach Jamal Mosley. “We’ve all got them in shape, ready to go out and play. I think we started a little bit slowly, then got our momentum… and kept fighting.”
Hints
Magic: Orlando started last season with three straight wins on the road, but has won back-to-back games only once since. …The Magic is behind in double digits for 99 minutes out of the 192 minutes they have played so far this season, or 52% of the time.
Heat: Kyle Lowry scored nine points and eight assists. … Duncan Robinson appeared in his 150th straight game, the fifth longest running streak in Heat history. He’s eight games shy of matching Adebayo for the fourth-best consecutive streak and 24 games short of Glen Rice’s franchise record. …Butler became the first Heat player to have at least 24 points and at least four points in the first half.
Laquire 13
Butler had a combined 5-for-13 in the first half of his first two games in Miami. He was 11 years old versus 13 in the first half of Monday.
Reunion Vegas
The game was a reunion of some key parts for the USA Basketball Select team that trained against the Olympic team in Las Vegas this summer. Spoelstra and Mosley participated in coaching this team, and Herro played for selection. “With Tyler on the USA Select team, I understand his level of confidence, the level of his ability to score at a high clip,” Mosley said.
the following
Magic: He hosted Charlotte on Wednesday.
Heat: Visit Brooklyn on Wednesday.