MIAMI — No one in the NBA plays more close games than the Miami Heat and no one other than the Heat plays more close games than the Utah Jazz, so of course their showdown Monday in Miami came down to the final possessions.
A back-and-forth fourth quarter left the Heat up by a point in the final minute and Bam Adebayo denied Ochai Agbaji on a drive in the last 10 seconds to pull out a 119-115 win for Miami.
After a strong start by guard Gabe Vincent let it build an early lead, the Heat ultimately had to lean on Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, its two stars, to rally in the second half.
Butler led Miami with 24 points and had eight rebounds. Adebayo finished with 16 points and nine boards, and made the key defensive play in the waning moments.
With the Jazz down 117-115 with about 10 seconds remaining, Agbaji drove from the left wing, but Adebayo met him at the rim and forced him to alter his shot. The Utah wing missed everything, Adebayo grabbed the rebound and made two free throws after an intentional foul with six seconds left, and the Heat hung on for another clutch win.
Here are five takeaways from another nerve-wracking night for the 19,721 at Miami-Dade Arena:
1. The Heat wins the fourth quarter and the game.
When Butler went to the bench with 2:41 left in the third quarter and the Heat down 85-82, it was a gamble. Miami started the second half by almost exclusively running its offense through Butler in isolation situations and and the Heat was outscoring Utah by nine when he was on the floor.
By the time Butler finally checked back in, Miami was up 109-104. Butler got enough help in this one for the the Heat to survive without him and then close out a win once he came back in.
Adebayo was at the center of it. The All-Star center scored nine straight points to end the first quarter after Butler checked out to even the score at 90-90. From there, Miami got a pair of three-pointers from Lowry, five points from Oladipo and four points from forward Caleb Martin to grab the lead in time for Butler’s return.
The lead went back and forth a few more times in the last minutes before the Heat finished on top.
Miami now has 24 wins by five points or fewer this year, setting an NBA record.
2. Butler, with a new look, carries Heat.
There was a new, attention-grabbing hairstyle, but it was still the same Butler.
Until finally getting some help in the fourth quarter, the 33-year-old forward was about the only thing standing between Miami and another upset loss to the Jazz.
Butler was his usual commanding, efficient self, and the Heat was just fine when he was on the court and not so great when he wasn’t.
He started the game with an unusual look atop his head — mostly cornrows, with two tufts popping out like horns above his forehead — and controlled the opening minutes of the game like he usually does. He grabbed two steals and two rebounds in the first three minutes, and opened up a pair of three-pointers for guard Gabe Vincent by driving into the paint to bend Utah’s defense.
By the time Butler checked out for the first time with 2:26 left in the first quarter, Miami was up 26-19 and Butler had six points. By the time Butler checked back in with 6:04 left in the second quarter, the Heat was down 47-42.
At halftime, Miami trailed 57-56, but had outscored the Jazz by 10 when Butler was on the floor. By then, his hair was popping out of his braids and it was entirely loose when he came out of the locker room for the second half.
He started the second half even more aggressively, attempting five shots in the first five minutes of the third quarter, and helped Miami retake the lead after it trailed by as much as eight in the first half.
3. The Heat keeps Kyle Lowry on the bench.
Lowry’s return from injury Saturday didn’t go totally as planned and not just because the Heat lost in overtime to the Magic. Lowry wound up playing 36 minutes in the marathon loss and coach Erik Spoelstra immediately lamented the decision after the game.
“The idea was to scale him up,” Spoelstra said. “I clearly did not do that.”
Two days later, the coach kept Lowry on the bench, hoping it’d allow him to better manage his point guard’s minutes.
He was more successful this time. Lowry waited nearly 10 minutes to check in and then played just 19 minutes. The 36-year-old guard finished with nine points in his second game from returning from his month-long absence for knee soreness.
It also worked out for Miami.
4. Gabe Vincent stars as a starter.
Vincent as the starter was certainly the right call Monday. His start was masterful and it set the tone for Miami.
For the second straight game, the Heat’s first play went to Vincent and the guard knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner on the opening possession.
He hit two more from long range — and racked up three steals — before he checked out for Lowry with 2:26 left in the opening quarter. By then, Miami was up 26-19 on the strength of five total steals and Vincent turned his into points, hitting Butler once for a breakaway after an interception and then creating another extra possession ending in a three-pointer for post player Kevin Love.
Vincent scored 18 points and went 4 of 6 from three, and his plus-minus of plus-15 was the best on the team.
5. The Heat’s still stuck in the play-in.
Now four games out of the No. 6 seed, the Heat still probably isn’t going to get out of play-in range.
Miami has only 12 games left in the regular season and doesn’t hold the tiebreaker with the Nets, who are shaping up to potentially be the Heat’s main competition for No. 6 in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat is also four games behind the Knicks and have two games left against New York in the final month of the season, so there is a chance to make up some ground there. The Knicks are currently the No. 6 seed, behind Brooklyn by a matter of percentage points.
Miami does, however, have a nice cushion on the eighth-place Hawks. The Heat leads Atlanta by 2 1/2 games now, meaning it’s in good shape to at least host the Hawks in a win-and-in play-in game next month.
