Tyler Herro certainly knows how to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
With the clock expiring Saturday night in Salt Lake City and with 2022 about to turn to 2023 back in South Florida, Herro beat the buzzer with one-tenth of a second to play with a 3-pointer that gave the Heat a 126-123 victory at Vivint Arena.
Having blown a sizable fourth-quarter lead for the second consecutive night at the start of this five-game western swing, the Heat were bailed out by Herro’s heroic shot after the Jazz tied it with 6.3 seconds to play.
Playing without a timeout, the Heat went the length of the court for the winning basket.
“Thank God for Tyler Herro,” teammate Victor Oladipo said. “With a name like Herro, who wouldn’t want to be in those moments?”
Then again, perhaps this made sense, with the kids staying up late on New Year’s Eve to lead a celebration.
And, so, behind the play of Bam Adebayo and Herro, the Heat go into the new year with a winning record.
With Jimmy Butler away from the team to have his troublesome right knee examined in Los Angeles, where the Heat next play, and with veteran point guard Kyle Lowry again off with his game, Adebayo and Herro seized the moment.
Adebayo, 25, closed with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Herro, 22, went for 29 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
It was a typical frenzied Heat finish, one that included a key late Oladipo 3-pointer on his best night of the season, as the Heat improved to 19-18, yet to stand more than one game above .500 this season.
Oladipo closed with 23 points.
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
— 1. Closing time: The Heat led 31-30 at the end of the first period and 69-63 at halftime, with 21 assists on their 26 first-half baskets.
The Heat then went up 10 in the third period, gave up a 10-0 Jazz run, and went into the fourth quarter down 98-96.
A three-point play by Adebayo then pushed the Heat to a 114-109 lead with 4:29 to play, with four consecutive Adebayo points later staking the Heat to a 118-111 lead with 3:02 left.
It left the Heat in a similar situation as their late blown lead in Friday night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets at the start of this five-game trip.
But that is when Oladipo stepped up with his 3-pointer with 1:22 to play for a 121-115 Heat lead.
Ultimately, the Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson got to the line with 27.3 seconds left and Utah down 121-117, missing both free throws.
Still, it remained harrowing when Gabe Vincent fouled Clarkson on a 3-point attempt with 14.2 seconds to play, with Clarkson making all three to draw Utah within 122-120.
Oladipo then was fouled with 13.2 seconds left, making only the first of his two free throws, leaving the Heat up 123-120 with 12.1 seconds to play.
But that’s when Heat forward Haywood Highsmith was called for a three-shot foul on Lauri Markkanen with 6.4 seconds left, with Markkanen tying it 123-123.
Then came Herro’s heroics.
— 2. Inside-outside: There wasn’t much pretense for the Heat with Butler out, with the one-two inside-outside games of Herro and Adebayo.
With both filling up the box score, it kept the Heat afloat when there was little in support beyond the contributions of Oladipo and Max Strus.
— 3. Oladipo on cue: With Butler out, Oladipo stepped into the scoring void, including a pair of second-period 3-pointers that sparked an 8-0 run and then a dramatic dunk as part of a fourth-quarter 3-point play.
His previous scoring high this season was 14 points in the Dec. 20 home loss to the Chicago Bulls. He had scored 16 total points in his previous three appearances.
Oladipo had converted multiple 3-pointers only once in his previous five appearances.
As part of the Heat’s staggered rest program during the back-to-back set, Oladipo had been given Friday night in Denver off for what the team listed as left-knee injury management.
— 4. Two down: With the Heat were without two starters, Haywood Highsmith opened for the second consecutive game at power forward in place of Martin, with Strus back in the starting lineup in place of Butler.
The Heat’s other starters were Adebayo, Herro and Lowry, who, at 36, played both ends of the back-to-back set.
Inactive for the Heat were Butler, Martin, Nikola Jovic (G League assignment), Dewayne Dedmon (health-and-safety protocols) and Omer Yurtsevn (ankle surgery).
— 5. Reunion time: The game was a reminder of the deal the Heat made at the 2021 NBA trading deadline that sent Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley to the Houston Rockets for Oladipo.
Olynyk has thrived this season with the Jazz after being acquired in the offseason from the Detroit Pistons.
Olynyk started Saturday for the Jazz, while Oladipo played off the Heat bench.
“KO, he’s plug and play on any team,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Literally, every team he’s played on, he helps your offense. He’s so skilled. He’s crafty. He’s clever. He’s good off the dribble, handoffs.”
That had Spoelstra reflecting on the Olynyk-Adebayo pairing that helped propel the Heat to the 2020 NBA Finals in the Disney quarantine bubble.
“All the stuff we like to do, he fit perfectly,” Spoelstra said. “And the combination of him and Bam, the skill level that we had was really unique.”
Adebayo opened defensively on Olynyk.
