Takeaways from Heat's bounce-back win over the Hornets

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 114-106 win over the Charlotte Hornets (1-2) on Saturday night at Spectrum Center. The Heat (1-1) now returns home to begin a quick two-game homestand Monday against the Detroit Pistons on Dwyane Wade Statue Night at Kaseya Center:

— After turning in one of his worst performances in a Heat uniform to begin the season, Jimmy Butler turned in a bounce-back performance to lead the Heat to a bounce-back win.

The Heat’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler combined for just 12 points on 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) shooting from the field in Wednesday’s ugly season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic.

The duo was better on Saturday, combining to total 38 points on 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) shooting from the field.

But Butler was responsible for most of that production, leading the Heat to the win in Charlotte with 26 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block.

Adebayo closed the victory with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Butler was the catalyst down the stretch, too, in a game that came down to the final minutes.

It appeared that the Heat was on its way to a double-digit win, pulling ahead by 11 points with 5:35 left in the fourth quarter. But the Hornets rallied, using an 8-0 run to cut the Heat’s lead to three with 2:56 to play.

That’s when Butler hit a bail-out three at the end of the shot clock to push the Heat’s lead back up to six points with 2:30 left.

After Hornets guard Tre Mann made a three of his own on the other end to again cut the deficit to three, Butler made a 12-foot jumper while being fouled. Butler missed the free throw, but the two-point make still put the Heat ahead by five points with 1:54 to play.

The Hornets still wouldn’t go away, as Mann made another shot to again cut the deficit to three points with 1:36 on the clock.

But this time, Heat guard Tyler Herro delivered with a clutch three-pointer to give the Heat a six-point lead with 1:15 remaining.

Butler then came away with a steal on the next Hornets possession and drew a foul. Butler made both free throws to push the Heat’s lead up to eight with 1:06 left and put the game away.

Butler ended up scoring 13 of his team-high 26 points in Saturday’s fourth quarter.

The Heat was the more well-rested team after having two days off following Wednesday’s opener. The Hornets were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set after losing to the Hawks in Atlanta on Friday.

— It’s clear that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is still working through the bench rotation.

The Heat again went with the starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo.

But the bench rotation looking a little different from the opener, as the Heat used a five-man bench unit of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson, Thomas Bryant, Dru Smith and Alec Burks on Saturday against the Hornets.

In Wednesday’s opener, the Heat went with a four-man bench rotation of Jaquez, Robinson, Bryant and Haywood Highsmith before emptying its bench late in Wednesday’s lopsided loss to the Magic.

So the difference in the second game of the season was that the Heat extended its rotation to 10 players, with Smith and Burks playing instead of Highsmith.

But Smith, who logged six minutes late in the Heat’s blowout loss on Wednesday, played just three minutes on Saturday. He entered with 3:09 left in the first quarter and was pulled with 18.2 seconds left in the period after picking up three quick fouls, and he didn’t re-enter the game.

Burks, who did not play in the opener, recorded nine points on 3-of-4 shooting on threes in 25 minutes against the Hornets.

The only active and available players who did not get into Saturday’s game were Highsmith, Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson. Two-way contract guard Josh Christopher was available, but the Heat made him inactive for the contest.

— The Heat’s disruptive defense was back, but rebounding was again an issue on Saturday.

After forcing the Magic into just 11 turnovers in Wednesday’s defeat, one of the Heat’s priorities against the Hornets was to get back to its disruptive ways on the defensive end.

Mission accomplished, as the Heat helped force the Hornets into 20 turnovers. Miami scored 24 points off those mistakes.

That allowed the Heat to outscore the Hornets 24-11 in points off turnovers on Saturday.

This is an area that the Heat wants to dominate this season, aiming to be among the NBA’s top teams this season in forcing turnovers. It was an emphasis leading up to the regular season, too, as the Heat closed this preseason with the NBA’s highest opponent turnover rate (percentage of opponent possessions that end in a turnover) at 21.7 percent.

However, rebounding continued to be an issue for the Heat through the first few days of the season.

After allowing the Magic to score 25 second-chance points with the help of 18 offensive rebounds on Wednesday, the Heat allowed to Hornets to grab 15 offensive rebounds and total 20 second-chance points on Saturday.

— The Hornets welcome Heat guard Terry Rozier back to Charlotte with a tribute video.

Rozier played against the Hornets in Charlotte during the preseason, so Saturday wasn’t technically his first game back in Charlotte since the Hornets traded him to the Heat on Jan. 23. But Saturday was Rozier’s first regular-season game in Charlotte since the trade.

The Hornets played a video tribute for Rozier at Spectrum Center during the game’s first timeout midway through the first quarter.

Rozier, who spent four-plus seasons with the Hornets before being moved to the Heat, shared laughs and hugs with his former Hornets teammates and coaches before Saturday’s game.

Rozier finished Saturday’s win with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists.

— Josh Richardson is inching closer to his return, but he again was held out Saturday.

Richardson missed the entire preseason as he worked his way back from March surgery on his right shoulder and then was held out of Wednesday’s regular-season opener with left heel enthesopathy.

The good news is Richardson was upgraded to questionable for Saturday’s game against the Hornets and even warmed up right before the game. But the Heat eventually ruled Richardson out about an hour before tipoff.

The Heat’s hope is that Richardson will make his return in the coming days, possibly during its upcoming two-game homestand that begins on Monday against the Pistons.

“He’s making progress,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Richardson following Saturday’s morning shootaround in Charlotte. “So I’m encouraged by it. I know he is, as well. Don’t have a specific date, but he’s practicing and he’s doing everything right now.”

The Heat was also without centers Kevin Love (personal reasons) and Kel’el Ware (stomach illness) against the Hornets. Love has missed the first two games of the season and Ware missed his first game of the season.

The Hornets were without Josh Green (return from injury management), DaQuan Jeffries (right hand), Brandon Miller (left glute) and Mark Williams (left foot) against the Heat.

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