Heat move back to .500 with a 106-97 win over Nets

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jan 25, 2025

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NEW YORK — Despite estranged star Jimmy Butler serving the second half of his two-game suspension back in Miami, the Heat snapped their recent skid with a 106-97 win over the scuffling Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Saturday.

The Heat (22-22) got out to an early lead in the first quarter, with Tyler Herro pacing the team with eight first-quarter points. Miami was the beneficiary of Brooklyn starting off cold as the Nets missed their first eight 3-point attempts while the Heat made four of their first six.

The lid came off the basket for the Nets in the second half, as they drained six 3s in the second quarter and cut Miami’s one-time 11-point lead to five entering the half.

After a long halftime ceremony where the Nets (14-32) retired Vince Carter’s No. 15, the Heat came out slow. Miami scored just eight points in the first six minutes of the third quarter, allowing Brooklyn to tie the game at 61.

Luckily for the struggling Heat, Miami responded to Brooklyn evening the score with a 7-0 run of its own. The Heat rolled to a 21-7 run to end the third quarter, taking an 82-68 lead into the fourth quarter. Miami kept Brooklyn at bay for the final 12 minutes as it closed out the win.

The Heat had five double-digit scorers Saturday. Among the starters, Tyler Herro paced the team with 25 points, while Bam Adebayo had 17 and Duncan Robinson notched 15. Nikola Jovic and Terry Rozier added 17 and 16 off the bench, respectively.

Five degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game

— 1. Herro ball: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game that he does not typically lobby for his players to make the All-Star Game. But Herro continued to make a strong case for himself in Saturday’s game.

The standout guard had 25 points, eight assists and two steals against the Nets. However, he did have five turnovers.

— 2. Turnover woes: Miami struggled to hang onto the ball, turning the ball over 10 times in the first half and ending the game with 21 turnovers.

The Nets scored 26 points off Heat turnovers. Miami forced 15 turnovers and scored 11 points on them.

— 3. Losing leads: For the second game in a row, the Heat had a double-digit lead they could not hang on to.

After Miami led by as many as 11 points in the first half, Brooklyn caught up in the third quarter, knotting the game at 61 about halfway through the third quarter.

This time, losing the lead did not come back to haunt the Heat. They rolled in the second half of the third quarter and seized control.

— 4. Big men: Miami’s starting big men, Adebayo and Kel’el Ware, began the game slowly, but Adebayo had a solid second half and helped propel the Heat.

Adebayo closed the game with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Ware had seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.

The pair did well on the boards. Adebayo had 16 rebounds — notching his third straight double-double — and Ware had six. They helped Miami out-rebound Brooklyn 51-35.

— 5. Long halftime: Both teams had to wait far longer than the usual 15-minute halftime to get back on the court on Saturday night. The Nets retired Hall of Famer Vince Carter’s No. 15 in a halftime ceremony that included a speech by Julius Erving and Carter himself, as well as messages from former Nets stars Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson.

The result was a halftime that lasted more than 40 minutes, and both teams struggled to start the half. Nearly three minutes of game time elapsed before either team scored a field goal in the second half.