Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat win in Portland, overpowering Trail Blazers in second half

It used to be a rose garden, but now it’s just a heap of dead flowers at the Moda Center- the remains of lost hope and dreams. One can only wonder what emotions stirred in Joe Cronin’s mind when Jaime Jaquez and Nikola Jovic- two NBA younglings- boosted the Heat during its second-half comeback.

Tyler Herro was absent (knee), and so was Josh Richardson (shoulder) for the Heat. The Blazers were missing Malcolm Brogdon (elbow), Shaedon Sharpe (abdomen) and Robert Williams III (knee).

But early, even with Terry Rozier’s return from a knee injury, nothing worked for the Heat on the second night of a back-to-back as it fell to a 15-point deficit. Portland’s Deandre Ayton hit a pair of jumpers and slammed a lob. Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant combined for five opening trays. And the Heat misfired on 15 of 21 attempts against man coverage and the 2-3 zone. At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led 28-15.

In the next frame, Ayton kept getting loose on two rim rolls, plus faced up Bam Adebayo and hooked over him in the lane. Portland’s second-round pick Toumani Camara even splashed two triples and a layup against the Heat’s zone.

But Butler retaliated, spinning past Grant and Duop Reath for consecutive finishes with contact. On the next play, he initiated the fastbreak and hit newcomer Delon Wright cutting on the baseline for a layup. And he set up Adebayo for two pick-and-pop jumpers in the paint.

Additionally, Rozier got to the cup in the open court, made a 3-pointer over drop coverage, and Wright set up two scores.

At halftime, the Heat was behind on the scoreboard 46-56 and outrebounded by six. The crew accumulated 26 paint points, six on the break, four via second chances and six after turnovers. Butler had 10 points, six assists and two steals. Adebayo and Rozier each had eight points.

The Blazers supplied 18 interior points, none on the break, nine from extra tries and 15 after turnovers. Ayton, Camara and Grant were its big three in the first half, uniting for 39 points on 14 of 23 shots.

(Ayton didn’t play the second half after hurting his hand on a collision with Kevin Love in the first. Duop Reath started in his place.)

Then the Heat kicked off the third quarter with an 8-0 run, courtesy of Robinson’s back-to-back trifectas and Butler’s dunk on the break. The guest’s avalanche followed with Butler canning a 3-pointer when left alone at the wing, Adebayo scoring in transition and Jović making two deep shots and a lob on the break. In the period, the Heat recorded 34 points on 11 of 16 ventures.

Defensively, the visitors locked up the Trail Blazers to 30.4% shooting in the third quarter with sharp man coverage and some zone. On top of that, the Heat permitted zero field goals (0 for eight) in the last four minutes of the interval, taking its first lead of the evening and going up by four heading into the fourth.

Despite the Blazers making five of 10 baskets to begin the quarter, the Heat was stronger. Martin seized the baseline for two points, Love made a top-of-the-key three, Butler connected on a baseline jumper over a double team, Rozier hit consecutive buckets, and the hosts didn’t hold on to the rope much longer.

Moreover, the Heat conceded 64% of attempts in the paint, late, but the Blazers failed on six 3-point attempts and three were open enough.

The Heat won 106-98, improving to an 18-12 road record (15-13 at Kaseya Center). The group had 40 paint points, 10 on the break, five on second chances and 11 after turnovers. Butler was the high Heatle, producing 22 on the scorecard, with four steals, two blocks, nine dimes and four boards. Rozier had 19 points, Robinson scored 17 and Adebayo contributed 13.

The Trail Blazers finished with 40 points in the square, two in the open court, 20 on additional opportunities and 23 after turnovers. Simons led the unit, scoring 26, followed by Grant’s 24 and Camara’s 17.

Rozier handled the on-court interview. He said he was anxious to suit up during the All-Star break and that he’s pleased to be healthy, providing and earning the recent win. When asked about the biggest challenge of playing with the team, he said, “Going from losing to winning.”

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said, “It was a challenging start to the game, but I thought this was a very good response, particularly in the second half. You could clearly see, [the Heat] were a little bit in the mud… We were playing a lot out of [Butler] and [Adebayo] in the post, and they were able to produce.”

The Heat will not practice on Wednesday.

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