Heat narrowly escape the Hornets in Charlotte

Duncan Robinson flexed his new skills. Jimmy Butler invaded the paint. And the reserve crew outscored its Charlotte counterparts by 16 points, starting the miniseries with a win in hostile territory.

To the Heat’s benefit, the Hornets missed a few makeable trays over late closeouts, but it only held a five-point lead after the opening interval. The hosts, minus LaMelo Ball, binged in the restricted area via handoffs, dribble penetration and dumping to mismatches.

Yet, Miami’s D. Robinson countered, curling around Orlando Robinson’s DHO at the wing and catching and releasing from the top of the key for triples. He even blew by rookie Brandon Miller (same guy who police testified transported a gun where it was used in a fatal shooting), absorbed two spare defenders in the lane and dished the rock to Caleb Martin up top for a trifecta.

In the second quarter, Martin successfully drove twice into the paint in the half-court and had a jam on the break. Jaime Jaquez Jr. ran a give-and-go with Butler on the right side, splashed a wide-open corner triple and dunked emphatically in transition.

On defense, Miami mixed a 2-3 zone with man coverage and held the Hornets to 40.9% shooting.

At halftime, the Heat led 59-50, but most of its offensive possessions came against a set defense, as it only logged six fastbreak points. It only picked up three offensive rebounds, too, resulting in zero second-chance marks. Although, its brightest sign was that it was steadily getting to the line, logging 13 of 14 freebies.

In the third frame, Butler got hot, getting to his spot on the baseline with the help of a cross screen for a 12-foot jumper. Then he swished a shot in the corner, laid in the rock off a catch from the dunker spot, and put back Kyle Lowry’s missed 3-pointer.

For the Hornets, lead guard Terry Rozier and infamous wife-beater Miles Bridges carried the offense for 21 of its 27 points.

Next, in the fourth quarter, the visitors’ defense softened, as it was outscored by 10 and struggled to protect the arc. Miller broke Miami’s zone with drives and cuts to the hoop. Rozier punished Miami when it over-helped away from the left wing and pulled up twice for two more trays.

But for the Heat, D. Robinson canned another wing 3-pointer and faked Miller out of his avenue to get loose for a layup. Martin gently tipped in his miss from a pick-and-roll drive and pivoted through the paint for a fadeaway over Bridges. And Kevin Love recovered Butler’s close-range shot, laid it in to give the Heat a three-point lead, then buried the dagger triple.

The Heat fouled Rozier twice, putting him at the line for two, so he couldn’t take a three to tie. The first penalty likely wasn’t intentional, as it was picked up by JJJ with Rozier trying to break him and Martin closing the gap.

First, Charlotte’s point guard registered one of two, and subsequently, Martin did the same when it was his turn at the line. Again, Rozier stepped to the line, this time converting both.

Butler followed with two freebies but clanked his initial attempt. With no timeouts, the Heat up two and four seconds left, the Hornets inbounded, and Rozier failed a half-court heave over Butler and Josh Richardson to win.

The Heat won 116-114. The difference was getting to the line 12 more times than Charlotte, recovering four additional loose balls and scoring eight extra paint points.

D. Robinson was the primary scorer for Miami, with 24 points on eight of 14 shots and 56% shooting from deep. Butler had 23 points, making seven of 12 tries with eight dimes and four rebounds.

At the postgame presser, Charlotte’s coach Steve Clifford said the difference was the free-throw disparity. “Minus 10 at the free throw line, it’s going to be hard to win most nights…”

On the winning side, coach Erik Spoelstra said he isn’t surprised by D. Robinson’s contributions. “He’s so skilled offensively, and he fits within a unit. He knows how to complement either unit or be a focal point of actions. He creates overreactions…”

The Heat’s record improved to 13-10, and it will see the Hornets again on Wednesday.

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