Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat couldn’t overcome turd quarter vs Thunder in Oklahoma City

Despite controlling the game early on the second night of a road back-to-back, the Heat’s offense fell apart in the third quarter and its embers were extinguished late by Shai Gilgeous Alexander.

Early, Jimmy Butler attacked the basket, scoring the Heat’s first six points. But Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson were cold- the former missed a jumper badly on the baseline and was denied by Luguentz Dort’s help defense, and the latter missed a pair of well-contested triples.

Halfway through the frame, coach Erik Spoelstra subbed out Nikola Jović and put in rookie Jaimie Jaquez Jr.. JJJ saved the Heat from an embarrassing start, creating contact on drives, making four freebies, hooking over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the post, beating everyone on the break and splashing a left-wing triple.

SGA countered for the hosts, registering 10 first-quarter points, primarily striking the lane against man coverage and the zone. Josh Giddey picked up three dimes. And the rest of the group made seven of 17 baskets, as no other Thunder player made more than one field goal.

After 12 minutes, the Heat led 29-27.

Then newcomer Patty Mills- the 15-year veteran who signed with the club on Wednesday- was unleashed. He registered four of five baskets, hitting three triples when the defense overreacted to inside pressure and nailed a midrange floater on the right side after Dort closed out too hard to the wing on the pass.

Butler scored twice in the second frame- a layup, low on the right side in the first minute and another in the last 42 seconds of the half, totaling five points. Additionally, Jaquez was still burning. He spun past Josh Giddey on the baseline for a layup over Chet Holmgren, successfully rolled right after the handoff from Adebayo and scored from the dunker spot when left alone.

Defensively, the Heat slowed down the Thunder and SGA. Help was sent when he beat Terry Rozier to the paint, stopping his layup. Two of his 3-point attempts were triumphantly contested, and Haywood Highsmith forced him into a difficult step-back jumper inside the right wing to end the half. His running mate, Jalen Williams, was the only host to record multiple field goals in the frame, and the Thunder was held to seven of 20 makes.

At halftime, the Heat was up 57-47 and up on the glass by five. The group had 28 paint points, eight on the break, one from an extra try, six after turnovers and 33 from the bench. Jaquez was the high Heatle with 17 points on six of seven attempts. Next were Butler and Mills, each with 11. And Adebayo struggled to score, logging three points, but had four assists and six rebounds.

The Thunder picked up 22 interior points, eight in the open court, 11 via second chances, seven after turnovers and 14 from the reserves. SGA dispensed 14 points on five of 12 attempts. And Williams had eight on 42.9% shooting.

Then, two-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, the Heat climbed to a 14-point lead following a Robinson right-wing banger. The unit missed its next six field goals over five minutes as the Thunder neutralized Adebayo’s pick-and-pop jumper in the paint and disrupted three of Rozier’s shots from close, medium and long range.

In that span, as the Heat’s offense was useless, the Thunder rattled off 17 straight points courtesy of SGA getting anything he wanted in the middle, Giddey punishing a double team on SGA from distance, plus Williams piercing the zone and burying a 3-pointer. The Thunder out-produced the Heat by 16 points in the sequence to lead 77-73 to start the fourth.

The guests made six of 14 buckets over eight minutes but were down seven on the scoreboard. Following up with five in a row- Rozier’s transition gash, corner triple and pick and pop shot, a three-footer from Butler and fallaway three from Robinson- still had the club behind by four.

SGA’s impact was as loud as a high-voltage thunderstorm, pulling up on his jump shot going right and left for a dozen more marks. And Aaron Wiggins connected on a second-chance triple, beat Caleb Martin to the cup for a layup and dusted Haywood Highsmith on the baseline, dunking as Rozier got out of the way. The lever that brought down the guillotine was Williams dribbling past JJJ and Adebayo’s help for a left-handed finish.

The Heat lost 100-107. The crew had 48 paint points, eight on the break, five on added attempts, 10 after turnovers and 45 from the bench. Jaquez led the group with 25 points on 10 of 13 looks. Butler’s 20 on 50% shooting followed.

The Thunder collected 46 interior points, 12 in the open court, 23 on extra tries, 18 after turnovers and 28 from the reserves. SGA had 37 points on 13 of 25 shots. Williams dropped 15. And Giddey tallied 11.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said, “If we could have finished off a couple more possessions, we might’ve had an opportunity to hold them under 100 [points].

In the locker room, Jaquez said, “Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done tonight, but we are going to learn from this and get better.”

The Heat is 9-0 when holding teams under 100 points in 2023-24. The team will not practice on Saturday (3/9).
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