Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat escape Orlando after a big fourth quarter from Tyler Herro and Alec Burks

The Heat were saved by Tyler Herro and Alec Burks after being down 17 points, giving the Magic its third home loss of the season. The crew was outrebounded by nine and had 20 turnovers, but successful deep shooting from five players made up for it.

Jimmy Butler (return to competition conditioning) and Josh Richardson (right heel inflammation) were absent for the Heat. Paolo Banchero (oblique injury), Franz Wagner (oblique injury) and Mo Wagner (ACL tear) were unavailable for the Magic. 

Turnovers and being a step slow on defense put the Heat in a 14-point hole to start in the four minutes. Additionally, Jalen Suggs scored easily on screen rolls, and rookie Tristan da Silva logged seven points on the dribble and catch.

At one point, the Magic had them down 22-5, but Nikola Jović had the juice off the bench, making two treys and laying in a transition lob. The next high-scoring Heatle was Herro, also with eight.

Then they found a crack in the Magic’s armor. Five Heatles scored on an 18-9 run, briefly cutting the deficit to four points. But the hosts responded with an 8-1 run to close the half.

At halftime, the Heat was down 52-41. They had 18 paint points, eight on the break, three via second chances, 15 off turnovers and 21 from the bench.

The Magic had 28 paint points, eight on the break, nine via second chances, 15 off turnovers and six from the bench. Suggs was their high scorer with 18 points.

Next, the third quarter was a defensive showdown. The Heat mixed in more zone with man coverage, holding the Magic 35% shooting, including no triples and forced three turnovers in the period. The Magic countered by containing the Heat to five of 18 shots.

The fourth quarter started with the Heat down 71-61. Then 3-pointers from Burks, Rozier and Jaquez helped cut the deficit to a digit as Orlando called for a stoppage a few minutes in. One of the pivotal moments of this stretch was Jaime and Haywood Highsmith rushing back in transition to deny Cory Joseph at the cup. Then Burks nailed more jumpers at mid and long range, and Herro scored the final seven points to close, including the last shot from 18 feet away to win the game.

The Heat won 89-88. They had 24 paint points, 13 on the break, seven via second chances, 25 off turnovers and 41 from the bench.

Herro had 20 points on eight of 17 attempts, with three rebounds, two assists, one steal and six turnovers.

Burks had 17 points on 80% shooting, with six rebounds, three steals and a turnover.

Jaquez had 15 points on four of nine shots, with four rebounds, four assists, five steals, one block and three turnovers.

The Magic had 44 paint points, 18 on the break, 13 via second chances, 28 off turnovers and 12 from the bench.

After the game, coach Erik Spoelstra said, “This was a total throwback, ‘90s game… nobody was giving any inch of ground defensively. We were able to give [Herro] the ball, give him a little bit of space, and then he was able to take it to a spot and elevate.” He also added it was the team’s toughest win of the season.

Takeaways:

• This was one of Jaime’s top games of the season and his first recording at least five steals in his career. Three of his four baskets were 3-pointers, and he made 60% of those shots.

• More Herro heroics. Herro’s game-winning basket came with the Heat down a point after Goga Bitadze made a tip-in on the previous possession. Out of the Heat’s timeout, Herro caught the ball at the top of the key, dribbled down to the right side and made a jumper over Trevelin Queen.

• Burks recorded 24 minutes. His last game was on Dec. 2, playing nearly eight. The last time he got some real burn on the court before the win was on Nov. 14, in the victory over the Mavericks. Spoelstra should look to him sooner when a rotation is getting destroyed. Spoelstra also said postgame that Burks “doesn’t get sick at sea.”

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