Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat prevents Hornets comeback in Charlotte

The touring Heat won its first game of the season in Charlotte versus the Hornets in clutch time, improving to a 1-1 record. The crew punished the Hornets on giveaways. Terry Rozier swished three trays and finished four shots in the restricted area. And vintage Jimmy Butler closed the deal. 

Tyler Herro and Rozier combined for nine of 14 first-half shots, outplaying Charlotte’s starters, LaMelo Ball and Seth Curry. 

And despite a poor-shooting third quarter, the Heat were in control heading into the last sequence. 

The Heat held a 14-point lead with nearly nine minutes left. The Hornets erased the lead to three points with five points in transition, a pair of Cody Martin 3-pointers and a step-back triple by Ball over Nikola Jović. 

Subsequently, Butler scored nine points in the last few minutes, Herro splashed a top-of-the-key 3-pointer, and Rozier canned a corner basket to carry the group to victory. 

The Heat scored 46 paint points, 18 on the break, eight via second chances, 24 off turnovers and 25 from the bench. 

Rozier handled the on-court interview. When asked about playing with Herro, he said it’s easy. “He’s a gamer. You guys [have to] pick your poison when playing against us, and we know that…”

Observations:

1. Butler played the connector role in the first quarter and didn’t look to pressure the rim. Then he started the next frame dropping seven straight points- flaring into the lane for a layup, firing behind a pindown and making an and-one on a low post drive.   

He continued plowing into the paint, embracing illegal contact, finishing with 11 of 17 freebies; six of nine came in the fourth quarter. On top of that, he pierced the lane for two baskets in the half-court, made a huge three off the catch, and set up an Alec Burks corner triple with dribble penetration.

Noticeably, Duncan Robinsonwas the screener on three plays Butler scored on. Presumably because Butler can draw multiple defenders and Robinson is lethal off the catch.

2. Good things keep happening with Jović in the open court. He fed Tyler Herro for a dunk and triple on the break in the first half, hit Robinson on the go for a layup in the fourth and scored himself on a dunk. 

But he still needs to do more in the half-court. He started the game passing out of an open shot under the rim and is not an inside threat.

3. Bam Adebayo shot poorly for the second straight game. He missed jumpers and putbacks that usually fall in single coverage plus both of his 3-point tries were flat. 

4. The Heat shot poorly in the paint nonrestricted area, making five of 16 attempts and slightly above average at the rim at 66.7%. The league average in that spot is 64.6%.

5. Ball had five turnovers via the Heat’s aggressive help defense in the back, intercepting his sideline inbound and poking the ball loose on his drive into the lane. One of his giveaways was a mistake on his own, making an off-target pass. 

6. Through two games, 81.4% of this team’s offensive plays are in the half-court. But they score 152.4 per 100 transition plays, which is first in the league, per Cleaning the Glass.

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