Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Terry Rozier saved the Heat in the fourth quarter

Jimmy Butler feasted on his matchup and Terry Rozier saved the crew late on its Cleveland visit with multiple strikes on Pat Riley’s 79 birthday.

Bam Adebayo (back), Duncan Robinson (back), Tyler Herro (foot) and Kevin Love (heel) were missing for the Heat. The Cavaliers were absent Donovan Mitchell (nose), Max Strus (knee), Dean Wade (knee) and Evan Mobley (ankle).

Early, Butler was engaged, serving three dimes, swishing a right-wing triple, darting into the lane for a reverse layup, and attacking Darius Garland on a mismatch, resulting in a floater through the middle. Terry Rozier was off-target six times on drives and jumpers, but he converted two trifectas. Backup center Orlando Robinson provided six points and two assists. The rest of the Heat made five of eight attempts in the frame.

But on the other side, the Heat’s defense offered little resistance. It gave up the restricted on a pick-and-roll set with Garland and Jarrett Allen, was scored on three times in transition and Okoro beat Martin on a closeout from the corner to the cup for a layup. On top of that, the Cavaliers went on a 14-8 run in four minutes to end the quarter.

After interval one, the Heat was ahead 31-30 despite being up 10 points.

Next, Butler went on a rampage, adding 13 marks to his ledger. He beat Caris LeVert at the top and sailed inside the lane for a layup through contact. On the next two possessions, he poked the ball loose from LeVert’s grasp, causing a fastbreak dunk and then ripped him again, finishing in the open court. In addition, he made five freebies and nailed a layup on the left side between Allen and Okoro.

No other Heatle registered more than a field goal, accumulating six of 16 shots in the frame. The long-range attack was broken, too, having success on 10% of its tries.

For the Cavaliers, Garland dribbled by JJJ from the wing to the hoop and dished five assists to Allen and Niang. Allen recovered five extra boards and scored, rim rolling to the cup twice and making a hook and dunk in transition. And LeVert dispensed seven points.

At halftime, the Heat was up 61-57 but behind on the glass by one. The group had 24 paint points, six on the break, seven via second chances, 11 after turnovers and 15 from the bench.

Butler had 20 points on seven of 11 looks, with two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Mills produced 10 points on 42.9% shooting, with two assists and two steals. Rozier had eight points on three of nine baskets and picked up two rebounds. And Jović and O. Robinson had six apiece.

The Cavaliers had 24 interior points, four in the open court, eight on extra tries, six after turnovers and 14 from the reserves.

Allen was the high Cavalier with 14 points on seven of nine attempts, with 10 boards. LeVert logged a dozen to his scorecard and tallied four assists, two steals and four turnovers. And Merrill had nine points, connecting on three of five 3-pointers.

Yet, not unexpectedly, the turd quarter arose. The Cavaliers forced four consecutive Heat misses, contesting on time at close and long range. It didn’t help either that two of those four second-half opening shots included a Thomas Bryant 3-point prayer and Butler’s worthless one-legged hoist.

Rozier and Jović were the only Heatles to record multiple field goals in the frame. The former stole Allen’s inbound pass, canning a pull-up triple on the wing and isolated Marcus Morris Sr. on the left side for a step-back long two-pointer. The latter made an open corner banger over Garland’s head and rim rolled for a layup, assisted by Mills.

On the other side, Garland made an open left-wing triple and another at the same spot against Bryant in drop coverage, which Martin fouled him on. But as a unit, the Cavaliers were accurate on 33% of tries in the frame. Niang blanked two open trays, and LeVert missed one, but on the other possessions, the Heat disrupted drives to the paint and challenged jumpers cleanly.

The fourth quarter began with the Heat up 83-75. Through eight minutes, the Cavs recorded six of 11 ventures, taking its first lead since early in the third off Niang’s floater in the paint after he got rid of Jović with a pump fake. The visitors followed up with four straight misses and found themselves down four points with under two minutes to go.

Then Rozier got Okoro switched onto him at the top, stepped back, burying a trifecta plus the foul, creating a four-point play. On the succeeding possession, the guests’ defense forced a 24-second violation and they got the ball back.

With 40 seconds to go, Butler isolated LeVert at the top, dribbled to the right post and hit a fadeaway over his cover, putting the Heat up two points. The Cavaliers countered with Garland and Allen PnR, leading to a dunk for the latter.

At that point, Rozier took over, going one-on-one with Okoro on the right side, stepping back and hitting a three in his face. Timeout Cavaliers (their last) with 15 seconds left.

Instead of fouling to put the Cavs at the line, the Heat ran them off the arc, allowing Niang to take the layup. The ball checked back to Rozier, was fouled and iced two freebies. The hosts, with 2.8 seconds left, had no choice but to throw a pass from underneath their basket to a man in Heat territory. Niang executed the feed to Allen, who gave it to Garland for a 35-foot miss as Martin was on his hip.

The Heat won 107-104. It had 38 paint points, six on the break, 12 via second chances, 18 after turnovers and 23 from the bench.

Butler scored 30 on 11 of 19 attempts, with four rebounds, five assists and four steals. Rozier had 24 points (11 in the fourth) on 50% shooting and put up three rebounds, two assists and a steal. And Jović produced 14 points on five of 12 opportunities and racked up six rebounds.

The Cavs had 36 interior points, four in the open court, 13 on extra tries, 14 after turnovers and 18 from the reserves.

Allen had 25 points on 10 of 13 attempts, with 20 rebounds and three assists. Garland recorded 20 on his ledger on 38.9% accuracy and had nine helpings. And Niang contributed 18 points on six of 15 ventures, with three rebounds.

Rozier handled the on-court interview. When asked about his fourth-quarter heroics, he said, “My coaches and my teammates- they put all [their] trust in me from the beginning of the game all the way to the end.”

On the topic of the Heat’s remaining 13 games, he said, “We want to win them all… we got to take it game by game, day by day.”

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said Rozier “is a great clutch performer, and he’s been that way his entire career… and that’s what he basically did those last two possessions. He ended up scoring nine points in a [minute and 24 seconds ].

—

For exclusive Miami Heat content and chats, subscribe to Off the Floor: