The message in the Miami Heat locker room was clear coming off an emotional triple-overtime loss: this team never gives up. They are going to fight for all four quarters and keep punching until the final bell. The Heat is building championship habits, something Udonis Haslem has been preaching to them.
Miami was down by 16 points in the third quarter but rallied back to tie things up. They outscored the Toronto Raptors 27-17 in the fourth and were one Tyler Herro miss away from winning it in the second overtime. It wasn’t meant to be: Raptors 124, Heat 120.
“Don’t nobody like to lose,” Butler said. “They played a well-rounded game from start to finish, so good for them. Really good team. I think we got better. It’s a make-or-miss league, and we want him [Herro] to take those same shots. Stay aggressive.”
If Jimmy didn’t miss so many games, he’d be legit MVP contender. Butler has 9 triple-doubles this year after going for 37-14-10 vs. Toronto. He scored or assisted on 17 straight points to close the first half. Erik Spoelstra: “He was a force of nature tonight.” #HEATCulture #Heat
Herro endured a horrid shooting night — 5-of-22 from the field, 3-of-14 from three-point range — while Butler single-handedly willed the Heat back into it. He scored or assisted on 17 straight points to close out the first half. He finished with another triple-double: 37 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists.
“I feel like we got better in the sense of fighting back,” Butler said. “Learning from our mistakes early on, correcting them, and executing — and getting the shots that we wanted to get down the stretch.”
And if Erik Spoelstra didn’t call a timeout with 1.7 seconds left in the second overtime, it could have been a different outcome. Gabe Vincent drilled a potential game-winning three-pointer that didn’t count.
Miami called timeout before this bucket went in 😳
Heat-Raptors going to 3OT
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Building Championship Habits in January
The NBA’s halfway point is rapidly approaching as the calendar turns to February. There are no moral victories, but grinding out overtime thrillers and logging tough minutes in January is hardening the Heat for the postseason.
“We’re building championship habits, UD [Udonis Haslem] says that a lot for us,” center Bam Adebayo said. “Mentally tough. I feel like we preach that a lot in the locker room and I feel like we were mentally tough to come back in that game, down 16 after playing in a back-to-back.”
Final/3OT – Miami 120, Toronto 124
🔥 Butler: 37pts, 14rebs, 10asts, 3stls & 2blks
🔥 Vincent: 17pts (5 3s) & 4asts
🔥Adebayo: 14pts, 16rebs, 3stls & 2blks
🔥 Herro: 13pts, 6rebs & 4asts
🔥 Tucker: 11pts, 5rebs, 3asts & 2stls
🔥 Strus: 11pts & 4rebs
🔥 Martin: 11pts & 4rebs
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the schedule, too. The Heat gets one day off before heading to Boston on January 31, then fly up to Toronto for a rematch with the Raptors on February 1. That adds up to four games in five nights coming off the back-to-back against the Clippers and Raptors.
“Don’t nobody care. We still got four games in five nights. We better figure out a way to win on the road,” Butler said. “Boston is a really good team and then [we get] a team that just beat us. So four games in five nights, whatever you want to call it, we gotta win.”
Spoelstra Explains Botched Timeout Call
It’s easy to sit here after the fact and blame Spoelstra for calling a timeout since Vincent’s shot went in. It’s debatable whether he would have been able to get it off in time since the clock would have been running. Spoelstra’s decision to stop the clock gave Vincent precious seconds.
After the game, Spoelstra discussed what happened on the next-to-last play of the second overtime. Remember, Herro had a clean look coming out of the timeout and whiffed.
“It’s a shame that the head coach got in the way,” Spoelstra said. “But I don’t think he got it off in time anyway. And then, we were able to get a good look at it after that.”
SOUND ON
The Heat’s late-game offense vs the Raptors
17 of the Heat’s 25 shot attempts in the 3 Overtimes came from Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro
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Heat Star Jimmy Butler Sends Strong Message: ‘Don’t Nobody Care’