Understanding Miami Heat’s overtime dominance
Heat beat Raptors 121-110
The Miami Heat were fortunate enough to have Jimmy Butler for this game, as he helped Miami give Toronto its first home loss of the season. He ended the night with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, the first such game in Miami’s history.
The Dragon still breathing fire on opponents in new role. light. more heat
The Heat and Raptors were knotted at 108 at the end of the fourth quarter. Butler was accompanied by Bam Adebayo, Justise Winslow, Kelly Olynyk and Kendrick Nunn. Adebayo guarded Pascal Siakam, Butler guarded Kyle Lowry and Nunn guarded Fred VanVleet.
Butler scored eight points in the overtime. First, he hit an and-1 fadeaway off an inbound pass and made the free throw.
Then, he hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key. Then, he intercepted a pass from Siakam and took it to the rack. He singlehandedly gave Miami an eight-point lead in the first 55 seconds of overtime.
From there, Miami’s offense went cold but their defense was stellar. They stuck closely with their matchups and forced Toronto into taking several long 3-pointers. Adebayo played Siakam tightly when he had the ball. He also helped bring in two offensive boards and finished a layup that put Miami up by eight.
Miami did a terrific job halting any penetration from the Raptors. They played off enough to stay in front of the ball-handler but close enough to contest their jump shots. Butler’s scoring outburst forced Toronto to panic as they heaved long 3-pointers in hopes to narrow the deficit. They didn’t connect on any.
Next. Each team's best era. dark
Very few people predicted Miami would be among the very best teams in their conference at the season’s start but they’ve done just that. They sit just half a game outside of the second seed and it’s because of hard-fought victories like these. Winning these away games against strong teams are a sign that Miami could be a tough playoff opponent.