Miami Heat Use Big Second Half to Beat Houston Rockets, 109-89
By Wes Goldberg
Nov 1, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) moves to the basket as Houston Rockets guard Marcus Thornton (10) defends during the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 109-89. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Heat outscored the Houston Rockets 65-26 in the second half to get an exciting win.
169. 109. 110. Final. 89
Trailing by 19 points at half time, the Miami Heat rallied in the second half thanks to improved defense and better shooting to beat the Houston Rockets 109-89 Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena and improve to 2-1 on the season.
The two-man game between Dwyane Wade (20 points, eight assists) and Hassan Whiteside (25 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two blocks), along with some needed efforts by Tyler Johnson (11 points and eight rebounds) and Justise Winslow (10 points) helped ignite a cold Heat team in the second half.
But when it all came down to was shooting. The Rockets were hot in the first half, going 8-of-17 from 3-point range while the Heat were 0-for-10. It flipped in the second half, with Houston going 2-18 and Miami going 9-of-12 down the stretch.
James Harden continues to struggle for the Rockets, making just two of his 15 field goal attempts. Marcus Thornton scored 21 points in the game, but most of that came in the first half.
Next: Heavy Minutes for Whiteside