Miami Heat: 3 takeaways from 135-122 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks

Derrick Jones Jr.’s defense made the difference

On a night with standout offensive performances left and right, the Miami Heat still wouldn’t have stolen this win without the quietly outstanding defensive performance of Derrick Jones Jr. in the fourth quarter. He had a high-flying dunk off a lob in this game, but the most important play of the game came when Jones defended DeAndre’ Bembry‘s drive to the basket with 40 seconds left.

The Heat trailed the Hawks by three points, and a basket or foul would have essentially iced it for the visitors. Jones stuck with Bembry’s slash to the rim and blocked the shot, setting up Jimmy Butler’s 3-pointer to tie the game.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1204602079622422528?s=20

Jones scored nine points on nine shots in 35 minutes of action, missed all four of his 3-pointers and went 1-of-3 from the free throw line, but his defense in the clutch after the Heat struggled massively through most of the first three quarters and first half of the fourth quarter made all the difference for the home team.

This was a box score game with Butler, Adebayo, Nunn and Robinson showing out, but a non-box score performance saved the Miami Heat on their home floor.