The Miami Heat came into Monday night’s Oklahoma City game fresh of the high of beating the Utah Jazz in Utah, while they had their warm cozy beds at home to look forward to after this one was over. With the game being one against one of the NBA’s lower-tiered teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was begging for a Heat letdown.
That isn’t what happened and though the Miami Heat didn’t exactly run away with it from the start, they would end up winning the game by double-digits. What you love is that in the game, you could see that the Miami Heat weren’t taking this team lightly.
They still played with the same fervor, intensity, and passion as they would have against one of the league’s better teams.
Kyle Lowry still argued with the referees and Coach Spoelstra still treated each end-of-period sequence like it was Game 3 of a playoff series, becoming tea kettle hot when guys failed to execute.
The Miami Heat could have come into Monday’s game thinking it would be an automatic win, but they didn’t and their resolve showed throughout.
That sincerity and urgency was a great thing to see from this Miami Heat team on a night where they could have come out flat. Tyler Herro continued to be his same excellent self on Monday too.
He paced the Miami Heat in scoring, putting up 26 points, seven rebounds, and six dimes. Kyle Lowry would also finish with a double-double, adding 11 points and assists each, while also contributing three rebounds to the effort.
Duncan Robinson would continue is renewed shooting and nearly to his career average, shooting 41.6 percent in the game on 12 attempts, basically 5/12 from beyond the three-point stripe. His range shooting was not to be outdone by his overall performance though, chipping in 21 points, three boards, and a dime of his own.
The bench unit was led by Max Strus and KZ Okpala, surprisingly enough, with Big Max dropping in 13 on 3-5 from range and six rebounds, while Chikezie (or KZ) contributed eight points, seven rebounds, and a dime.
The overall production was great. It was needed too and especially without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in the lineup.
It was all a great thing to behold and again, especially in a game that could have been a total dud, had the Miami Heat not treated it with the respect it deserved. They now go home to rest up, before welcoming in the 2-13 New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, a game they should definitely win.