The Miami Heat needed a win in the worst way on Wednesday night and especially against a team that just embarrassed them the previous Saturday. That’s exactly what happened too, as the shorthanded Miami Heat went on to complete the winning effort against a fully loaded Bucks team.
While everyone played their role in the game and imaginable so with them being without their two top guys, there were several guys who just flat-out stood out.
P.J. Tucker‘s effort and ability to do a little bit of everything always stands out. That goes especially for his defense and adhesive abilities on that side of the ball, but also the big shots and all-around offense he provided.
Caleb Martin filled in more than admirably for the injured Jimmy Butler, tossing in a career-high 28 points on 9-12 shooting and 6-8 from downtown. KZ Okpala even got in on the action, playing a good all-around floor game.
The Miami Heat need guys to be productive with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo down. Max Strus heard the call and answered on Wednesday.
His 10 points (4-5 shooting, 2-2 from range), nine boards, and two dimes were almost good for a double-double. However, none of the aforementioned contributions were probably as important as the following man’s.
Max Strus opening the fourth period for the Miami Heat and that doesn’t just mean as a member of the five-man unit on the floor. When the word “opened” is used, it means he opened it.
After a Tucker two-point make to make the score 80-85 for the Heat, Max would go on a personal 14 point run. It actually opened as an 11-9 run before they scored five points before the Heat could score again to close the gap on it.
The Max versus the Bucks portion of the show concluded all tied up at 14-14 by the time Max hit his last shot at the six-minute mark of the fourth period. At that point, it was 99-94 for the Heat.
Max would finish the game with 16 huge points (again, 14 in that stretch), going 5-8 from the floor and 4-7 from range, while doing so in only 19 minutes off the pine. On his quick-hitting showing, he said that he didn’t think he would miss “any shot” he took in the game.
This is the type of production the Miami Heat will need from Max Strus and the rest of the guys, especially while they’re banged up. But, for them to win a title at the end of the day, they’ll need it when everyone comes back too.