The Miami Heat are on a two-game winning streak, coming off back-to-back wins over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday and Monday night. Being able to finally make some three-pointers, the Miami Heat have seen some of their best shooting since the All-Star break in their last two games.
And speaking of the Miami Heat seeing the best of something, that same notion also goes for the play of Victor Oladipo. Stepping up in the last game to hit a clutch three late to help the Heat win it, his clutch shots on Monday would come in the midst of an almost-vintage Dipo performance.
He would finish with 22 points, two rebounds, and three assists on 4-7 from range and 6-12 from the floor. But he wouldn’t be alone, as Caleb Martin would also continue to step up to give the Miami Heat all he could give them on Monday night as well.
He would finish with 21 points, four rebounds, and two assists on 2-2 shooting from range and 6-9 shooting overall. Heck, even Duncan Robinson would make an appearance, scoring 14 points and dropping two dimes while shooting 3-4 from range—a set of numbers that included this nifty little find to Oladipo.
The Miami Heat started slow, allowing Atlanta a 43-point first and 13-point lead. But they fought to not only close the gap, but overtake them for victory.
12-4 run capped by the oop 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/5BfwfFVv60
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 7, 2023
And it was all very essential, with the Miami Heat missing Kevin Love’s services. But even more critically, it was one of the Miami Heat’s best bench performances of the year from a scoring perspective and hopefully, something they can build on with that particular unit.
On the other side, the Miami Heat would begin the game allowing 43 first-quarter points to the Hawks, going down by 17 at one point early in the first half of the game to be extremely clear. And despite that, they were able to fight back to keep it close as halftime approached, only taking a five-point deficit into the break.
With the Atlanta Hawks shooting nuts from the field early on, a notion shared by several Heat opponents in recent weeks, it was a testament to the Heat’s fortitude that they were even able to keep the game that close to begin with. That matters here though because you can’t say this would’ve been the case in the Miami Heat’s previous games since the All-Star break.
And to that point, the defensive effort and overall shooting in this one shared a similar fate. Honestly and though it’s fair to look at the second half of the Knicks game as “that point” if you will, the Julius Randle miracle shot to win it for New York may have just been the message that the Miami Heat needed to finally get back on track.
Yes, this was two wins over the same identical team, however, the way that they happened matters. And the Miami Heat will get the test this theory out soon enough, as they face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday in a matchup with one of the East’s top teams.
But for now, they’ll look to build off all that’s gone right in two good wins in their last two contests.