3 Most important Miami Heat players shine in latest win

Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro have all had great individual games this season, but it has been rare for all three to play at an extremely high level. But on Saturday night against the Phoenix Suns, Herro, Adebayo and Butler had their fingerprints all over Miami's 121-111 victory at the Kaseya Center to extend their home winning streak to five.

Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler put on a show

After a sluggish first half where the Heat surrendered 11 made threes and were outscored 13-0 in the second-chance points category, Miami turned up their intensity on the defensive end and their stars began to shine lead by Bam Adebayo.

With the Suns hurting the Heat by securing offensive rebounds, Adebayo decided to return the favor and began to become an unstoppable force in the paint. In the third quarter alone, Adebayo scored 12 points while attempting eight free throws and securing three offensive rebounds with one resulting in a ferocious putback slam.

With the Suns down Jusuf Nurkic who gave the Heat fits in their first matchup, Adebayo was matched up with Mason Plumlee and rookie center Oso Ighodaro. With all due respect to those two players, both Plumlee and Ighodaro do not have the defensive makeup to stop Adebayo.

Adebayo was also very successful with his dribble handoffs to Duncan Robinson who picked apart Phoenix's drop coverage and was a big part as to why Adebayo finished with eight assists. To top off Adebayo's phenomenal 25 point performance, Adebayo also knocked down a huge triple with the shot clock winding down to put the Heat up eight.

Now onto Jimmy Butler, who finished with 24 points and closed the curtains on a possible comeback attempt from the Suns. With 4:56 left in the fourth quarter with the Heat up 107-93, Butler responded to Grayson Allen's three with one of his own to push the lead back up to six.

On the following possession, Butler found a lane to basket with a great seal from Adebayo and finished a tough layup through contact which resulted in a foul on Bradley Beal another three points earned the old fashioned way.

Butler then followed the same formula and continued to attack a vulnerable Suns interior, drawing another foul and converting another and one to extend Miami's lead to double figures.

It seemed as if Miami was trending towards playing another game that would be going down to the wire, but Butler's nine straight points pushed the Heat across the finish line and secured a victory.

Lastly, it's only right to close with Tyler Herro who has been the Heat's most productive player so far and is making a strong push to make his first All-Star team. Herro did not have his typical scoring explosion, but Saturday night was one of Herro's most complete games of the season.

The Suns put an emphasis of running Herro off the three-point line and closing out hard whenever Herro attempted a three. Even with Herro being a non-factor from three, Herro still had a very effective game by finishing in the paint at a high rate and also finding teammates with very crisp passes.

The best part about Herro's performance is that nothing felt forced. Herro knew there was success in the paint and continued to kill the Suns in that area. The most telling stat about Herro's performance was only four three-point attempts which tied a season low. This shows the growth and maturity in Herro's game where contributions can still be made when Herro's biggest strength this season was taken away which is the three ball.

Overall, Adebayo, Butler and Herro combined for 66 points, 29 rebounds and 19 assists while shooting 65% overall, and a performance similar to Saturday night will be needed next game if Miami wants to have a chance at pulling off an upset against the Cleveland Cavaliers who have the best record in the league.