Three observations from the Miami Heat’s 131-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center on Wednesday night.
1. Tyler Herro’s passing continues to impress
Herro was much better than Monday night in Atlanta, finishing with 20 points and 10 assists while making half his 3s. But my favorite play of his from Wednesday night is one he didn’t get credit for in the box score.
Facing yet another double team, Herro used Atlanta’s aggressiveness against them. He drew the defense to one side of the floor and promptly slung the ball to Bam Adebayo in the opposite corner. Adebayo missed the shot, but this was a high-level read and quality pass from a player who is averaging a career-high in assists this season – by far.
2. Getting Kel’el Ware new looks
It seems that over the last couple of weeks defenses have scouted how to defend against Miami’s once-potent lobs to Kel’el Ware. In Atlanta on Monday, the Hawks blew up a pair of early attempts to find Ware at the basket out of high pick-and-roll. I was wondering when the Heat would counter with some new looks to get Ware involved. We saw some signs of that Wednesday night. Here’s my favorite.
The Heat are aligned in a five-out setup (fun!) after Davion Mitchell pushes the pace off a rebound and kicks out to Bam Adebayo after getting into the paint. Adebayo swings it to Ware, who hands it off to Duncan Robinson. Robinson and Ware flow in a pick and roll, and Robinson finds Ware slipping to the basket. This is just good basketball.
3. Haywood Highsmith doing the little things
The curious case of Haywood Highsmith, who played a surprising 27 minutes in this one and was a plus-31. Yes, he made 4 of 5 3-pointers. Yes, he provided his usual perimeter defense. But he also grabbed four offensive rebounds that helped the Heat dig out some bonus points and help them pull away.
None was bigger than this one in the third quarter. After being tied at halftime, neither team had managed to pull away. Highsmith fought for position, grabbed this offensive rebound off a Herro miss and kicked out to an open Robinson to give the Heat an eight-point lead and spur a Hawks timeout.