MIAMI -- Three observations from the Miami Heat’s 119-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center.
1. Jimmy Butler’s last stint
In his first game action in 13 days, after recovering from a stomach illness, Butler looked like how you might expect. Sluggish. Out of rhythm. Not very helpful. He played just under 25 minutes and managed nine points, four rebounds and two assists before sitting the entirety of the fourth quarter as his teammates closed out the game.
There were several curious possessions. Butler didn’t appear to know where to be coming out of a timeout. He spent most of Miami's offensive possessions in the corner. On his final possession, Butler stood on the baseline as Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson fumbled through a dribble handoff. We’ve seen Butler come up, call for the ball and bail out the play a million times in these situations. Instead, he just watches as Adebayo is forced into a heave at the end of the shot clock.
He exited the game seven seconds later and did not return.
“I mean, 13 days is a long time away and I just went with the group there in the fourth that was giving us the most and to see if that group could close it out,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.
Butler, who left the locker room before reporters were let in, was not available for postgame comment.
This could be as simple as Butler not having his wind back just yet. There have also been games when Butler doesn’t appear completely engaged in the process. It’s too early to tell whether Wednesday night’s listless performance was related to a physical or mental reason, but it’s something to monitor.
2. The kids are doing it!
As Spoelstra has tinkered with his rotation over the last couple of games, his second unit now includes Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic – Miami’s last three first-round picks – along with Tyler Herro and either Terry Rozier or Alec Burks (when Rozier served his one-game suspension for his role in the brawl in Houston on Sunday).
This young trio has out-scored its opponents by 10 points in 35 minutes this season.
On one particular possession on Wednesday, we may have hopped into a time machine and got a look at the future. During the second quarter, Jovic took his defender into the post and dribbled five times until he pulled the double team. That’s when Jaquez cut from the slot, setting up a ping-ping sequence that started with Jovic’s bounce pass to Jaquez and Jaquez dishing it to Ware, cutting baseline for an easy dunk.
What stands out about this play is that it involves all the things that make the Heat’s first-round picks special: Jovic’s height and passing skills, Jaquez’s wiley timing and Ware’s size.
3. How Bam iced the game
Up seven with 2 ½ minutes left, the Heat needed one more push to put the game away. Adebayo, who had been effective on offense but had taken a backseat to Tyler Herro’s 32-point night, dominated Pelicans rookie Yves Missi down the stretch.
First, he showed his experience by getting early position on a key putback.
Then, he got to his sweet spot to extend the lead to nine.
Finally, he took Missi off the dribble in isolation and comfortably stepped into a mid-range jumper.
It was maybe Bam’s most impressive two-minute stretch of offense this season.
“I see the ball go through twice, and I feel like it’s an energy thing where everybody is like, OK, let him go on his run,” Adebayo said. “And I did that.”