The Miami Heat found consistency in securing their second straight win, with a 116-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Miami has now won four of their last five games, potentially discovering their starting lineup for the rest of the season with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, and Caleb Martin.
Why the Heat won: 29-10 assist-turnover ratio
Miami kept this game in their hands from start to finish. The Heat made few mistakes, turning the ball over just 10 times. They didn’t have a single player who gave up more than one turnover until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Heat had a 29-10 assist-turnover ratio, with their starters having a 27-4 assist-turnover ratio. This is a difficult task in the modern NBA where the pace of play usually boosts the amount of steals and fastbreak points.
“The score does not indicate what the pace felt like," Erik Spoelstra said. "We just had to kind of slow the game down a little bit, and Jimmy can do that as well as anybody in this league."
Top performer: Jimmy Butler
Butler had a tremendous night for the Heat, despite hitting a total of five field goals. While he didn’t necessarily find a spark on the scoring end, Butler did it all for Miami. The star forward secured a triple-double with 17 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds, marking his first regular-season triple-double in over two years.
With Butler, it’s always been clear that he’ll take the win in whatever way he can. During Wednesday's matchup, he was the playmaker. Butler’s been scoring at an extremely high clip the past few games, but with efficient nights from Adebayo and Herro, he took on other responsibilities.
He doesn’t represent the superstar norm in the NBA. Butler is an extremely versatile weapon for Miami that gets the job done on both ends. With his unselfish manner against the Spurs, Butler notched his season-high with 11 assists, despite giving up zero turnovers in the contest.
Game ball: Tyler Herro
Herro’s 24-point performance was his first game of 20 or more points in nearly three weeks. He’s had trouble finding his role and rhythm since the Heat acquired guard Terry Rozier last month. As Miami’s roster continues to get healthier, Spoelstra is finding the lineups that best suit the Heat.
Since the Rozier trade, Herro has tried accommodating, turning into more of a facilitator and spot-up shooter. He’s extremely talented at scoring off the dribble, but chances like that are rare with other ball-dominant players on the floor.
“I think you’re going to see Tyler and Terry build and even better connection with more minutes and games," Spoelstra said. "You see the speed, quickness, and skill that they each have. I think they can give us a lot of firepower and boost."
The comradery that the team builds with Rozier in the lineup is going to take some time. While Miami waits for more burn from the starting lineup competing with each other, it seems Herro and Rozier are starting to click. Herro ended the night with 24 points on 10 of 15 from the field, adding seven assists and six rebounds.