Despite the return of Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat on Saturday lost to the Utah Jazz, 117-109, in Salte Lake City. One year after beating the Jazz in their final game of the season, the Heat got the opposite result. Here's what happened.
Stat of the game: 29 to 10 points off turnovers
After tying a season-low in turnovers with seven Thursday night at Golden State, the Miami Heat finished the night with sixteen turnovers. Utah made Miami pay for its careless decision-making, scoring 29 points off of Miami's turnovers.
Miami's offense was out of sync from the get-go and their sloppy start ultimately led to their offense being clunky for a majority of the game.
What we learned: Heat injury bug continues to linger
After missing the last four games, Jimmy Butler returned to the Heat lineup, but the return was unfortunaterly short lived with Butler injuring his right foot after bumping into Collin Sexton and exiting shortly after.
Jimmy Butler (foot) is OUT for the remainder of tonight’s game, the Heat have announced. pic.twitter.com/mofN62Zxbx
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 30, 2023
And in the final quarter, another collision with Sexton hurt another Heat player, Haywood Highsmith. Highsmith was able to get up after being down on the court while play was continuing but needed assistance as he went back to the bench.
Haywood Highsmith had to be helped off the floor after colliding with Collin Sexton.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 31, 2023
Hope he's okay 🙏pic.twitter.com/l7kH6gm5ep
The Heat have had to overcome injuries a majority of the season and it's been great to see players such as Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson take on bigger roles when called upon. But it has to be frustrating for Miami to not have a healthy roster for a good stretch of the season.
Player of the game: Bam Adebayo
Although there was a lot to forget about this game, the silver lining worth recognizing is Bam Adebayo's performance. Adebayo put up an impressive stat line: 28 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks.
Adebayo was effective in his areas around the rim, in the mid-range and in the screen-and-roll. But the most impressive part of Saturday night was Adebayo's ability to get to the free throw line, finishing with a career-high 20 attempts. The one negative about Adebayo's night was missing six at the charity stripe.