Heat drive past Thunder, end trip with winning mark

[February 23, 2021]  Duncan Robinson hit six 3-pointers and led Miami with 22 points, helping the Heat to a 108-94 win over the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.

The Heat won their third consecutive game and finished with a 4-3 mark on their seven-game road trip, tied for the longest trek in franchise history.

Miami won both games over the Thunder to sweep the season series.

Robinson poured it on in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points as the Heat quickly took over what had been a close game. Miami outscored Oklahoma City 29-17 in the final period, limiting the Thunder to 28.6 percent shooting.

Early in the game, Miami struggled offensively with Jimmy Butler off the floor.

After being outscored 17-7 while Butler rested in the first half, Miami turned that around without Butler in the fourth.

The Heat scored the first 15 points of the fourth, including eight by Robinson and five by Bam Adebayo.

Oklahoma City missed its first 10 shots in the fourth.

Butler never did return to the game, as Miami coach Erik Spoelstra stuck with the same group as the Heat kept pouring it on.

Kendrick Nunn scored 20 points for the Heat while Adebayo had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Butler added 15 points and nine assists but shot was just 3 of 11 from the floor.

Miami got 11 points apiece from Max Strus and Kelly Olynyk.

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 27 points, going 10 of 15 from the floor. He also had 5 assists. Darius Bazley added 13 points, Isaiah Roby had 12 and Luguentz Dort and Mike Muscala each scored 11. Dort shot 3 of 15 from the floor.

After struggling to produce consistent offense in the first half, Miami woke up on that end of the floor in the third, scoring 34 points to take the lead after trailing by nine at the break.

The Thunder were ahead by nine more than six minutes into the second half, but then the Heat reeled off a 21-5 run over a little more than four minutes.

Strus scored seven points during the stretch, hitting two 3-pointers, one of them resulting in a four-point play.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points in the first half, missing just one of his seven field-goal attempts.

Miami's Tyler Herro sat out the game after sustaining a right hip contusion in the team's Saturday win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Thunder were without Al Horford, who routinely sits on the second night of back-to-backs, as was the case Monday. Oklahoma City won at Cleveland on Sunday.

--Field Level Media
 

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.