Takeaways from another blowout home win. How the Heat bounced back vs. Hornets

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 117-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets (6-12) on Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena ...

1. The Heat’s (12-4) cold shooting didn’t last long.

After shooting 40 percent from the field and 6 of 24 on threes in Saturday’s loss to the 76ers, the Heat’s offense responded with an efficient performance Monday.

Miami shot 51.9 percent from the field and 41.9 percent (13 of 31) on threes in its win over Charlotte.

This bounce-back game shouldn’t be a surprise, as the Heat own the league’s second-best team shooting percentage (48.1) and third-best three-point shooting percentage (38.8) for the season.

Guard Kendrick Nunn helped lead the Heat’s hot shooting night with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting on threes. Nunn had a bounce-back game of his own after finishing with six points on 3-of-10 shooting in Saturday’s loss.

“It definitely felt good,” Nunn said. “It’s very important to bounce back after games like that and not let it linger and turn into three or four games. We had home court advantage and took care of it tonight.”

The Heat has already shot 40 percent or better on threes in eight of its 16 games this season.

2. The Heat’s ball movement was back, too.

After dishing out a season-low 12 assists in Saturday’s loss, the Heat exceeded that total in the first half of Monday’s victory. Miami recorded 15 first-half assists against Charlotte and finished the game with 29 assists on 40 made baskets.

Heat guard Goran Dragic finished with a team-high nine assists.

Heat wing Jimmy Butler contributed seven assists of his own. Butler also scored 21 on 6-of-11 shooting.

And Heat center Bam Adebayo finished with another impressive stat line of 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

The Heat is averaging the seventh-most assists in the NBA this season at 25.9 and assisting on the second-highest percentage of made shots in the NBA at 65.6 percent only behind the Suns (67.8 percent).

3. The Heat’s home dominance continues.

After finishing with an underwhelming 19-22 home record last season, the Heat has started the season with a 7-0 record at AmericanAirlines Arena. The only other time the Heat has begun a season with a 7-0 home record was in 2012-13 when it began 8-0 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“We wanted to be very intentional about it from the very first day of training camp, to be able to create a place where this is not an easy place for teams to play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But you have to earn that and you have to do it over and over and over, and build consistency doing that before you build that kind of real reputation about it. But this is a step in the right direction. Guys are taking it to heart.”

With Miami’s win over Charlotte included in there, the Heat’s home wins have come by an NBA-best average margin of 18.3 this season. To put that into perspective, the Heat outscored teams by an average margin of 0.2 points in home games last season.

The last time the Heat trailed at home at any point in the second half came in its opening night win over the Grizzlies on Oct. 23, marking the longest such current home streak in the NBA.

Six of the Heat’s seven home wins this season have come by double digits.

“It’s one thing good teams do,” Heat center Kelly Olynyk said. “Good teams take care of their business at home, make it a tough place to come play. When teams come in here, we have to win. Plain and simple. When you get in the playoffs, you have to win on your home floor. So it starts now.”

4. This was Olynyk’s best game of the season.

The Heat big man finished with a season-high 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting on threes. He also had a career-high 16 rebounds.

It had been a slow start to the season for the 28-year-old Olynyk. He entered Monday averaging a career-low 7.8 points on 41.5 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting on threes.

Olynyk also entered attempting a career-low 6.3 shot attempts per game, as he said last week that he’s trying to get used to a new offensive role this season as more of a spot-up shooter. With a lot of other playermakers on the roster, Olynyk said: “I’m more just spacing the floor now.”

“It was much better,” Spoelstra said of Olynyk’s Monday performance. “He was keeping it simple in the first half, just giving us a lot of spacing and taking advantage of those spray passes or extra passes and shooting it with confidence whether it goes in or not. He’s one of our best shooters and we want to take advantage of that spacing with him. Then defensively, he has really been working at it. He has been intentional about trying to improve his rebounding, as well. Tonight you could just feel him, you could feel his efforts on the glass and his pursuits and a lot of those in traffic.”

Olynyk was the ultimate floor spacer against the Hornets, missing only one three. Part of the reason for Olynyk’s season-best performance Monday is he’s simply feeling better after playing through a bone bruise on his right knee to start the season that kept him out of training camp and the first three preseason games.

“I just feel like I can run again and I can move,” Olynyk said. “I’m moving better. I can jump without hesitation or pain or lingering effects. It has been huge, just getting a little bit better every single day. The training staff has been unbelievable managing it and getting me to where I am.”

It’s also important to note the Heat has outscored opponents by 66 points with Olynyk on the court this season. It’s just a continuation Olynyk’s positive impact on Miami, as he posted a plus/minus of plus-339 in his first two seasons with the organization.

5. Heat forward Justise Winslow is getting close to making his return, which will force Spoelstra to make some tough roster decisions.

Spoelstra revealed prior to Monday’s game that Winslow is expected to practice with the team Tuesday “and then we’ll gauge the next step from there.” Monday’s matchup against the Hornets marked the ninth consecutive game Winslow has missed with a concussion he suffered during the Heat’s Nov. 5 loss to the Nuggets in a collision with Paul Millsap.

Winslow was placed into the NBA’s concussion protocol program following the collision, and he was still in the league’s protocol as of Monday evening. When asked about the possibility of Winslow playing in Wednesday’s road game against the Rockets, Spoelstra said: “We’ll see. We’ll just follow the protocol. If he’s able to practice [Tuesday] and he feels good the next day, we’ll see.”

If Winslow is able to return, will he be used as a starter? He has started in each of the five games he has played in this season. But with Winslow unavailable, forward Duncan Robinson has started in his spot. The starting lineup with Robinson in Winslow’s place entered Monday’s game with a plus/minus of plus-31.

Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. is also nearing his return. Jones has missed eight consecutive games with a strained left hip

“Derrick thinks he can go right now,” Spoelstra said Monday. “But based on what happened last time, he fooled us once. He’s super competitive and he wants to be out there. We just want to make sure that he’s fully ready to go. I’ve watched him. It looks like he can go. But I doubt he’ll be cleared to play the Houston game.”.

The Heat was also without James Johnson (sick), Udonis Haslem (sick), KZ Okpala (strained left Achilles) and Dion Waiters (team suspension) on Monday. Miami was left with nine available players against Charlotte.

“We’re doing everything we can possibly do,” Spoelstra said of multiple Heat players getting sick over the first month of the season. “Guys got flu shots, taking care of themselves. We have ginger shots everywhere you turn — anything you can think of that can potentially help. Maybe we shouldn’t do any of it because none of it’s working right now.”