Takeaways from Heat’s road win over Magic behind big night from Herro and second-quarter run

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 115-106 win over the Orlando Magic (16-10) on Wednesday night at the newly named Kia Center. After the quick single-game trip, the Heat (16-12) now returns to Miami for a two-game homestand that begins Friday against the Atlanta Hawks:

The Heat’s fourth-quarter struggles this season have led to more than a few blown leads. But the Heat didn’t blow it this time despite another somewhat shaky finish.

After wasting a 17-point lead behind another bad fourth quarter in Monday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Heat survived another turbulent fourth quarter on Wednesday.

The Heat, which entered with the NBA’s worst fourth-quarter net rating for the season, began Wednesday’s fourth quarter ahead by 17 points and extended that lead to 24 with 5:30 to play.

But that’s when some of the Heat’s fourth-quarter issues made an appearance, as the Magic went on a 24-7 run to cut the deficit to seven points with 11.3 seconds remaining. But it was too late for the Magic to complete the miraculous comeback and the Heat held on for the nine-point bounce-back win.

“It was a very productive 48 hours and this was what you hoped for out of the group that if you have some disappointments, which it was disappointing the other night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “that you just go to school and get to work on it instead of coming up with all the typical things that can happen in this association.

“We knew we would have to play really well and need a bunch of contributions from a lot of different guys. It was a good response after a disappointing finish to the other night.”

The Heat did it while missing two rotation players, as Jimmy Butler (strained left calf) and Kevin Love (stomach illness) did not play against the Magic.

With the Heat missing Butler, the Heat needed Tyler Herro to take on an even bigger offensive role against a quality Magic defense that entered with the NBA’s fourth-best defensive rating.

Herro answered the call, finishing with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting on threes, eight rebounds and seven assists in his second game back after missing more than a month of action because of a sprained ankle.

“He’s doing a lot of winning things,” Spoelstra said of Herro. “The rebounding tonight, defensive coverages, he was really good. And then offensively, he was just extremely efficient when the ball was in his hands. That was on pick-and-rolls or catch-and-shoots or just random plays.”

Following a low-scoring start to the game, Herro and the Heat got hot midway through the second quarter to break the game open.

With the game tied at 38, the Heat closed the first half on a 30-12 run to take an 18-point lead into halftime behind scorching shooting. The entire run came with Heat starting center Bam Adebayo on the bench because of foul trouble.

During that game-changing stretch, the Heat made 12 straight field goals, including five threes, without missing a shot. The Heat’s final missed shot of the first half came with 6:43 remaining in the second quarter.

“I didn’t know it was 12 straight,” Herro said. “But it felt like four, five, six threes in a row at one point. That was fun. We had a lot of fun in that second quarter.”

Herro scored nine points and dished out two assists, and Duncan Robinson scored 10 points during the run.

“Just guys running the floor, guys sharing the ball,” Herro said. “Ultimately, you got to make shots. But I thought the ball was popping, it had magic to it and everyone was touching it. I feel like that’s when our offense is definitely free flowing and it’s at its best.”

The Heat extended its lead to as many as 22 points in the third quarter before holding on for the win despite another shaky finish.

Adebayo ended the night with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists in his second game back from injury.

In total, seven Heat players finished with double-digit points.

The Magic were led by a 20-point effort from Cole Anthony. It was a rough shooting night for Paolo Banchero, who scored 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

“We have ups and downs throughout the season and we had them last year,” Adebayo said. “So a lot of guys who have been through what we been through last year know there are always brighter days and you always have an opportunity to get wins. I feel like we have a team, even though we’re down in guys, we can still get Ws.”

The Heat’s three-point shooting continues to be a strength this season.

The Heat entered Wednesday’s game with the NBA’s top team three-point shooting percentage this season at 39 percent and that hot shooting continued against the Magic.

After shooting 11 of 18 (61.1 percent) from deep in the first half, the Heat closed Wednesday’s win 15 of 29 (51.7 percent) from three-point range.

On the other side, the Magic turned in one of its worst three-point shooting performances of the season. Orlando started 3 of 21 (14.3 percent) on threes before finishing Wednesday’s loss 9 of 36 (25 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Heat outscored the Magic 45-27 from three-point range in the win.

Herro, Haywood Highsmith and Josh Richardson each made a team-high four threes for the Heat.

The Heat has now shot better than 40 percent on threes in 11 of its first 28 games this season. Miami is 7-4 in those games.

This is much different than last season, when the Heat finished the regular season with the league’s 27th-ranked team three-point shooting percentage at 34.4 percent.

But this is similar to two seasons ago, when the Heat finished the 2021-22 regular season with the NBA’s top team three-point shooting percentage at 37.9 percent.

The Heat’s ongoing injury issues led to another different starting lineup.

With two rotation players out in Butler and Love, the Heat opened Wednesday’s game with a lineup of Kyle Lowry, Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Caleb Martin and Adebayo. This group outscored the Magic by two points in 14 minutes together.

It marked the Heat’s 16th different starting lineup in the first 28 games this season.

Jaquez, who started in place of the injured Butler, made his fifth start of the season. The 22-year-old rookie finished the victory with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

It’s also worth noting that Martin made his eighth straight start after opening the season in a reserve role. Meanwhile, Highsmith played his third straight game off the bench since returning from injury after 14 straight appearances as a starter.

Martin recorded five points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.

Highsmith contributed 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 30 minutes.

“It’s all about just adjusting, figuring out a way to impact winning for me,” Highsmith said of his move to the bench. “Whether I’m starting, coming off the bench, not playing or whatever, it’s bigger than me. As long as the team wins, I’m fine.”

Injuries also forced a change to the Heat’s bench rotation on Wednesday.

With Love unavailable, the Heat went with Thomas Bryant as its backup center against the Magic over Orlando Robinson.

Bryant was effective in his minutes, closing the win with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, five rebounds and one assist in 17 minutes. He posted a team-best plus/minus of plus-20.

Meanwhile, Orlando Robinson only came on the court for 50 seconds late in Wednesday’s win after starting seven straight games at center while Adebayo was out because of a hip contusion.

The Heat’s primary four-man bench rotation against the Magic included Bryant, Richardson, Highsmith and Duncan Robinson. They each produced positive minutes, with all four on the court with Herro for the Heat’s entire 30-12 to end the second quarter.

“I thought that was just as big of a factor and that’s what I mentioned in the locker room that our bench really drove us to this win,” Spoelstra said. “They finished the second quarter and finished the game, for the most part.”

The Heat hasn’t earned many wins over quality opponents this season, but Wednesday’s victory added one to the list.

With Wednesday’s win over the upstart Magic, the Heat improved to 4-8 this season against teams that entered Wednesday with a winning record. Orlando holds the Eastern Conference’s fourth-best record and entered with a dominant 11-2 home record before falling to Miami.

“There was a lot of respect for Orlando and what they’ve done so far early in this season,” Spoelstra said. “They were fourth in the East, they have built a very good disruptive defense and they’ve been great here at home. Our guys were well aware of that.”

The Heat will have plenty of chances to earn more quality wins in the coming days and weeks.

Seven of the Heat’s next 10 games come against teams that currently stand above the .500 mark, including a Christmas Day matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at Kaseya Center.