Takeaways from the Heat’s sweep-clinching win, and the latest on Jimmy Butler’s shoulder
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 99-87 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista. Miami swept the Pacers 4-0 to advance to the second round:
Heat finishes off emphatic four-game sweep of Pacers with dominant defense in Game 4
Not only did the Heat win its first playoff series since 2016, but it also clinched its first series sweep since the Big 3 era.
Before ending the Pacers’ season on Monday, the Heat had not won a series since eliminating the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. The last time Miami swept a series came in the 2014 playoffs, when it eliminated the then-Charlotte Bobcats in a first-round sweep.
Next up for the Heat? Probably the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, which won Monday to take a 3-1 series lead over the Orlando Magic. Miami will take on the winner of the Milwaukee-Orlando series, which the Bucks can clinch Wednesday in Game 5.
That means the Heat could have to wait for as long as a week before beginning the second round. Even if the Bucks eliminate the Magic on Wednesday, the earliest a Miami-Milwaukee series can start is Friday but the weekend or Monday is more likely.
If the Bucks end up as the Heat’s opponent as expected, fifth-seeded Miami will enter the series as the underdog. Milwaukee finished the regular season with the NBA’s top record at 56-17 and is led by MVP front-runner Giannis Antetokounmpo.
When asked for the key to stopping Antetokounmpo, Heat wing Jimmy Butler said Monday night: “We don’t know who [our opponent is] going to be so I can’t answer that question. That series isn’t over yet.”
The Heat won the season series 2-1 over the Bucks. Miami won the first two matchups before the NBA shutdown in March, and Milwaukee earned a 130-116 victory over Miami in the teams’ most recent meeting on Aug. 6 during seeding play at Disney.
Game 4 included a scary moment for the Heat, with Butler spending most of the first half in the locker room because of a left shoulder strain. The break in between series should help Butler and the rest of the roster.
Butler played the first six minutes of the game, but he left the court with 6:06 remaining in the first quarter and missed the rest of the first half because of the shoulder injury. It was an issue that was bothering him entering the game.
“We had to take a look at it in the second quarter,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It wasn’t feeling great coming in, and then he got jarred again. He probably got jarred in that shoulder three or four times during the course of the game. That’s usually the way it works out.”
Butler returned to the Heat’s bench at halftime with a wrap around his injured shoulder. After testing the shoulder during the halftime warm-up period, he was on the court to begin the third quarter.
Butler totaled six points on 2-of-3 shooting, two rebounds, one steal and a one block in 17 second-half minutes that looked painful at times, as he lifted his left arm only when absolutely necessary.
“My shoulder was hurting a little bit after last game,” Butler said. “It was hurting before the game. But as I was warming up, I was like, ‘Maybe it’ll loosen up,’ and maybe I’ll be able to play at 100 percent or whatever it was. It wasn’t the case. I went to the back. Did a little bit of work. And then we decided, you know what? We’re going to go out there and just lock in on defense. I think I did that.”
Spoelstra called Butler’s strained shoulder a “soft tissue” injury and said an MRI is not needed at this point.
“He already was checked out by all of our trainers and everything,” Spoelstra continued. “What he needs more than anything is just rest and then he’ll start to work his way back into it. I asked him if he’s like Wolverine, if he heals like that. I have seen some other injuries that looked more significant, that looked like tough injuries and he goes back the next day and he’s ready to go.”
Butler insisted after the game that he would be “fine” for the next series. “I’ll rest up and lock in on our next opponent,” Butler said.
For the game, Butler finished with six points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block in 23 minutes. The series sweep allows for Butler and others to rest their bodies for a few days before the start of the second round.
That mini-break should help, and not just because of Butler’s shoulder. Dragic, 34, averaged 34.2 minutes of playing time in the series and forward Jae Crowder has played on a sprained left ankle for most of the series.
“It’s critical for us to take care of our bodies right now,” Crowder said. “My ankle is flaring up so big. My ankle is the size of a golf ball right now. So I’m going to try to take time and try to get my body where it needs to be for another series. I’m sure Jimmy will do the same thing. It’s key for us.
“I felt like this game was good for us to get a day or two rest before the next series. I honestly feel like guys are feeling it with their bodies and stuff. [Goran], as well. G came in just after the game, he’s just feeling it. But it’s a gauntlet right now. We’re in the thick of the fight.”
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With Butler unavailable for most of the first half, the Heat turned to rookie guard Kendrick Nunn for his first playoff action. Miami’s bench, including Nunn, stepped up.
Nunn, who started in each of his 67 appearances during the regular season, lost his starting spot and did not play in the Heat’s first three playoff games.
But the undrafted success story got his first postseason opportunity in Game 4, with Butler limited because of his injury. Nunn took advantage of his moment, finishing Monday’s win with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes in his first NBA appearance as a reserve.
“You’ve just got to stay mentally focused, locked in to the game and stay ready,” Nunn said. “That’s what it’s all about. I’m built different. So when my time comes, I’ll definitely be ready.”
Nunn entered the game with 7:35 remaining in the second quarter and made his presence felt immediately. He dished out his first assist for a Kelly Olynyk layup just 23 seconds after getting on the court and then made his first shot attempt, a three-pointer, just 22 seconds later.
“It was important,” Nunn said of wanting to make an immediate impact. “Just coming in with the flow of the game, not to try to force anything or anything like that, so my first look was a swing from Tyler [Herro]. He swung it to me, I knocked it down. I told him, ‘Thanks for walking me to the park.’”
Nunn, 25, played the final 7:35 of the first half and recorded five points on 2-of-4 shooting, two rebounds and two assists during that stretch.
“We knew that it was a matter of time before he was going to have some kind of opportunity to get in there, whether it was foul trouble of somebody having an injury,” Spoelstra said. “He has been putting in the time. These are unfortunate situations, sometimes things aren’t fair, but he kept himself ready. And you can see how he really helps our basketball team. He’s a two-way player. He can defend the ball. And he’s an offensive guy that you need in the playoffs.”
Nunn, who is one of three finalists for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, averaged 15.3 points on 43.9 percent shooting in the regular season.
With Butler back for the second half Monday, Nunn still logged seven minutes during the final two quarters. Forward Derrick Jones Jr. did not play in the second half.
“I gotta tip my hat off to my young fella K-Nunn for stepping in,” Crowder said. “It has been tough for him mentally. He was in the rotation all year. To come in and give us minutes tonight in the closing game was huge for us. It was next-man-up mentality of course when Jimmy went down.”
Nunn was part of a quality effort from the Heat’s bench, which was especially effective in the first half when Butler was out.
Miami’s reserves outscored Indiana’s bench 25-3 in the first half and 41-3 for the game.
Rookie reserve guard Tyler Herro was again impressive, with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, five rebounds and four assists. The 20-year-old contributed seven points and three rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Herro averaged 16.5 points while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent on threes, to go with four rebounds and three assists in 32.4 minutes in his first NBA playoff series. He played 46 of the 48 fourth-quarter minutes in the four games.
The Heat also finished with a significant rebounding edge, which helped negate a somewhat shaky offensive performance until Goran Dragic came alive in the fourth quarter.
Miami outrebounded Indiana 60-34 in Game 4. It’s the biggest rebounding advantage the Heat has finished a playoff game with in franchise history, with the previous mark coming when it grabbed 22 more boards than the Charlotte Hornets on May 1, 2016.
The Heat also grabbed 17 offensive rebounds Monday that turned into 16 second-chance points. It’s the third-most offensive rebounds Miami has finished a playoff game with in franchise history.
This was expected to be a big Heat advantage entering the series. The Pacers entered the playoffs as the NBA’s worst rebounding team with All-Star center Domantas Sabonis off the court, and Sabonis did not play in the series because of left foot plantar fasciitis.
Indiana found a way to avoid it becoming a major issue in the first three games of the series. But it became a major issue in Game 4.
The Heat overcame an otherwise inefficient offensive performance with the help of 11 more shot attempts than the Pacers.
Center Bam Adebayo led the rebounding effort with 14 points, 19 rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes. He grabbed six offensive rebounds.
Adebayo’s 19 rebounds is tied for the second-most from a Heat player in a playoff game. Shaquille O’Neal (20 on May 4, 2006) and Rony Seikaly (20 on May 3, 1994) are the only players to grab more rebounds in a postseason game with the Heat.
“He was so big on the glass,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “The six offensive rebounds, but everything else on the defensive end, either switching out to the guards, protecting at the rim. If somebody got beat off the dribble, trapping when necessary. And then finishing off our defense with great pursuit of the ball. But that’s who Bam is. He’s a winner. I’m so glad that he’s able to experience, like everybody else, a first-round win where he had a major impact. I don’t care what the stats said.”
Miami shot 44 percent from the field and just 8 of 30 on threes. After taking 52 free throws in Game 3, the Heat took just 14 free throws Monday.
Dragic was an offensive force down the stretch, though, scoring 13 fourth-quarter points on 6-of-9 shooting. The veteran capped off a strong series with a team-high 23 points in 35 minutes in Game 4.
Even with Dragic’s late-game surge, it was Miami’s first inefficient offensive outing of the playoffs. The Heat shot 47.4 percent from the field and 42.7 percent on threes in the first three games of the series.
In Game 4, Miami scored 103.1 points per 100 possessions. That would have been the NBA’s worst offensive rating in the regular season.
While it wasn’t the Heat’s best offensive performance, Game 4 did include one of its best defensive performances of the season.
The Pacers scored 87 points on 41.2 percent shooting. Miami’s defense did it without fouling, as Indiana took just 11 free throws in the game.
The Heat allowed 91.6 points per 100 possessions on Monday, which is its fourth-best single-game defensive rating of the season. In fact, two of Miami’s four best defensive performances of the season came against Indiana — the Heat posted a defensive rating of 90.2 in an Aug. 10 win over the Pacers during seeding play.
Indiana’s trio of Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner and T.J. Warren combined for 68 points on 50 percent shooting. But the rest of the Pacers’ roster scored just 19 points on 25 percent shooting.
“I feel like that has been our kryptonite this whole series was guarding 1-on-1 and I feel like we really picked up the energy,” Adebayo said. “... I feel like we all knew this was going to be a dogfight. We had to win it in the mud, so our defense was critical.”
