Jimmy Butler hit a pair of jumpers in the final 66 seconds of the second overtime as the Miami Heat pulled out a 111-107 road victory against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night in the last game for each team prior to the All-Star break.
Kyle Lowry scored 25 points, Duncan Robinson tallied 21 and P.J. Tucker, Bam Adebayo and Butler all had 15 for the Heat. Omer Yurtseven added 10 points off the bench. Adebayo had 13 rebounds, and Tucker and Butler both pulled in 10 boards.
Miles Bridges racked up 29 points and Montrezl Harrell posted 24 for the Hornets. Kelly Oubre Jr. and P.J. Washington both had 15 points and LaMelo Ball notched 14 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
Miami was up 107-102 after Butler’s late baskets. Bridges countered with a 3-pointer for the Hornets before Lowry’s lay-in at the 21.1-second mark.
The Heat didn’t score for almost four minutes to begin the fourth quarter, allowing Charlotte to stretch its lead to 78-64 behind seven straight points from Harrell.
Miami came back from an 11-point hole with five minutes to play in regulation, going up 86-85 on a pair of baskets by Jimmy Butler with 1:57 remaining. Until Harrell’s tying dunk at the 24.6-second mark, Charlotte had not had a field goal since going up 84-77 with 3:50 to play.
In the first overtime, Harrell made the first free throw but missed the second with 1.7 seconds left, forcing another overtime at 97-97.
The biggest key for the Hornets might have been getting sustained defense, and that put Miami in a bind at times.
The Heat was up 37-30 at the end of the first quarter, shooting 75 percent. Bridges had 13 points for the Hornets through the first quarter.
Charlotte surged ahead in the quarter, when Miami was stuck with just four points for nearly the first 7 1/2 minutes of the quarter. The Hornets led 54-47 at the break, boosted by eight 3-pointers — and Oubre had four of those on the way 15 first-half points.
–Field Level Media
