Tyler Herro scored 24 points off the bench as the visiting Miami Heat swamped the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 112-95 on Thursday to snap a three-game losing streak.
The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 29 but was postponed when the Heat could not meet the NBA roster requirements because of COVID-19.
The Heat were up by 10 at halftime and by just six two minutes into the third quarter before running off a 15-3 spurt over nearly five minutes that all but decided the game. Miami led by as many as 24 in the third period and by 22 heading into the final quarter.
Bam Adebayo had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, while Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson scored 17 points each. Kyle Lowry played for the Heat after missing nine consecutive games because of personal reasons, and had two points, both on free throws, in 25 minutes.
Derrick White led the Spurs with 22 points and Tre Jones added 16. San Antonio, which has lost three games in a row, played without starters Dejounte Murray (left wrist sprain), Doug McDermott (right ankle sprain) and Jakob Poeltl (concussion).
Miami led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter after being up by as many as four points and trailing by as many as six.
The Heat pushed their advantage to 13 points on Gabe Vincent’s 3-pointer at the 6:40 mark of the second quarter. White’s two free throws with three minutes to play in the period brought San Antonio within 48-41. Butler scored seven points in the final two minutes of the half as Miami built a 57-47 advantage.
White led all scorers with 19 points in the first half. Herro paced Miami with 10 points as the Heat outshot San Antonio 54.8 percent to 34.1 percent.
The Spurs cut their deficit to 60-54 on a Jones three-point play with 9:47 to play in the third quarter. Miami responded with an 8-0 run that rebuilt its lead to double digits, then kept the momentum by scoring seven of the ensuing 10 points to go up 75-57 upon Butler’s layup at the 5:01 mark.
–Field Level Media
