The Miami Heat They are included in the list of teams that benefited from the absence of Kevin Durant. The players from South Beach hardly found an opponent in the second half and won with a score of 121 to 111 against the Phoenix Suns, reducing their record to eight losses in nine games without their star
“He creates a lot of space for everybody,” coach Mike Budenholzer said of Durant’s absence. “His weight alone makes everything easier for our team. You can’t create the kind of fear you cause others. Our attention to detail and spacing must be better. As well as our defense. In general, all the little things that Durant was involved in without even realizing it.
Without Durant in the equation, the Heat would have focused their defensive attention on Devin Booker, who scored 21 points but had a shooting record of six goals in 16 attempts. In addition, his seven assists were covered by his five turnovers. So Royce O’Neale led the Suns with his 23 points, followed by Grayson Allen with 16 points as a substitute. Bradley Beal didn’t have a good game either: He scored 15 points despite missing 13 of his 18 shots on goal.
After a very good first half, the Heat took the lead after the break, led by Bam Adebayo, who scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, and Jimmy Butler, who scored 24 points and a perfect decision in the last quarter. The South Beach players took advantage of another key absence from the Arizona team, that of Jusuf Nurkic, to beat the Suns 62-32 and take the win with a 12-0 run to start the third quarter.
After the game, coach Erik Spoelstra highlighted Butler’s performance. “With Jimmy [Butler] “You have a chance to settle in the fourth quarter and you know you’re going to make a good decision,” the coach said. “He made the right plays down there.” trainers the Heat He also had words for Adebayo. “In five or six games, he was close to a triple-double in each of them. It’s a shame people only pay attention when they score. I saw his leadership in the third quarter. I asked for a seat but he yelled at me. I love it. I want him to control the defense. “He is our voice.”
This victory allowed the Heat to remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a positive record (11-10), while the Suns fell to eighth place in the West, just one game and a half away from the eleven place San Antonio Spurs. .