Heat announces Dwyane Wade statue, blows out Hornets. Takeaways and latest on Heat’s injuries

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 104-87 blowout win over the Charlotte Hornets (8-29) on Sunday night at Kaseya Center to close its four-game homestand at 3-1. The Heat (23-16) now hits the road to begin a quick two-game trip on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) on the second night of a back-to-back set:

The Heat celebrated “Dwyane Wade Hall of Fame Night” by announcing there will be a Wade statue in front of Kaseya Center later this year and dismantling a struggling Hornets team.

The Hornets entered with the NBA’s fourth-worst record and with losses in 15 of their last 16 games.

It didn’t take long to realize that the Hornets were on their way to another defeat, as the Heat ended the first quarter with a 10-point lead and then used a big 21-5 run in the second quarter to enter halftime with a 21-point lead.

“It was a professional approach,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “... This was potentially a trap game and we have guys coming back into the lineup, we have guys that are going out of the lineup, and it potentially can be an emotional night celebrating Dwyane. You just don’t know which way it can potentially go and it’s a back-to-back. So I thought the approach was terrific.”

Miami Heat announces Dwyane Wade statue outside Kaseya Center. ‘I didn’t dream of this’

The Hornets shot 1 of 18 from three-point range in the first half, scoring just 31 points in the first two quarters on Sunday to produce the lowest-scoring half in the NBA this season.

“I thought our defense came out swarming them, making things tough,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “There was really nowhere for them to create anything consistent. I think they scored 31 points in the half, so that says it all right there.”

Then the Heat celebrated Wade’s 2023 Hall of Fame induction at halftime, announcing that it will unveil a bronze statue of Wade in front of Kaseya Center later this year in the fall.

After that halftime ceremony, the Hornets’ offense finally got going to total 30 points in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 16 entering the fourth quarter.

Charlotte then scored the first five points of the final period to cut the Heat’s lead to 11 with 10:44 to play.

But the Heat responded with an 18-6 run to extend its lead to 23 points with 6:09 to play and put the Hornets away.

The Hornets lost despite outscoring the Heat 23-2 in second-chance points behind 17 offensive rebounds.

The Heat overcame that by outscoring Charlotte 58-38 from inside the paint, 23-17 off turnovers, 13-11 from the foul line and 33-30 from behind the three-point line despite taking 15 fewer threes than the Hornets.

The Hornets’ 87 points on Sunday are the fewest that the Heat has allowed in a game this season.

“We’re just trying to make people take tough shots, play in a crowd,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “We’re talking on defense, doing everything we can so we can get a stop and run.”

Adebayo led the Heat with team-highs in points (24), rebounds (10) and assists (7) on Sunday. Duncan Robinson added 19 points, four rebounds and five assists off Miami’s bench.

Terry Rozier scored a team-high 26 points for the Hornets, but needed 23 field-goal attempts to do it. Hornets guard LaMelo Ball finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

“It was just an amazing night,” Spoelstra said. “Obviously, we get to honor and celebrate our greatest Miami Heat player. I love it when he’s in attendance. I wish he could be here a whole lot more. I tell him that every time I see him.”

The Heat’s injury issues continue, as rookie revelation Jaime Jaquez Jr. left Sunday’s game early with a strained left groin.

After starting and playing 15 minutes in Sunday’s first half, Jaquez was ruled out for the rest of the night because of the injury. He said after the win that he injured his groin when going up for a dunk in transition in the first quarter.

“It just didn’t feel that well when I took off,” Jaquez said. “It slowly started to get worse throughout the duration of the game.”

Jaquez, who the Heat drafted with the 18th overall pick this past summer, recorded 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, five rebounds, two assists and one steal before exiting the game early.

Most of the production came in the first quarter, when Jaquez scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from inside the paint. But Jaquez didn’t score in the second quarter before sitting out the second half.

Jaquez, 22, is the only player on the Heat’s roster who has played in each of the first 39 games this season.

But that streak of consecutive games played is over, as Jaquez will miss Monday’s matchup against the Nets. Jaquez is not traveling with the Heat to Brooklyn and has been labeled by the team as day-to-day.

Jaquez also suffered a strained left groin this preseason, missing two weeks with the injury before returning for the start of the regular season. But he doesn’t believe this latest groin injury is as severe as the first one.

“He says and our trainers say that it’s not as severe as the one had previously earlier in the season,” Spoelstra said. “So we’ll see.”

As for the Heat’s other injuries, Jimmy Butler missed his seventh straight game. But Butler appears to be on the verge of making his return.

Butler sat out his seventh straight game on Sunday because of a foot injury that the Heat has listed as a “right toe MP joint sprain.”

With Butler also missing four straight games in late December because of a strained left calf, he has missed 11 of the Heat’s last 12 games.

But the good news is there’s cautious optimism that Butler will be able to make his return to play in Monday’s game against the Nets in Brooklyn on the second night of the back-to-back.

The Heat also was without backup center Kevin Love on Sunday because of a left knee contusion. It marked the first game that Love has missed with the injury after logging 16 minutes off the bench in Friday’s home win over the Orlando Magic.

Butler and Love are both traveling with the Heat to Brooklyn for Monday’s contest.

In addition, the Heat did not have Dru Smith (right knee surgery), RJ Hampton (G League), Cole Swider (G League) and Jamal Cain (G League).

The Hornets also were short-handed, missing Amari Bailey (G League), Gordon Haywood (left calf), Frank Ntilikina (left tibia), Brandon Williams (lower back) and Mark Williams (lower back) for Sunday’s game in Miami.

It’s fitting that both teams played without multiple rotation players, as the Heat (third-most) and Hornets (second-most) are among the three NBA teams that have the most missed games due to injury this season, according to Spotrac’s injury tracker.

The Heat did get two starters, Herro and Kyle Lowry, back from injury on Sunday.

Herro returned after missing one game with a right shoulder strain and Lowry returned after missing two straight games with a sprained left hand.

Herro closed with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting on threes, seven rebounds and four assists.

“I needed a day just to let it calm down, for sure,” Herro said of returning from injury. “But I’m just going to continue to get rehab and treatment on it to make sure I can get back to 100 percent.”

Lowry finished scoreless, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists in 26 minutes.

Herro and Lowry were both plugged right back into the starting unit, as the Heat opened Sunday’s game with a lineup of Lowry, Herro, Jaquez, Nikola Jovic and Adebayo. It marked the fifth game that this lineup has started for the Heat this season.

Like many in South Florida, Spoelstra spent Saturday night watching the Miami Dolphins lose another playoff game.

The Dolphins lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-7 at Arrowhead Stadium in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. It was a disappointing ending to what appeared to be a promising season just a few weeks ago.

“You feel the full gamut when you watch those kind of games,” said Spoelstra, who has developed a friendship with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. “I watched the game last night like probably a lot of us in South Florida. They’re building something and you feel that something really good is happening. They’re not skipping steps with it. There’s a lot to be proud of from the season they had and you definitely get the sense that they’ll be able to take another big step forward next year. That doesn’t make it any easier during the offseason, as we all know.”

The Dolphins’ last playoff win came on December 30, 2000. During that 23-year drought, the Heat has appeared in seven NBA Finals and won three NBA championships.