Heat holds on for road win over Hornets despite another shaky finish. Takeaways and details

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 116-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets (7-14) on Monday night at Spectrum Center. After the quick single-game trip, the Heat (13-10) now returns to Miami for a four-game homestand that begins with another matchup against the Hornets on Wednesday:

The issues in the fourth quarter continued, but the Heat still managed to hold on for the win while making an interesting decision in the final seconds.

Both teams were short-handed, missing a chunk of their rotations.

The Heat played without Bam Adebayo (left hip contusion), Tyler Herro (right ankle sprain), Haywood Highsmith (lower back contusion), Dru Smith (season-ending knee injury) and Nikola Jovic (G League).

The Hornets played without Amari Bailey (G League), LaMelo Ball (right ankle sprain), Cody Martin (left knee injury recovery), Frank Ntilikina (left tibia non-displaced fracture), Nick Smith Jr. (right foot sprain) and Mark Williams (low back contusion).

The battle between two injury-depleted teams resulted in a game that was decided in the final seconds even though the Heat was in control for most of the night.

The Heat entered halftime with a nine-point lead behind a 59-point first half and took its biggest lead of the game when it pulled ahead by 14 points with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

But the fourth quarter again proved to be a problem for the Heat, which holds the NBA’s 28th-ranked fourth-quarter offensive rating and 19th-ranked fourth-quarter defensive rating this season.

The Heat, which has a positive season-long net rating in each of the first three quarters, has been outscored by 11.4 points per 100 possessions in the final period this season for a fourth-quarter net rating that ranks fourth-worst in the league.

Those issues continued on Monday, when the Hornets used a 20-7 run to turn a 14-point deficit into a one-point deficit with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter.

The Heat and Hornets then traded baskets, as both teams struggled to get stops down the stretch.

But after the Hornets again cut the deficit to one point with 4:25 left, the Heat went on a 9-3 run to extend its lead to seven and create some separation with 2:15 to play.

The Hornets kept pushing, though, using a 7-2 spurt to pull within two points with 12.2 seconds left.

The Hornets then intentionally fouled Caleb Martin on the next possession, putting him at the line for two free throws. But Martin only made one of the free throws, giving the Heat a three-point lead with 9.8 seconds to play and keeping it a one-possession game.

The Heat then made the decision to intentionally foul Hornets guard Terry Rozier on the inbounds pass with 9.1 seconds left to prevent Charlotte from getting up a potential game-tying three-pointer. Rozier made both free throws to again cut the deficit to one.

Spoelstra said Butler made the decision to intentionally foul Rozier, referencing a time the Heat didn’t foul in a similar situation that ended with Jaylen Brown hitting a bank-shot three-pointer to force overtime last season. The Heat ended up winning that game in overtime on Dec. 2, 2022 in Boston.

“A lot, to tell you the truth,” Butler said when asked how past experiences influenced his decision to intentionally foul Rozier on Monday, “Hell, I just remember Jaylen Brown hitting a crazy shot at Boston because I said I was going to foul and I said, ‘You know what, I’m not going to do it.’ And then he turns and banks a three in. I was like, ‘We’re not going to do that again.’ Plus, they’re out of timeouts and I think we had one left. So he was going to have to do something to get three points out of that play.”

The intentional fouls continued, as the Hornets put Butler on the line for two free throws with 4.3 seconds left. Butler made one of the two free throws to give the Heat a two-point lead.

But with no timeouts remaining and so little time left on the clock, all the Hornets could get up on their final possession was a 44-foot heave from Rozier that missed the rim as the final buzzer sounded.

The Heat escaped with the two-point victory despite being outscored 37-27 in the fourth quarter. The Heat has now lost 15 of the first 23 fourth-quarters this season, including seven by double-digits.

“We could have been better with that,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said of the shaky finish. “At the end of the day, it’s good to learn in a win. So we still got it done, which is important, as well.”

Despite the late-game surge, the Hornets never were able to take the lead. Charlotte’s final lead of the night came in the opening minutes when the Hornets pulled ahead 4-3 with 10:07 remaining in the first quarter.

The Heat won behind an efficient offensive performance, totaling 116 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the field, 15-of-35 (42.9 percent) shooting from three-point range and 27-of-34 (79.4 percent) shooting from the foul line in the victory against a Hornets team that holds the NBA’s second-worst defensive rating. Miami outscored Charlotte 27-17 at the free-throw line.

The Heat finished with 31 assists on 37 makes for its seventh game this season with 30-plus assists. The Heat improved to 6-1 in those games.

“I thought we were really aggressive,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the offense. “It ended up being 30-plus free-throw attempts. But definitely we were getting our attacks and the paint touches that we wanted. The ball was moving really well. Guys were unselfish, but being assertive at the same time.”

Five Heat players finished with double-digit points led by 24 points from Duncan Robinson, who also ended the night with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Butler added 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from, four rebounds and eight assists for the Heat. Martin recorded 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Off the Heat’s bench, Kevin Love scored 19 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. contributed 18 points.

Heat starting guard Kyle Lowry, who was questionable for the game with back spasms, made himself available and finished the win with six points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field, five rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes.

The Hornets hung around with the help of an efficient offensive effort of their own, shooting 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) on threes. Rozier scored a game-high 34 points and dished out 13 assists for Charlotte.

“I just like that we won,” Butler of the Heat’s close victory. “Wins are definitely hard to come by in this league, for sure on the road, against an opponent that can score like they can.”

After one of the Heat’s sloppiest performances of the season, the Heat responded with a much cleaner effort as part of its efficient offensive display in Charlotte.

Three nights after committing 18 turnovers in a home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, the Heat made fewer errors against the Hornets.

The Heat finished Monday’s win with 11 turnovers despite two turnovers by Butler in the final minute of the game that could have proved costly.

Monday’s low-turnover victory has become the norm for for the Heat this season. Miami entered Monday with the NBA’s seventh-lowest turnover percentage (percentage of plays that end in a team’s turnover) at 13.2 percent.

The Heat committed a turnover on just 11.8 percent of its possessions on Monday, improving to 7-2 this season with posting a turnover percentage below 12 percent.

Opponents were daring Jaquez to shoot threes early this season, but the Heat rookie is forcing them to reconsider that strategy.

After shooting just 9 of 32 (28.1 percent) from three-point range in the first 11 games of the season, Jaquez continued his recent three-point surge on Monday. He shot 2 of 3 on threes in the Heat’s win over the Hornets.

Jaquez is now 18 of 38 (47.4 percent) from behind the arc in his last 12 games to improve his three-point shooting percentage for the season to 38.6 percent.

Along with Jaquez’s two three-point makes on Monday, he also shot 3 of 5 from inside the paint to score 18 points in the win. It’s the 10th straight game that Jaquez has finished with double-digit points.

Orlando Robinson made his fourth straight start at center for the injured Adebayo, but the Heat played three centers on Monday.

Orlando Robinson’s opportunity to play extended minutes continued after spending the first month of the season out of the Heat’s rotation. He finished Monday’s win with seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 22 minutes.

Orlando Robinson, who played in just four of the Heat’s first 18 games this season, has logged double-digit minutes in four straight games. He’s averaging 10.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and three assists per game while shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 5 of 7 (71.4 percent) from three-point range in his four starts.

Spoelstra did not appear pleased with Orlando Robinson’s play at one point in the second quarter and quickly subbed in veteran center Thomas Bryant for Orlando Robinson. It marked Bryant’s first game action in December after receiving a DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) in each of the Heat’s first three games this month.

Bryant entered for that second-quarter stint that lasted just 3:48 and never re-entered the game.

Love also played in his usual spot as the first center off the Heat’s bench, again producing positive minutes. The Heat outscored the Hornets by eight points during the 21 minutes Love played.

As for Adebayo, there’s still no timetable for his return even after traveling with the team to his home state of North Carolina for Monday’s contest. He missed his fourth straight game with a hip injury.

“He wanted to be around the guys,” Spoelstra said before Monday’s game when asked whether the fact Adebayo traveled with the team to Charlotte means he’s close to a return. “He’s making progress. I don’t have a timetable for him. I wouldn’t read too much into it of him being on this trip. We knew he wanted to be here, and he can do his work. So, it’s good.”

After playing a league-high 14 road games up to this point, the Heat now returns to Miami for a bunch of home games.

The Heat will remain in the state of Florida for the next two weeks, with six of the next seven games coming in Miami. The Heat’s one road game during this stretch comes against the Magic in Orlando on Dec. 20.

It begins with a four-game homestand that opens with another matchup against the Hornets on Wednesday. The Heat closes the homestand with games against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday and Saturday, and Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 18.

After taking on the Magic in Orlando on Dec. 20, the Heat returns to Miami for a two-game homestand that includes matchups against the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 22 and Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day.

The Heat’s next time out of the state comes when it leaves for a five-game West Coast trip that begins on Dec. 28 against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.

Considering the Heat is one of four NBA teams that have played a league-leading 14 road games this season along with the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards, this stretch is welcomed.