Heat reaches All-Star break at .500. Takeaways from a Jimmy Butler-led win over Pelicans

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 103-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans (15-21) on Thursday night at Smoothie King Center in the final game before the All-Star break. The Heat, which resumes its schedule with a March 11 home game against the Orlando Magic, enters the break at 18-18 after a 7-14 start to the season:

Jimmy Butler returned from a two-game absence. The Heat’s offense looked better because of it, especially late in the game.

After the Butler-less Heat scored a season-low 80 points on 37.3 percent shooting in Tuesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Miami’s offense looked better with Butler back on the court Thursday.

The Heat totaled 103 points on 49.3 percent shooting from the field and 21-of-25 shooting from the foul line, while committing just 11 turnovers and dishing out 27 assists in Thursday’s win over the Pelicans.

Butler, who missed the previous two games because of right knee inflammation, finished with 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting, three rebounds, nine assists and three steals in 34 minutes. He scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.

“What didn’t he do?” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler’s late-game display. “He was guarding [Brandon] Ingram on one end and then just doing whatever was necessary.”

The Heat was very sharp to start, with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 shooting on threes to go with nine assists in the first quarter.

The Heat led by as many as 17 points in the first half and entered halftime with a 10-point lead. Miami recorded 55 points on 53.8 percent shooting in the first two quarters on Thursday.

For perspective, Miami finished Tuesday’s 80-point performance with just 15 assists on 28 made baskets. The Heat also scored only 37 first-half points in that game.

But the third quarter was Miami’s worst offensive stretch on Thursday. The Heat scored 22 points on 35 percent shooting from the field and 1-of-9 shooting on threes in the period.

Those offensive struggles allowed the Pelicans to get back in the game, as the Heat’s lead was cut to two with 6:26 to play.

Butler then led the Heat on a 16-8 run to close the game, scoring 10 points during that spurt to push Miami to the victory. Veteran forward Andre Iguodala scored the other six points during that late-game surge to finish with 10 points, including four at the free-throw line with the Pelicans intentionally fouling him down the stretch because of his subpar free-throw percentage.

Heat guard Goran Dragic scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

“You can see we trust him, we want him to have the ball in those moments and he always comes through,” Dragic said of Butler. “It’s really awesome to watch him, what what he’s able to do. He can manipulate the game, get to the free-throw line, he can make shots, he can involve everybody else. He’s a really unique player.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Miami’s offense produced better results upon Butler’s return.

Without Butler on the court, the Heat entered Thursday scoring 104.2 points per 100 possessions this season. For perspective, that would be tied for the worst offensive rating in the NBA.

When Butler is on the court, the Heat’s offensive rating jumps to 110.8 points scored per 100 possessions.

The Heat also improved to 14-8 in games that Butler has played in this season. Miami is 4-10 in games that he has missed.

“Just win at all costs,” Butler said of his approach. “Get some stops, score some buckets, continue to make the right plays and you’re going to have to live with the result. Obviously, it was a win, so we take that. But it was a team effort, man. I think [Kelly Olynyk] was huge for us tonight, ‘Dre, Goran. Everybody.”

The Heat was without its other star, though. It’s not often that Bam Adebayo misses a game because of a legitimate injury, but Thursday was one of those times.

Adebayo’s name surfaced on Thursday afternoon’s injury report and he was eventually ruled out for the Heat’s matchup against the Pelicans because of left knee tendinitis. It’s the same knee injury that had Adebayo on the injury report for two of the Heat’s previous three games, but he ended up playing in both.

“We just want to be proactive about it, particularly before the break and make sure we take care of it right now,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s knee issue in advance of Thursday’s game. “He’ll continue to just be day to day.”

It’s fair to wonder how much Adebayo’s knee tendinitis has been bothering him recently.

Adebayo, who’s averaging 2.2 dunks per game this season, only completed one dunk in the previous three games. And he also turned in one of his quietest performances of the season in Tuesday’s loss to the Hawks, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting, two rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes.

“I think if you polled every NBA player that had knee tendinitis, you would want to make sure that it doesn’t become something more than that,” Spoelstra said. “Bam obviously plays a major role for us, big minutes and is an explosive player. Just want to make sure that we can take care of this now.”

Thursday marked the first time Adebayo has missed a regular-season game because of a legitimate injury since his rookie season in 2017-18. He played every regular-season game in 2018-19, missed the regular-season finale last season as a precaution with the start of the playoffs just days away, and had previously missed just two games this season because of contact tracing related to the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

The Pelicans were also missing one of their stars, and their offense wasn’t as good as usual. But New Orleans still found a way control the glass.

New Orleans was without second-year forward Zion Williamson (right fifth toe irritation), who made his first All-Star Game this season. Williamson is averaging 25.6 points on 61.4 percent shooting, 7.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists this season, and is also averaging a league-high 19.3 points per game in the paint.

The Pelicans were also without one of their top shooters, JJ Redick, who missed Thursday’s game because of a sore right heel.

Without Williamson and Redick, the Pelicans’ offense struggled. New Orleans, which owns the NBA’s top offensive rating since the start of February, finished with just 93 points on 39.8 percent shooting.

The Pelicans still outrebounded the Heat 44-40.

New Orleans, which entered averaging a league-high 11.6 offensive rebounds per game, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds on Thursday.

The Heat, without its leading rebounder in Adebayo, totaled five offensive rebounds on Thursday.

Miami entered with a rebounding percentage that ranked 21st in the NBA, and its opponents have grabbed a total of 42 offensive rebounds in the past three games.

Without Adebayo, the Heat used its 18th different starting lineup of the season. But it was an established starter who really stepped up in Adebayo’s absence.

Second-year forward KZ Okpala started in place of Adebayo alongside Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Butler and Olynyk.

Okpala, who made his sixth start of the season on Thursday, finished with five points, five rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes.

It was Olynyk, though, that took on more of an offensive workload with Adebayo out. Olynyk, who has started 30 of the past 31 games, contributed 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting on threes, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

“He has been taking his shots aggressively and that’s what you want your shooters to do,” Spoelstra said of Olynyk. “He’s a great shooter. He really does create some spacing for us, and even more so when he plays at the five.”

Heat veteran guard Avery Bradley hasn’t been available for many games this season, but the hope is he’ll be close to a return when the second half of the regular season begins.

Bradley, who last appeared in a game on Feb. 3, missed his 15th straight game on Thursday. At the time of the injury, doctors told Bradley he could return in three to four weeks, which should mean he’ll be close a return when the Heat returns from the All-Star break next week.

“I’ve been really encouraged by his work behind the scenes,” Spoelstra said Thursday when asked whether Bradley will be ready for his return when the Heat resumes its schedule. “I’ve watched his last two workouts on the court. I’ll have a better indication where we are after the break. But he’s really progressed in a good way.”

Bradley, who signed with Miami as a free agent this past offseason, played in just 10 of the Heat’s first 36 games. Along with missing the past 15 games because of a calf injury, he also missed eight straight games in January after testing positive for COVID-19.