Winderman’s view: Heat 108, Thunder 94

Observations and other notes of interest from Monday night’s 108-94 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder:

— It didn’t need to be pretty.

— It just needed to be a W.

— Because 4-3 on a seven-game trip sounds a lot better than 3-4.

— Ground gained.

— Which was the ultimate goal for the two weeks.

— For all the stats produced by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and they certainly were needed, the late defense by Andre Iguodala cannot be overstated.

— The oldest player on the court brought energy when needed.

— And to the credit of Duncan Robinson and Max Strus, they kept shooting.

— Because their second-half 3-pointers were needed.

— Now it’s about backing it up at home on the impending four-game homestand.

— With Tyler Herro out, the issue for the Heat wasn’t as much the starting lineup, as the reserve rotation.

— Erik Spoelstra again opened with Butler, Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn and Kelly Olynyk.

— It was Nunn’s ninth consecutive start. He opened by converting his first two 3-point attempts.

— Amid the ongoing injury absences of Goran Dragic and Avery Bradley, Herro typically then had entered as sixth man.

— The Heat entered 3-5 in Herro’s absence this season.

— Robinson opened the Heat scoring with a 31-foot 3-pointer. He later made another 31-footer.

— Then it was Strus entering as the Heat’s sixth man.

— Then Precious Achiuwa.

— With Iguodala as the Heat’s third reserve.

— And Gabe Vincent as the fourth.

— KZ Okpala, who had played only five minutes over the previous 11 games, entered midway through the second period, when the Heat were struggling on offense.

— Strus opened 1 of 6 on 3-pointers.

— Butler had six assists in the game’s first eight minutes.

— The Heat had assists on their first 11 baskets.

— The Heat tried Iguodala at point guard in the second half, with uneven results.

— Going in, Spoelstra stressed staying in the moment, as his team ended its seven-game trip.

— “It’s very important that we stay present,” he said “That’s what we talked about today in the shootaround. We’ve experienced a lot on this road trip — frustration, disappointment, elation, and a lot of things probably in between.”

— Of the Thunder, he noted pregame, “This is a quality opponent. They have 12 wins. They’re very athletic. They have speed, quickness, youth for days.”

— Spoelstra them summarized the benefit of getting out the road for such a long period, a unique time for the team amid the NBA’s pandemic protocols.

— “It’s not the typical bonding that you would have in previous years,” he said. “It’s not like guys are going out to dinner or we’re having team meals together in a small room, where it’s super intimate. Even our bus rides are separated by four buses. But in relative terms, this is the most connected and the most time we’ve spent together all season.”

— He added, “And everybody has felt that, from shootarounds to practice time to meeting time to film sessions to locker room time to game time, and even time on the airplanes, it’s been very important. This is an extremely important stretch for us. We started to make some progress.”

— For Oklahoma City, of course, it remains all about their future draft stockpile.

— Per the Thunder: “After executing an NBA record 11 trades with 15 other NBA teams during the 2020 offseason, the Thunder now holds 18 first-round draft picks over the next seven years in addition to 13 second-round picks. Also, OKC can swap the least favorable of its own 2021

1st and Miami’s 2021 1st with Houston’s 2021 1st (protected 1-4).”

— The game was the 600th career regular-season appearance for Butler.

— The game marked Robinson’s 100th career start.

— With his fourth point, Adebayo passed Steve Smith for 20th place on the Heat’s all-time scoring list.

— Olynyk’s first 3-point attempt was the 1,700th of his career.