It took time for the Magic to overcome this Heat in “back-to-back”. Aggressive in the first quarter, like the dunks of Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr (34-24), the locals failed to get rid of Miami, who returned to -3 at the break thanks to a good passing of Jimmy Butler and outside address (58-55). The situation was still undecided at the end of the third quarter (81-78), until the Magic managed to take the lead, via a 13-3 lined up at the start of the fourth quarter.
Jalen Suggs started the show with an alley-oop for Bol Bol before letting the Fultz-Carter Jr duo fuel the score to increase the gap to +15 (101-86)! Orlando had done the hard part? Not even ! In fusion, Jimmy Butler planted 9 points in a row, a 2 + 1 then a new basket to reduce the gap to -4 two minutes from time (104-100). Kyle Lowry kept hopes alive for a forceps layup with six seconds left, but when Jalen Suggs put his two shots behind, there was only one feat left to save the Heat (108- 105).
So it was Jimmy Butler who took care of it, scoring a 3-point validated with the tip of his foot against two defenders to send the two teams into overtime!
After having already delivered a good effort the day before at home against Cleveland, Erik Spoelstra’s troops then let go. The 3-pointers from Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony then the two dunks from Wendell Carter Jr put a hammer blow behind the heads of the Heat players, beaten 126-114.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
A tense end to the match. At 106-103, Jimmy Butler attempts a 3-point shot, misses it, but the referees call for a foul, and therefore three shots to follow. Except that Jamahl Mosley asks for a “challenge” to allow the referees to realize that they had made a mistake, Jimmy Butler’s feet having left the “cylinder” on which the player is supposed to land. The referees therefore canceled the three pitches for Butler, a decision which provoked the fury of Erik Spoelstra. The reason ? the referees stopped play as Max Strus had taken the offensive rebound. After reviewing the situation, the referees once again changed their minds, ordering the throw-in for the Heat at -3. A turnaround that changed everything since Miami was able to snatch the extension behind.
A derby that left its mark. There was a breakage in the Florida derby. Tyler Herro was the first to leave the court briefly, victim of food poisoning. It was then Jalen Suggs and Cody Zeller who had to leave the field, the first having hit the back of his head against the parquet in his fall, not without having previously “scratched” Cody Zeller’s face. A nice scratch since if Jalen Suggs ended up returning to the field, Cody Zeller could not do the same. Hit in the face, the pivot had to have stitches placed under his right eye. Erik Spoelstra confided after the match that he also had a broken nose! Finally, Franz Wagner twisted his right ankle when going on the counter-attack at the very end of the match. He, too, was forced to join the locker room.
Return of Kyle Lowry. Absent since February 2 due to knee pain, the leader returned to the game last night. This is the first time since January 2013 that he started on the bench, a series of 677 games as a holder which ended this night. His performance was generally encouraging after five weeks away from the pitch.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Wendell Carter Jr. A leader’s match in aggressiveness. The interior has never been reluctant to go into battle was rewarded for his efforts, especially in overtime where he put an end to the last hopes of the Heat.
✅ Jimmy Butler. If we go over the technique received at the very end of extra time for having left the floor before the end of the match, we still had an almost perfect “Jimmy Buckets” with 38 points including this incredible shot to equalize before sinking into the sinking collective Heat in overtime.
⛔ Bam Adebayo. Too little impact in 42 minutes, too much shooting waste, too many lost balls. A match to quickly forget for him.
⛔ Victor Oladipo. 13 shots attempted and a lot of waste for him too.
THE FOLLOWING
Orlando (28-40) : The Magic begin a four-game road trip that will begin in San Antonio this Tuesday (1:00 a.m.).
Miami (36-33) : the Heat receives Utah this Monday evening (00:30).
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