Injury-riddled Heat scrape out win vs. OKC

Jan 10

Miami had been without four starters, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, and Tyler Herro, in Tuesday's outing against the Thunder, leaving Jimmy Butler to lead the rest of the team against OKC. A late-game "and-1" capped off a 112-111 win by Butler after a foul by Jaylin Williams.

This preferred lineup of Lowry, Herro, Butler, Martin and Adebayo has only seen 14 games of action out of the 42 on the season. Health has been a significant issue for the Heat all season, with seven current players on the injury report.

Adebayo had been out with a thigh injury and an even more recent wrist injury that transpired during the Nets game. Herro had tweaked his ankle, Lowry had been out with some knee pain, and Martin had missed the last four of six games with a quadriceps injury. The lineup that had played the OKC was the 18th lineup constructed by Spoelstra.

He responded to reporters before the game, saying: "This really kind of seems like our norm. I don't say that in jest, but we've had guys in and out of the lineup, and we've been able to win games with different guys available."

Despite all the injuries, the Heat still sits in the playoff race as the eighth seed, three games above .500. Their efforts also resulted in a historic feat of 40-for-40 at the free throw line, topping the Utah Jazz's 39-39, the feat was attained in their match against the Portland Trailblazers on December 7, 1982. Butler went 23-for-23 from the line, scoring 35 points on the night. Max Strus and Victor Oladipo followed with twenty-two and nineteen points, respectively.