Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 122-115 win over the Brooklyn Nets (6-6) on Thursday night at Kaseya Center during its quick one-game stay at home.
The Heat (8-4) now hits the road again to begin a five-game trip on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls at United Center:
After a 1-4 start to the season, the Heat is riding a seven-game regular-season winning streak for the first time in nearly six years.
The Heat started slow, beginning 1 of 11 from the field and 1 of 6 from three-point range.
But the Nets couldn’t take advantage of the Heat’s slow start, as Brooklyn’s biggest lead in the first quarter was six points.
The Heat bounced back from its sluggish offensive start to close the first half with 60 points behind 8-of-20 (40 percent) shooting on threes, ending the second quarter on a 14-0 run to turn a six-point deficit into an eight-point halftime lead.
After Heat star Jimmy Butler’s 16-point first half, he then completely took over with an 18-point third quarter as Miami took the first double-digit lead of the game.
The 18-point period matched Butler’s highest-scoring regular-season quarter in a Heat uniform.
It only took 12 regular-season games for Playoff Jimmy to show up in Miami.
Butler scored 36 points as he led the Miami Heat to a 122-115 Thursday night win over Mikal Bridges and the Brooklyn Nets.
Butler recorded his season-high points total on 12-of-19 shooting. Bridges led the Nets with 23 points in the loss.
The victory marked Miami’s seventh straight win, which started to feel inevitable as the Heat surged out to a double-digit lead in the third quarter.
That was in large part thanks to an 18-point quarter from Butler, which included a run of 10 straight.
Butler’s dominant third quarter gave the Heat enough of a cushion to hold off a push from the Nets late in the game.
It was Butler’s second straight 30-point performance. The Heat star also put up a 32-ball during Miami’s Tuesday win over the Charlotte Hornets.
