Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra praised guard Terry Rozier after his impressive scoring performance in the team’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
“This is why we wanted him here, he’s a great clutch performer and he’s been that way his entire career,” Spoelstra said of Rozier. “And we needed another guy that could make plays and create something out of nothing. That’s what he basically did those last two possessions.”
Rozier finished with 24 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range in Miami’s 107-104 victory.
More importantly, he made a go-ahead 3-pointer for the Heat to put them up by three points with just under 15 seconds remaining in the contest.
TERRY ROZIER GIVES THE HEAT THE LEAD 🤯 pic.twitter.com/MdXqNFloxc
— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) March 21, 2024
He ended up with the second-most points of any player on the Heat, behind only Jimmy Butler, who totaled 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the floor and 2-of-4 from deep.
Rozier’s showing against the Cavaliers marked the second game in a row where he managed to score at least 20 points, considering he scored 20 against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 18.
The 30-year-old has had a very productive month of March after getting off to a slow start to his Heat career. In the month, he is averaging 18.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the field and 39.2 percent from deep.
Perhaps his best offensive performance of March so far came when he dropped 27 points on 17 shots from the field and also dished out a whopping 11 assists compared to zero turnovers in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks on March 7.
Rozier boasts the fourth-highest scoring average on Miami at 15.7 points per game across 22 appearances with the team. Only Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Butler are averaging more points per game for the Heat in the 2023-24 regular season.
The Heat and Rozier will look to pick up their second victory in a row when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. The Pelicans — who sit as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference — have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the past couple of weeks, as the team owns an 8-2 record over its last 10 games and is riding a three-game winning streak.
