The Miami Heat earned a statement win of sorts on Sunday over the Houston Rockets, 104-100, but it was marred by a big fight toward the end. Guard Tyler Herro was thrown to the ground by the Rockets’ Amen Thompson.
Both Herro and Thompson, as well as two other players in Rockets guard Jalen Green and Heat guard Tyler Herro were ejected. Rockets coaches Ime Udoka and Ben Sullivan were also ejected in the aftermath.
Herro commented on the altercation later by flexing a bit.
Miami came into this game having lost four of its last six contests, and it was one of the team’s better victories so far this season. Its defense held the Rockets to 39.2 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. The Rockets came into this game with a 21-10 record, which had them in third place in the Western Conference.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Houston held a solid lead, and it looked like Udoka’s squad was on its way to a victory. But the Heat were able to find enough mojo offensively to claim their 16th win against 14 losses.
Herro was certainly hot for them in this game. He was successful on 10 of his 17 field-goal attempts and finished with 27 points while dropping nine dimes and adding six rebounds. Third-year big man Nikola Jovic also helped out with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 31 minutes off the bench.
The Heat are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, and they would obviously love to get to at least sixth place in order to avoid having to go through the play-in tournament for a third straight season.
Of course, the franchise has been dogged by the persistent rumors that star forward Jimmy Butler could get traded in the coming weeks. His camp has made it clear that he has some preferred destinations, but the Heat don’t seem inclined to grant him his wish.
Butler can decline his player option for next season and become a free agent this summer.