The Heat beat the Lone Ranger 129-122 at home, ending a three-game losing streak.
The Heat scored 15+ points with 5 players. Jimmy Butler scored 12 of 16 shots, 35 points, 12 assists and 2 steals. Cody Zeller scored 20 points and 8 rebounds. Kevin Love came off the bench with 18 points and 5 rebounds.
The Lone Ranger lost 2 games in a row. Luka Doncic had 42 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 31 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Kyrie Irving had 23 points and 8 assists.
The Heat were fully fired in the first quarter, scoring 44 points and establishing a double-digit lead. Butler and Doncic continued to compete in the second quarter, and the Heat led by 12 points at halftime. Doncic led the team to chase points hard in the third quarter, and the point difference narrowed to 6 points left. At the end of the quarter, Butler and others were in a hot state, hitting three-pointers in a row to widen the gap once more, and the Lone Ranger was unable to come back.
Doncic played 44 minutes, made 17 of 25 shots, scored a game-high 42 points, and contributed 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. As good as he was individually, the Heat were better overall.
After the loss, the Lone Ranger dropped to 11th and became more passive in the situation of competing for the playoffs. Before the trade deadline on February 6, the Lone Ranger was 28 wins and 26 losses, ranking 6th in the Western Conference. Since the completion of Irving’s transaction, the record is 37 wins and 41 losses (9 wins and 15 losses following February 6).
Asked if the team is in a different position than expected, Doncic replied: “Obviously completely different, I think we should be in the playoff rankings, but we are not, so it is completely different from my expectations. “
