Another Heat-Magic game, another late comeback. This time, Miami came out on top.
On Saturday, Orlando made a late push to defeat Miami. On Thursday, at the same arena, the Heat managed to find a way to beat the Magic in the final moments.
Tyler Herro’s jumper with just half a second left gave Miami an 89-88 win on Thursday night. This game came less than a week after the Heat lost to the Magic, having blown a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“Just got to my spot,” Herro said.
Miami was down 71-61 going into the fourth quarter on Thursday. It was the first time in 74 games that the Heat came back from a double-digit deficit entering the final quarter of a regular-season game and won, the last time being on Oct. 26, 2019, against Milwaukee.
“I don’t know if it was our best win this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But it was definitely our toughest win this season.”
The previous game between Orlando and Miami ended with a big run by the Magic. On Thursday, the Magic started the rematch with another strong push.
The Magic scored the first 14 points of the game against the Heat, following their 37-8 run in the fourth quarter on Saturday — a huge rally that helped them recover from a 25-point deficit.
If you combine the Magic’s 4th-quarter run on Saturday and their strong start on Thursday, it totals a 51-8 run over about 17 minutes of game time, separated by a few days. The 14-0 run was Orlando’s biggest to start a game since they took a 15-0 lead against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 4, 2001.
Miami cut the deficit to 31-22 by the end of the first quarter. The Heat trailed for most of the game but found a way to win, mostly thanks to 23 turnovers by Orlando that led to 25 points for Miami.
“That’s the game right there,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.
