MIAMI — The Portland Trail Blazers spent the 2023 offseason acting as if the Miami Heat didn’t exist, at least when it came to soliciting trade offers for since-dealt guard Damian Lillard.

Friday night at Kaseya Center, the Blazers could not deny the reality of the Heat very much taking care of business, with Erik Spoelstra’s team pounding Portland, 142-82 – the most lopsided victory in the Heat’s 36 seasons.

Pushing their lead into the 40s by the early stages of the third period, the Heat closed out an uneven 2-2 homestand that included losses to the New Orleans Pelicans and Golden Warriors and blowout victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Blazers.

Ultimately, it was a net neutral night for the Heat, with the Indiana Pacers’ home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers keeping the Heat at No. 7 in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The magnitude of the rout led the Heat somewhat coming up short.

Center Bam Adebayo, for example, was pulled one assist shy of a triple-double when he was subbed out with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. He closed with 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Forward Jimmy Butler, back after a one-game absence, closed with eight points, only the second time this season he failed to score in double digits and the first time in a game he wasn’t injured (the other time was when he went out on Dec. 30 at Utah with a toe injury after scoring eight points in 24 minutes.

The Heat also got 22 points from guard Terry Rozier, who shot 6 of 10 on 3-pointers, as well as 26 from Thomas Bryant and 20 from Haywood Highsmith.

The previous franchise record for margin of victory had been 43 over the Los Angeles Clippers in 1994.

About the only downside was starting power forward Nikola Jovic leaving in the third period with a knee contusion.

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