Another fourth-quarter meltdown for Heat in 115-101 loss to Thunder

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Feb 12, 2025

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The fourth-quarter collapse Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets was one thing. That can’t happen against lottery-level opposition.

This one was different, because at no point did Wednesday night’s turnaround necessarily feel unexpected, even when the Miami Heat were up 21 early, ahead 16 in the third period or even up 10 at the start of the fourth.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are that dominant, on both ends of the floor.

So against the NBA’s best, perhaps good job and good effort, but also a 115-101 Heat loss Wednesday night at Paycom Center.

With presumptive NBA MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander closing with 32 points, the Thunder improved to 43-9 while the Heat dropped to 25-27, assured of a losing record at the All-Star break.

It was nothing short of an avalanche at the start of the fourth, when the Thunder scored the first 21 points of the quarter, leading Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to burn all but his final timeout with 7:02 to play.

Eventually the Thunder’s quarter-opening surge reached 24-0 before Heat center Bam Adebayo scored the Heat’s first point of the period with his second 3-pointer with 6:13 to play.

Adebayo closed with 27 points and 16 rebounds, with precious little in support.

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

— 1. Closing time: The Heat led 35-23 at the end of the first period and 63-52 at halftime.

The Heat then went up 16 in the third period, with the Thunder then clawing within eight before the Heat went into the fourth up 93-83.

And then the Thunder turned back into the Thunder, scoring those first 24 points of the fourth quarter.

A pair of 3-pointers by Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins briefly stemmed the Thunder tide, but by then momentum had completely shifted.

— 2. Rotation revision: With Terry Rozier and Duncan Robinson this time out due to the stomach virus that has been running through the team, the Heat got back Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. after they missed Monday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics due to that same issue.

That allowed Spoelstra to get to what appears to be his preferred starting lineup of Herro, Adebayo, Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Kel’el Ware.

More intriguing were Spoelstra’s choices off the bench, utilizing Nikola Jovic, Alec Burks, Haywood Highsmith and Pelle Larsson in those roles.

That left Jaquez and newcomer Kyle Anderson out of the mix.

— 3. Attack mode: The Heat set a season high for any half with their 38 points in the paint in the first half.

As a means of comparison, the Heat in the entirety of their previous three games scored 34, 34 and 36 paint points, a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers and losses to the Brooklyn Nets and Celtics.

Both Herro and Mitchell played with an early downhill bent, with Wiggins also largely in attack mode.

Helping in that regard was Thunder big man Chet Holmgren given the night off for rest as he works back from his early-season hip injury.

But as the attack mode waned, the Thunder responded with force of their own.

— 4. Adebayo statement: Adebayo already had a double-double by the midpoint of the third period, when he was up to 19 points and 11 rebounds.

It was Adebayo’s 220th career double-double, one shy of Rony Seikaly’s franchise record.

Adebayo entered 32 rebounds shy of tying Alonzo Mourning for the second on the Heat all-time list behind Udonis Haslem.

— 5. One more: The Heat complete their schedule ahead of the All-Star break with a Thursday game in Dallas to close out this two-game trip.

The Heat then will be idle until next Thursday, when they will regroup for practice at Kaseya Center before flying that night to Toronto for the start of a three-game trip on Feb. 21.

Herro and Jaquez will fly from Dallas to San Francisco, where Jaquez will play in the Rising Stars competition on Friday and where Herro will participate in the 3-point contest on Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday.