Heat Get Stung, Dropping Their First of a Four-Game Road Trip

The Miami Heat started a four-game road trip with a 122-117 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

The squad opened this week's road trip yesterday afternoon in Charlotte. @CoupNBA has the takeaways on how the 1st of 4 away from home ended ⬇️

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 30, 2023

It Only Stings a Little

Jimmy Butler and company rolled into Spectrum Arena on Sunday night looking to build on their three-game win streak. The Charlotte Hornets had other plans as they grabbed the 122-117 victory with a late effort from point guard LaMelo Ball and strong performances by Terry Rozier and PJ Washington.

Going into the locker room at halftime with a 62-58 lead, the Heat appeared to be in the driver’s seat as they opened the second half on a 10-1 run. Tyler Herro had two three-pointers extending the lead by as much as 13 points.

However, that didn’t last too long.

But the script flipped from the Heat to the Hornets. Charlotte crawled back to a 91-86 lead at the end of the third. This was thanks to 13 of Lamelo Ball’s 19 total points in the game coming in the last quarter.

To compliment, Gordon Hayward was perfect from the floor making all seven of his shots, outmatching Butler’s 28 and Herro’s 24 points.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1619795454774091777?s=20&t=_GTtrsWfd_agUGvbtAJtOw

Jimmy Cooks

In lieu of a disappointing loss at the beginning of a road trip, Jimmy Butler still shined. Butler reached a milestone of 13,000 career points by halftime of Sunday night’s game.

Butler leads the Heat in points (21.9) and steals (2.1). He has scored at least 25 points along with five or more rebounds on nine occasions this season, including in two straight outings.

That’s a lot of Buckets ☕️ pic.twitter.com/xzFFbiEDYQ

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 29, 2023

The Road Ahead

Up next, the Miami Heat will continue to Cleveland in a matchup with the Cavaliers on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Cavaliers sit fifth in the Eastern Conference at a 31-21 record (18-9 in conference).

The Heat are right on their toes at sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 28-23 record (12-14 in conference).