Bam Adebayo’s 24 points and 11 rebounds double-double catapult Heat to the bounce back victory over the Rockets.
(Mandatory credit: Getty Images)

It’s been a while since the Miami Heat have earned a statement win, but they did just that on Saturday.

They handed the now 37-22 visiting Houston Rockets a 115-105 loss inside Kaseya Center, spoiling Kevin Durant’s 32-point outing. The victory improves Miami’s record to 32-29 overall, closing the playoff seeding gap to .5 games behind the seventh seed and 2.0 games behind the sixth seed to avoid the play-in entirely.

This matchup featured an intense and competitive start from the opening tip. Tyler Herro and Durant got into a heated exchange just halfway through the first quarter. The defensive effort from both teams was physical throughout, leading to a tight back and forth game of runs up until the final minutes. Ultimately, the Heat’s 64-53 second half edge was enough to close out Houston down the stretch.

Bam Adebayo led Miami with another elite two-way performance, featuring a 24 points, 11 rebounds double-double on an efficient 9 of 17 shooting overall and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. The Heat outscored the Rockets by 16 points in Adebayo’s 35 minutes— by far the best plus/minus on the team.

The captain received some help from Herro’s 18 points and Pelle Larsson’s 20 points. Those two combined to shoot 14 of 24 from the field. Miami also got strong minutes out of Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr., with seven players in total finishing with double-digits. Ware shined off the bench with a 13 points and 15 boards double-double of his own, and even earned closing minutes alongside Adebayo to finish the game.

For the Rockets, Durant got 20 points worth of help from Amen Thompson, but not much elsewhere. Star big man Alperen Sengun was limited with foul trouble, totaling just 13 points. As a team, Houston was held to just 43% shooting and 25% from deep compared to Miami’s 50% and 35%, respectively.

The Heat will look to build off a strong win as they continue their homestand against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.

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