The Heat lost to Orlando for the second straight opening game of the season. There is a big difference between the opening night games. The Heat were embarrassed last season out of the playoffs by Cleveland. They changed their offensive game planning to “play with more pace.” Orlando made the playoffs last year and dominated Miami in every season game they played.
Fourth quarter action
Miami was leading 91-90 to start the fourth quarter. Miami built the lead to eight at 109-101. The two teams competed through the fourth quarter to under four minutes when Orlando was down by 1 at 111-110 with 4:37 left. The Magic didn’t pull ahead until 3:47 left at 114-113.
Miami tied the score at 116 and 119 before two missed three-point shots in a row ended the competition. The Magic made their free throws and the game was essentially over. Last season, Orlando was up by 24 entering the fourth quarter and pushed the lead to 29 before “garbage time points” helped Miami trim the deficit to 19.
Keys to the game
The Magic were clearly the bigger team. But, the Heat played them virtually to a tie with the Magic holding a 56-54 rebounding edge. In the fourth quarter, the Magic got 14 rebounds to Miami’s 13. The Heat were 10 for 22 in the fourth quarter and shot 33% from three. The Magic shot 10 for 28. The Heat also were able to get to the foul line eight times versus thirteen times for the Magic.
