Similar Stories to Winderman’s View: Butler, Adebayo Offer Glimpses In Win Of What They Need To Be (with More Needed) on Bing News

CHARLOTTE – Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 114-106 victory over the Charlotte Hornets: – Forget the slop that came early and often. – Forget even the fact that this at times was far tougher than it should have been. – Against an opponent that was shorthanded. – And playing on the second night of a back to back. – Instead, consider what happened in the second period with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. – After both were held scoreless in the opening period, it was apparent that enough was enough with each. – Butler went into attack mode, sparking the Heat, with seven consecutive points in one stretch. – And Adebayo got back to work in the paint, in his comfort zone, even with his shots not always falling. – Because that’s who they are. – Mid-range players. – And you can stress steals, 3-pointers and other novelties all you want. – But for Butler and Adebayo to be at their best, they have to be in their sweet spots. – They got there in the second period and the Heat looked a lot better for it. – Then it stopped again for Adebayo. – Which remains a concern. – (Even though he did have his moments after returning in the fourth.) – Next up is getting to that more often. – Because that’s who they are. – And who the Heat have to be. – There was a glimpse Saturday. – There has to be more. – The Heat again opened with a lineup of Butler, Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier. – Out were Kevin Love (personal reasons), Kel’el Ware (stomach illness), Josh Richardson (heel) and Josh Chrisopher (inactive on two-way contract). – That had two-way player Keshad Johnson active for the Heat after he was inactive in the opener. – That, in part, was a factor of the Heat being a pair of power players down in Love and Ware. – The Heat’s third two-way player, point guard Dru Smith, also again was active. – And played in the initial rotation. – LaMelo Ball, Seth Curry and Cody Martin all had been listed as questionable earlier in the day but were available for the Hornets. – Those three started for Charlotte along with Miles Bridges and Nick Richards. – Out for the Hornets were Brandon Miller, Josh Green, Mark Williams and DaQuan Jeffries. – Rozier received a video tribute during the game’s first time out. – To Rozier, the return to Charlotte was meaningful, but also something to push past. – “I’m ready to get this over with,” he said with a smile after the morning shootaround. – Jaime Jaquez Jr.