Fourth quarter heat rally to take down the Rockets

Bam Adebayo had a double-double and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from a mid-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 win over the visiting Houston Rockets last Saturday.

Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat halt a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the Heat’s balanced scoring attack, which also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points, a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.

But Wiggins, who took his elbow to the chin of Rockets center Alperen Sengun and had to have his cheek stitched to close the wound, led the fourth quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware Alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92, and his transition dunk led to a 3-point play for a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.

Wiggins finished the game with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Shepherd had 14 points and five assists for Houston.

The Rockets took an early 14-4 lead on a Sheppard 3, and the Heat responded with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat took a 32-28 advantage heading into the second quarter after going 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.

Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first goal of the second quarter on an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer with 7:07 to play. That gave the Heat a 19-2 win and sparked another Houston rally in which Shepard and Durant combined for three 3-pointers to tie the game at 48.

The Rockets led 52-51 at the break after Miami missed seven of eight 3-pointers in the second.

–Field level media