Jimmy and Bam lead the Heat in statement win over the Suns

The Miami Heat won their third straight game Monday night with a nail biting 113-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns. This was a complete team effort led by the All-Star duo of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, as they took care of business on both ends of the court to get Miami back to .500.

Eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat were down 102-89 with all the momentum swung in favor of the visiting team. It felt like the game was getting away from Miami as not only were they undersized and missing Tyler Herro, but it felt like Phoenix was getting to every 50-50 ball to start the fourth. That's when Bam and the Heat decided to answer with a 12-0 run to change the tide of this game and lead to the eventual victory. Not sure what got into Bam, but he was on a mission to get to the rim and he consistently put pressure on the Sun's rotations. He got to the line a season-high 14 times making 12 of them. He finished the night with a season-high 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go with 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal and a team-high +12. Bam came up big for Miami and turned this game into one to remember.

Of course this wouldn't have had such a happy ending if our certified superstar Jimmy Butler hadn't come through on the defensive end with a clutch block on Devin Booker's jump shot in the final seconds. Even his second effort at the buzzer was incredible as he forced Booker into a contested fadeaway three without fouling. Just goes to show you that he is one of, if not the best two-way player in the game. He also posted another near triple double with a stat line of 16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, one steal, one block and no turnovers. His impact for this team can't go understated and the same could be said for the next man I'm about to talk about.

I need to give Caleb Martin his due as he continues to step up for this team and fill whatever role is asked of him. Tonight he was a swiss army knife as he finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three to go with five rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks, no turnovers and no fouls. He was also second on the team in +/- with a +10. There were valid questions about whether Caleb could continue the hot shooting he showed last season (41.3% on 2.6 attempts), especially when you consider his only other sample size (31.5% on 2.3 attempts in 20/21) showed he struggled with his outside shot. Well, so far this season, Caleb has shown that last season might be the new normal for him. I still believe Caleb would be best suited off the bench as a Jimmy Butler replacement, but with no realistic option to slot into the starting 4 spot, we have a solid 3 & D wing holding it down.

Quickly want to talk about how the Heat were defending in this one. Their effort from start to finish was some of the best I have seen all season long. They were making those extra effort plays and the rotations were on point except for in the 3rd quarter, which is when things started to fall apart a bit. A big reason for this was the decision to double Devin Booker and get the ball out of his hands. With Chris Paul injured, Booker is the only player on the Sun's that could consistently create offense for himself. Unfortunately, Booker was able to pick that scheme apart with pinpoint passes to wide open shooters and allowed Phoenix to open things up on the court they were getting to the rim with ease and with so much chaos going on the Heat couldn't secure rebounds either. Keeps me going back to the thought that this level of intensity they play with due to their lack of size hurts their ability to make those hustle plays for all 48 minutes.

As for Max Strus, he didn't have the impact you might expect from the outside as he shot just 1-of-5 from deep and 2-of-8 overall, but he was doing all the little things that make him indispensable for this team. He now has a reputation as one of the better sharpshooters in the game, so his gravity is extremely important to this team's flow offensively. However, the best part about his game is the fact that he can hold his own defensively without fouling. This allows Coach Spoelstra to keep him in the game and the Heat don't have to resort to a 2/3 zone with him in the game like they usually do with Duncan Robinson in the game.

Lastly, this bench rotation of Gabe Vincent, Dewayne Dedmon and Robinson has been able to provide solid production over the last couple of games. All three of them finished in double figures, however no points were as important as the run Dedmon put on in the 3rd quarter to keep this team alive when they were taking knockout punch after knockout punch. Vincents steadiness with the ball in his hands is great to watch as he is starting to orchestrate the offense when he is out there. It's easy to spot the influence of Lowry in his game and that'll only benefit Miami in the long run. Duncan seems to have found his shot and more importantly a consistent role in this rotation. His gravity on the outside is some of the best you'll find in the league and now that he's adding that in-between game he becomes that much more dangerous. Still needs to improve defensively, but one thing at a time.

Next up, the Miami Heat will be taking on the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, November 16th at 7:30 PM EST. This will be the third matchup of the season between these two teams and both are coming in banged up. Toronto has been without Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Precious Achiuwa for an extended period while Miami has been without Tyler Herro for the passed three games as well as the continued absences of Victor Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven. Miami has started to pile some wins up and they'll need to continue this strong play against a young and hungry Toronto Raptors team.