The Miami Heat just made NBA history on Tuesday night.
They set the record for the most free throws without a miss in a single game, going 40 for 40 from the charity stripe during their 112-111 nail-bitting win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Jimmy Butler scored the second-most free throws without a miss (23), trailing only James Harden (24) in that regard.
However, not even coach Erik Spoelstra was aware of that incredible milestone during the game, although he wasn’t that surprised, either:
“I didn’t realize we hadn’t missed a free throw,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “We’ve been a very good free-throw shooting team all year, but that’s crazy.”
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1613062754914668545
That’s not a stretch.
Crazy as it is, the Heat are actually leading the league in free-throw percentage (82.6%), although they rank 25th in attempts per game (22.4)
Also, the fact that they needed to be perfect from the line to beat a rebuilding team at home by one point should be a sign of concern for coach Spo.
“It’s just a normal Tuesday night for the Miami Heat,” Spoelstra added. “I think this is when we feel most alive, when everything just happens and when all of our competitive juices get out there. That’s the team we all can relate to. That’s the team I like.”
Even so, he decided to focus on the positive aspects of this win and hoped it could help them gain some much-needed momentum.
The Heat have been inconsistent and struggling with injuries for the better part of the season, and they look far from the championship contender they used to be.
But hey, a record is a record.
