The Miami Heat hung on and managed to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it wasn’t easy at all.
If anything, Erik Spoelstra’s team needed all the help they could get, including 40 trips to the free-throw line.
More impressively, the Heat didn’t miss a single free throw in the entire game, setting a new NBA record for the most makes without a miss in NBA history.
A record night from the charity stripe for the Heat ♨️ pic.twitter.com/GoHpa9jHUz
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 11, 2023
That, plus a late six-point rally, helped the team get a much-needed 112-111 home win.
Notably, Jimmy Butler was particularly efficient in the outing.
He scored 35 points, 23 of those via freebies, logging the second-most free-throws without a miss in a single game in NBA history, trailing just James Harden and his 24-for-24 outing.
However, Butler couldn’t care less about that feature.
In fact, he didn’t even know they had set a record and was only focused on getting the win:
“I had no idea,” Butler said postgame. “I’m more excited that we won this game by one point. We won. [It was a] Complete team effort. I’m proud of my guys. Whatever it takes to win. We always talk about finding a way to win. This is a good start to that,” the 33-year-old added.
It’s been a tough season for the Heat overall.
They’ve looked old and out of sync through key stretches, and some believe it’s just a matter of time before they either make a big trade or blow their roster up.
Hopefully, this win will be the catalyst they need to finally turn their season around.
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