The Miami Heat secure the season series against the Philadelphia 76ers (3-1) with a dominant 137-106 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Jimmy Butler put on a show against his former team, pouring in a season-high 38 points as the Heat improve to 22-3 at home, while the 76ers' are now 9-18 on the road this season.
With today's result, the 76ers have now lost three-straight road games by double-digits and 10 of their past 12.
The Heat had four other players score in double figures, with Goran Dragic adding 24 points and six assists, Duncan Robinson 19 and Derrick Jones Jr. 15. All-Star big man Bam Adebayo finished with a near triple-double of 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Butler only needed three quarters to put his former team to the sword, pouring in 38 points on an efficient 14-of-20 from the field and 2-of-2 from the 3-point line, and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.
He added seven rebounds and two assists on the night as he filled it up from mid-range, at the rim and beyond the arc in a strong two-way performance.
"I felt great, I felt like Luka [Doncic] out there, you know that's what he be doing and it's really impressive," Butler jokingly said post-game."More than anything I'm super happy we got the dub."
The 2020 All-Star scored 23 of his 38 in the first half to put the Heat up 56-52 at the break, before they blew the game open in a dominant second-half.
ICYMI @JimmyButler went OFF for 23 points in the first half tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZcKS5qVNsH
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 4, 2020
The Heat outscored the 76ers 41-25 in the third quarter, turning up the Heat on the defensive end as they employed a zone, something the 76ers struggled to break down in each of their matchups this season.
"They have a good zone, they're well presented in the zone with length and they do a good job of filling gaps either where Joel's [Embiid] going to be or just clogging up the middle with length," Tobias Harris told reporters post-game.
"Every time they presented a zone.... its' been pretty tough for us."
Embiid, who recorded a team-high 29 points to go with 12 rebounds, only made one field goal in the third as the Heat went into the fourth quarter with a comfortable 20-point lead.
Ben Simmons finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Mike Scott added 17 points off the bench. Tobias Harris and Al Horford combined for just 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
On night's when their offence isn't clicking, the 76ers have relied on their defensive pressure to bail them out, but the Heat weren't budging on either end.
The Heat's 137 points were a season-high, while their 31-point victory was their largest margin of the season, thanks largely to some red-hot shooting.
Miami connected on 56.5 percent of their field goals and 50 percent of their 3s (16-of-32), while the 76ers shot 43.8 percent from the floor and 13-of-38 from 3.
Despite the Heat's free-flowing ball movement, they turned the ball over just three times, while turning 14 Philly turnovers into 22 points.
The 76ers will look to regroup before a marquee matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, while the Heat visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
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