Heat unable to complete another comeback, fall to Magic 126-114 in overtime

Jimmy Butler did everything down the stretch, but Miami doesn’t have anything to show for it in the end.

After battling back from down 14 in the second-half against the Cleveland Cavaliers a mere 24 hours ago, the Miami Heat were unable complete a second-straight comeback after Jimmy Butler forced overtime, falling 126-114 against the Orlando Magic inside the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

The Heat trailed by 15 with six minutes to go, but nine unanswered from Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo sliced the deficit to three before Jalen Suggs’ 3-pointer made it 104-98 with 2:40 left.

Miami was eventually able to cut it to 106-105 with five seconds left. Jalen Suggs nailed a pair of free throws that increased it to 108-105, but Butler’s preposterous 3-pointer — splitting the shot contests of Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr. — tied it at 108.

I ask: How did he make this??? Well because he’s Jimmy Buckets — that’s how.

Though Orlando promptly opened overtime with a 15-4 run and didn’t look back. The Magic finished 7-for-9 in overtime and went 48.5 percent for the game. Miami made only two of its four overtime attempts and went 44.4 percent for the evening.

Butler was remarkable, even though he oddly didn’t touch the ball much in overtime. He tallied a team-high 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting, adding five rebounds with a steal in 39 minutes. Bam Adebayo conjured together 14 points while Tyler Herro (dealing with food poisoning, per head coach Erik Spoelstra) totaled 14 points, five rebounds and three assists on 6-of-13 shooting.

Kyle Lowry returned after missing 14 straight games, adding 12 points with four assists, two steals and one block on 4-of-8 shooting in 36 minutes. He finished a team-low minus-17.

The Magic had seven double-figure scorers, led by Wendell Carter Jr., who recorded a 27-point, 11-rebound double-double. Paolo Banchero sported a double-double of his own and was one assist shy of a triple-double, tallying 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Franz Wagner finished with 17 points on 10 shots; Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs finished with 16 points apiece as well.

Butler did everything for Miami down the stretch, but unfortunately the team doesn’t have anything to show for it. The Heat now fall three games behind the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks in the standings, but remain 1.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Hawks in lieu of its 134-125 loss to the Boston Celtics.