Sunday, April 9, 2023

Heat Top Magic in Udonis Haslem Finale

     Udonis Haslem scored 24 points during 25 minutes of play in his final regular season game as the Miami Heat handled the Orlando Magic 123-110 at Kaseya Arena on Sunday in their regular season finale. It tied for the third-most points put in by Haslem in his NBA career. A pregame ceremony was held for the Miami forward and captain before the contest started. 
     Haslem played in his final regular season game with the club after 20 seasons. He participated in his seventh game in 2022-23 and entered the contest with 9:05 left in the first quarter. 
     It was the most points scored by him in a regular season contest since November 14, 2009. He had 24 points for the Heat at home against the New Jersey Nets. It was the first time in Haslem's career that he drained in three different three-point shots in an NBA game. He also slam-dunked the basketball on a field goal for the first time since 2014. 
     The Heat played a game at the newly named Kaseya Center. The UFC had an event held at the newly named venue last night. 
     The Heat finished seventh in the Eastern Conference. They will host the Atlanta Hawks in the 7-versus-8 play-in series on Tuesday night.  If the Heat win the play-in game, then they will travel to Boston and face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Magic finished out of the postseason for the ninth time in 11 years. 
     Orlando(34-48) began the first quarter on a 16-8 spurt. Miami(43-38) responded scoring 13 straight points, which included 11 points from Haslem, to go up 21-16. The Magic held a 24-23 after one quarter while Haslem had a game-high 13 points. The Heat had a slight 52-50 lead at halftime. 
     Both teams stayed close to each other in the second half with the Magie ahead 85-84 at the end of the third quarter. Miami(44-38) went on an 18-4 run in the first six minutes of the final quarter. 
     Duncan Robinson had a season-high 20 points for the Heat. Victor Oladipo compiled 19 points and eight assists. Nobody in Miami's starting lineup scored in double digits. The Heat franchise had over 100 points scored by their bench. Kevon Harris dropped in a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds for Orlando. 

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