Where does Jaquez’s 31-point Christmas rank and other takeaways from Heat’s win over 76ers

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 119-113 Christmas win over the Philadelphia 76ers (20-9) on Monday night to extend its winning streak to three games and close a quick two-game homestand at 2-0. The Heat (18-12) now heads to the other side of the country for a five-game West Coast trip that begins Thursday against the Golden State Warriors:

This Christmas game between two short-handed teams turned into a wild one. But the Heat managed to hold on behind a memorable performance from rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. to move six games above .500 for the first time this season.

The Heat entered without three rotation players, as Jimmy Butler (strained left calf), Haywood Highsmith (non-COVID illness) and Josh Richardson (low back discomfort) were unavailable.

The 76ers were without reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid because of a sprained right ankle.

That led to uneven play by both teams and created opportunities for others to step into bigger roles.

The 22-year-old Jaquez took advantage, recording career-highs in points (31) points and rebounds (10) for his first NBA double-double. He was efficient, too, shooting 11 of 15 from the field, 1 of 3 from three-point range and 8 of 8 from the foul line.

“This is a game that I thought he had around 21 points,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I didn’t think he had that kind of game because he does a lot of stuff without the ball in his hands. I don’t think I called one play for him tonight, literally.”

Jaquez’s 31-point night tied Kyle Kuzma for the seventh-most points scored on Christmas by a rookie in NBA history. The only rookies to score more points on the holiday are Wilt Chamberlain (45), Walt Bellamy (35), LeBron James (34), Bill Cartwright (33), Patrick Ewing (32) and Oscar Robertson (32).

Jaquez also became the first NBA rookie to finish with a 30-point double-double on Christmas since Ewing did it in 1985.

Jaquez also joined Dwyane Wade, Khalid Reeves, Kendrick Nunn, Tyler Herro, Sherman Douglas and Caron Butler as the only Heat rookies in franchise history to score more than 30 points in a game.

“Definitely special,” Jaquez said. “Great to get a win, career night, Christmas. I grew up watching these games and to be able to play and have a career night, I just go back to all the hard work and late nights in the gym just preparing for moments like this.”

But Jaquez’s special night would have been spoiled if the Heat would have blown another big lead, which nearly happened.

The Heat pulled ahead by 21 points with 10:54 left in the third quarter and the 76ers responded with a huge 37-14 run to quickly erase that deficit and take a two-point lead with 11.3 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Heat guard Kyle Lowry scored on a layup on the final possession of the period to tie the score at 86 entering the fourth quarter.

That’s when the Heat did something it hasn’t done enough this season, win the fourth quarter to win the game.

The Heat, which entered Monday with the NBA’s worst fourth-quarter net rating, took a one-point lead with 10:31 left in the fourth quarter and never trailed again.

With the score tied at 99 with 6:13 to play, the Heat went on a game-deciding 18-7 run to take control of the game and pull ahead by 11 points with 51 seconds to play on its way to the victory.

The 76ers threw a zone defense at the Heat for most of the second half and it slowed Miami at times. But the Heat found enough answers down the stretch to score 20 points over the final six minutes of the game.

Along with Jaquez’s career night, Heat center Bam Adebayo added 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, 15 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

It wasn’t Herro’s most efficient effort, but he still finished with 22 points on 8-of-25 shooting from the field and 4-of-11 shooting on threes, six rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block for the Heat.

And Duncan Robinson contributed 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from deep off the Heat’s bench.

Meanwhile, 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey struggled. In Embiid’s absence, Maxey finished with 12 points on 4-of-20 shooting from the field and 1-of-8 shooting on threes.

The Heat already had blown two 21-point leads this season in a 100-98 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 24 and a 102-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls at United Center on Nov. 18.

Monday’s win kept the Heat from losing a third game this season after taking a 21-point lead.

“I think that’s just the way Heat basketball has been this year,” Jaquez said when asked about the huge swings in Monday’s game. “I don’t know if today was a roller coaster. All the days are a roller coaster when it comes to playing in this league and trying to get wins. Great team effort, I think overall.”

As if the Heat’s injury issues haven’t been bad enough, there’s now a new injury to monitor.

Caleb Martin, who started his 10th straight game for the Heat, left Monday’s win early because of a sprained right ankle.

Martin played just 8:43 before exiting the game late in the first quarter and heading back to the Heat’s locker room. He was then ruled out for the rest of the night.

“Who knows?” Spoelstra said when asked for an update on Martin’s injury following Monday’s win. “You ask him and any player right know would say they’re fine. He sprained his ankle. I didn’t see footage of it. We’ll just see how he responds tomorrow.”

Martin, 28, has already dealt with an injury this season, missing 10 games at the start of the season because of left knee tendinosis.

Entering Monday’s contest, Martin was averaging career-highs in points (11.5 per game), rebounds, (5.1) and assists (2.3) while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from three-point range this season.

The Heat already entered Monday with the fourth-most missed games in the NBA this season due to injury at 91 games, according to Spotrac’s injury tracker.

Essentially playing without four rotation players, the Heat used two two-way contract players off its bench to log meaningful minutes.

The Heat entered Monday’s game without Butler, Highsmith and Richardson, and then lost Martin late in the first quarter.

So the Heat turned to the back-end of its roster to help fill some of those voids, using two-way contract players Jamal Cain and RJ Hampton against the 76ers.

Cain entered for his first action of the night with 3:17 left in the first quarter, finishing the win with three points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. It marked his ninth game appearance with the Heat this season.

Hampton entered for his first first minutes of the game with 6:39 left in the second quarter, closing scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting from the field and dishing out four assists in a season-high 17 minutes. It marked his third game appearance with the Heat this season, as Hampton began Monday’s second half in place of the injured Martin.

“Probably their stat line doesn’t jump out at all. But they gave us very good minutes,” Spoelstra said of Cain and Hampton. “They have prepared for that. It’s not easy for the players in their situation, where you don’t know if you’re going to play. And most nights, you probably have an idea that you’re not going to play. But you still have to stay ready and things change so quickly in this league.

“No one knew that we would have a sickness and then J-Rich was a late-day scratch and then Caleb all of a sudden spraining an ankle. Those guys gave us some really good minutes. They both were matched up against Maxey and he’s one of the toughest covers. ... Without their minutes, it probably could have looked a whole lot different.”

The only available Heat players who did not play on Monday were Thomas Bryant, Nikola Jovic, Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider.

The expectation is that Butler will soon make his return for the Heat.

Butler missed his third straight game with a strained left calf. It also marked the seventh game he has missed this season.

The hope was that Butler would return from injury to be available for Monday’s matchup against the 76ers, but an illness set his rehab back a bit. But the expectation is Butler will return during the Heat’s West Coast trip that begins on Thursday against the Warriors.

“He’s going to go on this road trip with us,” Spoelstra said when asked whether he’s confident that Butler will return early in the upcoming trip. “We have another day before the next practice, two days before we get to San Francisco. I really don’t know right now what the timetable is. We’ll have a better idea by then.”

Jaquez made his third straight start in place of Butler, with Miami winning each of those three games that Butler has sat out because of his calf injury.

The Heat 4-3 in games that Butler has missed this season.

The Heat’s winning ways on Christmas continued.

With Monday’s win, the Heat’s all-time record on Christmas improved to 12-2 for the highest winning percentage on the holiday among teams who have made more than one Christmas appearance.

The Heat has now won night straight games on Christmas. The last Christmas game the Heat lost came against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007.

And Spoelstra is now 9-0 on Christmas as the Heat’s head coach. The only other head coaches in the NBA, NHL and NFL who are undefeated on the holiday (minimum five games) are Les Harrison, who posted a 7-0 Christmas record as the coach of the NBA’s Rochester Royals in the 1940s and ’50s, and Frank Boucher, who was 6-0-1 on Christmas as the coach of the New York Rangers (1939-54).

“It still is a super small sample size,” Spoelstra joked when asked about the Heat’s success on Christmas.

With a long West Coast trip up next, the Heat’s next game in Miami is two weeks away. The Heat next home game is on Jan. 8 against the Houston Rockets.