Wiggins’ 42 points help Heat snap 10-game slide in 122-105 victory over Hornets, with Butler, Warriors up next

MIAMI — Finally, an exhale.

For the first time since March 3, the Miami Heat tasted success, with Sunday night’s 122-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at Kaseya Center.

The 10-game losing streak is over.

The seven-game home losing streak is over.

For at least one night, misery put on hold.

Yes, it came against an opponent that now stands 18-53, but also against an opponent that less than two weeks ago won on the Heat’s court.

So the Heat take it and move on to a Tuesday night game with far more juice, with Jimmy Butler returning in the colors of the Golden State Warriors.

“I mentioned this to the guys, I’m not going to ever take it for granted,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of winning. “I don’t think that I did take it for granted, but I don’t think we’re going to take it for granted how difficult sometimes it could be to win in this league.”

This time, instead of blowing an early double-digit lead, the Heat bounced back from one. This time there was not as significant a degree of concern of a fourth-quarter lapse, with the lead already into the 20s at the start of the final period.

At 30-41, the Heat, with 11 games to play, remain one loss from their first losing season since 2018-19, and still appear a likely No. 10 seed for the play-in tournament.

But with Andrew Wiggins closing with 42 points and Tyler Herro 29, there were smiles all around for the first time in nearly three weeks.

“We played connected, we played together.” Wiggins said.

Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Hornets led 26-20 after the first period, with the Heat then pushing back from an early 12-point deficit to a 57-47 halftime lead.

The Hornets had only one basket over the final 9:21 of the second quarter, with the Heat closing the first half on a 22-2 run.

The Heat then moved to a 96-75 lead entering the fourth.

From there, the Heat moved to a 24-point lead, only to see Charlotte claw back within 103-90, with Wiggins and Herro reinserted by that point to restore order.

“We’ll enjoy this one,” Spoelstra said, “and hopefully start to put together some games.”

2. Still going: Two nights after scoring 30 against the Rockets, Wiggins was up to 17 points at halftime on 7-of-11 shooting.

He then was up to his 32 points before the end of the third period, giving him his highest-scoring performance of the season, including his time with the Golden State Warriors.

Wiggins’ previous high had been 31 points for Golden State in a Jan. 18 victory over the Wizards.

It was the second-highest-scoring game of Wiggins’ career high, with his high remaining 47.

“He makes us different,” Spoelstra said. “He fits like what we need and he gives us a guy we can throw the ball to and score.”

Wiggins was acquired in the Feb. 6 trade for Butler.

He closed 16 of 21 from the field.

“As you lose more and more,” he said, “you become desperate to win.

“As the shots went in, I felt better and better.”

3. Herro, too: Listed as questionable earlier in the day due to hip contusion, Herro played with an aggressive bent.

The performance came after he was limited to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting in Friday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets, the second time in four games he had been limited to eight points.

With his first 3-pointer, Herro joined Duncan Robinson, Damon Jones and current assistant coach Wayne Ellington as the only players in the franchise’s 37 years with at least 225 in a season.

He now stands on point shy of moving past Rony Sekaly for seventh place on the Heat all-time scoring list.

“It feels amazing just to get the win,” Herro said. “It feels great.”

4. Pushing through: Also listed as questionable earlier in the day, with a sprained left knee, Heat big man Bam Adebayo appeared to be limited with his lift, missing several short attempts.

He closed with 11 points and four rebounds, with fellow Heat big man Kel’el Ware finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds.

“Man, I do not take it for granted,” Adebayo said of the victory breakthrough. “It’s good to see us not let go of the rope.”

5. On deck: Next up is Butler’s return, when the Heat host the Golden State Warriors in Tuesday night’s nationally televised game (TNT only).

ESPN reported Sunday that Stephen Curry also could be available Tuesday, to rejoin the Warriors for Monday’s practice after being sidelined by a pelvic bruise.

The Warriors are 16-4 since Butler’s arrival (16-3 in the games he has played, having missed the game at Philadelphia due to back spasms). He left the Heat amid a contentious disagreement with the coaching staff, management and ownership.

“We had a great five-year run and we didn’t win a title, but only one team does,” Spoelstra said when asked about Butler. “We had some great moments here. We all get past that, that’s what you always remember. It doesn’t matter what everybody feels right now.”