Winderman’s view: With Wiggins’ emergence, Heat winners in more than just a game

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 122-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets:

– There were times after the Feb. 6 trade of Jimmy Butler to the Warriors that the question was whether the Heat got anything tangible in return.

– Now, as Golden State and Butler arrive at Kaseya Center for Tuesday night’s game, the Heat have a definitive answer.

– Two nights after scoring 30 in the loss to the Rockets, Andrew Wiggins again was filling it up.

– This time reaching 30 with 4:54 to play in the third period.

– And not stopping there, on the way to 42.

– Suddenly it is apparent why the Warriors lamented what they had to give up to get Butler.

– All it took was a return to health.

– No, Wiggins has not produced Butler-level winning.

– But he has provided hope.

– Which, at this moment, counts for plenty with the Heat.

– For weeks, as Wiggins dealt with ankle and calf issues, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke of Wiggins’ possibilities.

– Now, on display for all to see.

– Whether it can be 30 on a routine basis remains to be seen.

– But for any team to be successful, there have to be multiple 30-point threats.

– So now, if not Tyler Herro or Bam Adebayo, then Wiggins in place for moments of his own.

– Friday night was heartening as Wiggins attempted to keep the Heat afloat.

– Sunday night was even more meaningful, coming in a victory.

– The Heat might not have won the Butler trade.

– But at the moment, not nearly as much sense of loss.

– Spoelstra again spun his wheel of lineups, this time replacing Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the starting lineup with Duncan Robinson.

– The other four starters remained Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, Kel’el Ware and Tyler Herro.

– Haywood Highsmith and Davion Mitchell entered together first off the Heat bench.

– Jaquez followed.

– That basically was it.

– Before Alec Burks entered for the first time late in the third period.

– With Terry Rozier again out of the mix.

– Spoelstra again was asked pregame about his perception of progress with his team.

– “We continue to compete definitely defensively,” he said. “And what I want to see is, like, thought process, particularly when we get in those fourth quarters. Are we doing things with intention?”

– He added, “At this point now, we’ve had so many clutch games, we know what our package of sets are, we know what we’re trying to get to, how we’re trying to attack and can we just do it consistently.”

– Sunday marked four weeks since Nikola Jovic broke his right hand, the timeframe when the team said an update could be forthcoming.”

– “We’re still waiting on the evaluation,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s able to do everything. As you can imagine, he’s doing all the conditioning, he’s doing all the weight-room work that he can do. So that won’t be an issue.”

– Spoelstra added. “It will just be whenever he’s fully cleared just to get comfortable with the ball and everything. And he’s doing exercises with that, in that regard as well.”

– Adebayo’s first offensive rebound was the 1,250th of his career.

– Adebayo’s first assist moved him past Mario Chalmers and into fourth place on the Heat all-time assist list.

– Mitchell’s first rebound was the 500th of his career.