By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Miami Heat just inked their franchise in the NBA history books after setting the record for most free throws drained without a single miss last January 11, 2023.
The red and white nation did the incredible milestone during their nail-biting 112-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in another NBA inter-conference showdown.
Miami edged the record first set by the Utah Jazz last 1982 NBA season when they finished the game with 39 perfect free throws.
Superstar small forward Jimmy Butler led the way for Miami after leading all scorers with 35 big points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
Butler’s 35-point outing was built mainly from an impressive 23/23 shooting from the charity stripe including the most important ones in the last two minutes of the game.
Miami’s other 17 made free throws then came from Gabe Vincent who had six, Jamal Cain who buried five, and Dewayne Dedmon, Max Struss, and Victor Oladipo with two each.
It was a hard-fought win for Miami that needed every free throw to be made after missing a bulk of their active roster against Oklahoma due to injuries.
The Heat played without three of their main guys, center Bam Adebayo, chief orchestrator Kyle Lowry, and savvy shooting guard Tyler Herro.
Miami came into the game with a sense of urgency and attacked the loose Oklahoma perimeter defense from the get-go.
Butler was already locked-in since the first quarter started and immediately put Miami in the driver’s seat after fishing for fouls in the first six minutes of the game.
The win helped Miami improve to 22 wins and 20 losses and is currently in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
