NBA Notes: Heat, Klay Thompson, Magic, Anthony Black, Celtics

Heat

Klay Thompson hasn’t had the smoothest start in Miami. But when he gets going, well, we’ve seen what that looks like.

Thompson hit five threes in the third quarter of Friday’s 145-125 win over the depleted Pacers, finishing with 25 points and seven makes in 12 attempts from deep, as Adel Burton of Miami Heat On SI details⁠.

That gave Indiana another problem on a night when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo were already creating plenty. Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists. Adebayo added 27 points and nine boards as Miami won its second straight after opening 0-4.

Burton also highlighted Davion Mitchell’s work organizing the offense. Mitchell delivered 15 points and 11 assists, his fourth double-double in six games. Pelle Larsson scored 18 without missing a shot from the field, continuing to give Miami another player who can handle the ball and keep it moving.

Magic

Anthony Black gave the Magic something they needed Friday. He made decisions quickly, found teammates and took the open threes instead of thinking about them.

As Matt Hanifan of Orlando Magic On SI writes⁠, Black’s performance helped Orlando turn a 30-point loss in Toronto on Wednesday into a 121-114 win over the same opponent two nights later.

Black finished with 17 points, six rebounds and 10 assists against one turnover. He also made three of four from deep. Franz Wagner supplied 26 points and 11 assists, looking considerably more comfortable against Toronto’s length than he had Wednesday, Hanifan noted.

Stopping Scottie Barnes was another matter. Barnes scored 41, but Orlando made 18 threes and outscored Toronto by 21 points from beyond the arc. Desmond Bane hit six of them, including four in the opening quarter.

Celtics

Jayson Tatum scored 26 points against the Bulls. Some of his other useful work involved getting in a defender’s way.

John Karalis of Boston Celtics On SI⁠ highlighted Tatum’s screening in Friday’s 125-110 win, with Boston using its stars and shooters to keep Chicago guessing about where the next threat was coming from.

Bulls coach Tiago Splitter saw the challenge beforehand.

“I think Boston is one of the best teams in the league off the ball,” Splitter said. “You got to really talk on defense.”

Chicago didn’t do enough of that. Payton Pritchard scored 30 off the bench, while Paul George contributed 18 points, eight assists and three steals. Karalis noted that all three steals produced Boston points.

Joe Mazzulla still found something to dislike. After Neemias Queta surrendered consecutive offensive rebounds in the third quarter, he quickly went back to the bench.