Jan. 10—In a scramble for a loose ball, the Miami Heat was able to recover it and push the pace.

The ball found Jimmy Butler, who made the layup plus a foul shot to give the Heat a one-point lead with 12.2 seconds left.

It was only fitting that Butler — who had a historic night at the free-throw line — had a chance to seal the win.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed on a potential game-winning 3-pointer on the other end as the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Heat, 112-111, on Tuesday.

The Heat — who only had nine players available, dwindling to eight following Dewayne Dedmon’s second-quarter ejection — struggled to generate offense, shooting 31-of-79 (39.2%) from the field and 10-of-33 (30.3%).

But they compensated for it with a historic shooting performance at the free throw line. The Heat went a perfect 40-of-40 from the line, setting a new NBA record for most free throws made without a miss in a single game.

The previous record was held by the Utah Jazz, which made all 39 attempts in a game back in 1982.

Butler was responsible for 23 of those free throws as he scored 35 points on 6-of-17 shooting, marking the first time in NBA history that a player scored at least 35 points on six or fewer made shots, per Basketball Reference.

Here are three other takeaways from the Thunder’s tough one-point loss:

Despite late miss, Gilgeous-Alexander plays well

Tuesday marked the first time Gilgeous- Alexander and the Thunder played a nationally-televised game since the 2020 NBA playoffs.

In that last appearance, Gilgeous-Alexander was a 21-year-old sophomore learning from veteran point guard Chris Paul.

A lot has changed since then. Gilgeous-Alexander, now 24 years old, entered Tuesday averaging 30.9 points per game on 50.1 percent shooting.

He got off to a slow start against the Heat, scoring just two points in the first quarter. But he found his rhythm as the game went on, finishing with 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting.

Josh Giddey does it all

The sophomore guard also had a solid showing in his first national TV game.

Giddey finished with his sixth career triple-double at 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

But the most impressive play for Giddey was on the defensive end.

Defending a three-on-one Heat fast break midway through the fourth quarter, Giddey was able to stop the advantage without fouling.

While the Thunder need Giddey’s offense, defensive plays like that could help him round him out to be an overall quality player on both ends.

Third-quarter advantage for Thunder At halftime, the Thunder trailed 63-56. It’s not a position the Thunder are unfamiliar with. The Thunder have the best net rating in third quarters in the NBA at plus-13.5. The second-place Jazz is at 8.7.

Meanwhile, the Heat has struggled coming out of the half this season. They rank 26th in net rating at minus-8.4.

The Thunder outscored the Heat 32-26 and trailed by just one point entering the fourth quarter.

Up next: The Thunder continues its road trip by playing the Philadelphia 76ers at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.