An uninspiring final three quarters for the Miami Heat led to its demise Monday evening on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers, falling 121-104.
The Heat–without Jimmy Butler, Josh Richardson, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith–jumped out to a quick 35-23 advantage after one quarter and 14 midway through the second.
But it failed to get stops in zone defensively against the Clippers’ three-headed monster in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden, who was acquired in early November. Los Angeles converted on 60.0 percent (39-65) of its field goal attempts over the final three quarters, including 14-of-19 at the rim, 23-of-33 inside the paint and 11-of-23 from 3-point range over that span.
Los Angeles outscored Miami 98-69 over the final 36 minutes, culminating in one of the worst Heat outputs this season. It finished shooting 58.8 percent and 14-of-29 from distance; Kawhi Leonard led with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Paul George tallied 23 points on 7-of-14 from the floor–both making their impact felt against the Heat’s weaker defenders.
Norman Powell punctured Miami’s zone throughout, posting 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 4-of-5 from deep in 33 minutes off the bench; Harden tallied a 15-point, 10-assist double-double on eight shots.
Bam Adebayo tallied another double-double in Monday’s loss, adding 21 points, 15 rebounds and four assists; Tyler Herro had just 12 points and six assists while Jaime Jaquez had 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals in a homecoming.
Another UCLA alum, Kevin Love, had one of his best games of the season and, frankly, was arguably the Heat’s best player off the bench. He tallied 17 points, four boards, three dimes with two blocks and converted on seven of his 11 field goal attempts. Duncan Robinson also had 15 points on 3-of-7 shooting off the bench.
The Clippers have won 12 of their last 14 games, improving to 20-12 while the Heat–who have dropped two straight–fall to 19-14. The Heat will play the fourth of their five-game road trip against the struggling Los Angeles Lakers, who have not found any sort of rhythm after winning the inaugural play-in tournament in early December.
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Very interesting blog. A lot of blogs I see these days don’t really provide anything that I’m interested in, but I’m most definitely interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know read more
Terry Rozier (contracted through 2025-2026) and Miles Bridges (expiring) for Herro, Jovic and a pick?
Rozier: 24.1 ppg. 3.8 rpg, 7.1 apg, 36.3 3-pt%
Bridges: 20.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 32.8 3-pt%
charlotte never do that.dont need bridges.anyway
Probably the worst team to play when you’re missing almost all your top perimeter defenders.
Harden, George and Leonard spent the whole game just picking on Herro defensively.
And their length bothered him on the other end.
So he ended up being a huge negative for that game.
And since Spo was looking to protect 37year old Lowry from getting abused, Herro was the MF who ended up being the sacrificial lamb for the Clippers elite perimeter trio.
Something like that. But Heat also pick Harden as the target on the other side.
Both coaches did their job well.
reality czech not happy with this post.i keep on saying ty is an average to above avg player when u look at his d ,injury history.volume of shots he takes.shooting %…jjj is the better overall player already.a big part of tys problem is his upper body strength ,hes a good rebounder great ft shooter but overall not seeing him as a major positive like a jim bam jjj are.id rather see cain and hh(injured) on the ct over ty especially with cats like pg and kawhi on ct.at least i know they can make it failry difficult for them to socre,i can see ty getting 15 mins of pt but he just cant defend well enough for big time mins.same goes for dunc.give me the 2 wayers or defenders any day of the week.show me any good teams with a real weak defender let alone 2.come on spo gotta be better.
Well you just have to get used to wonderboy and Dunc until a good deal comes through.
i dont mind one on the ct but with both on ct lanes open up and buckets are a dime a dozen
Plus he has no choice with all the injuries.
This is truth about Ty. This is why he is the one I point to trading. The only part about this untrue is HH replacing him. HH not nearly good enough offensive threat to replace anyone on a good team, and maybe Cain isn’t either. ORob already got shown up that way, after we were all excited about him, and Cain has a chance but probably going same as ORob. All three, HH, ORob, Cain, and throw in RJ, not ready, got to hope they someday become ready, but probably won’t due to lack of offense. This team is a house of cards, faking some out by injuries disguising weaknesses. We need another real two way player, have to trade Ty to get him. Until then, I am more rooting for the Panthers, a real south Florida threat to go deep into the playoffs. The Heat are a sham and Riley has lost it until he does something to improve us. Every time we go up against someone good who is playing well and has all their players, we get exposed. Anynoby made Knick’s better. Where are our reinforcements, we never get anyone.
Anunoby (autocorrection)
the heat are a sham come on 30 your better than that.heat are great great org since riley got here.what have the panthers ever done how many champs
Heat aren’t a sham and pat hasn’t lost it. You probably said the samething last year before we made the finals smh. We’re the most injury depleted team in the NBA, but yet we’re still the 5th best team in the east. Also we still have the best coach in league last time a checked. Few of you heat fans are so quick to give up and lose faith quickly after losing a couple of games. Yes ,we will eventually need to make a trade, but one thing we’re not is a SHAM. How many teams do you think can be a top 5 team in there conference, while having 3-4 injured players out every game? Only 1 the miami heat. For more context, when was the last any championship contending Team had a rookie leading the team in the minutes? I’ll wait. So think twice before calling us a sham. Also Riley will show you doubters he hasn’t lost it.
You’re overeating man.
You’re ripping dudes who were either undrafted or drafted late and are still mostly in their earlier stages of development.
Most of them are not even finished products and they’re already outperforming their draft positions.
Not only that but if we were healthy most of these dudes you’re killing wouldn’t even be seeing the floor.
Take it easy bro, Riley is a PHD at basketball. He has proven that multiple times over.
Wait until we’re healthy for at least a few games before you lay judgement on this team.
Until then you have to give Pat the benefit of the doubt.
He’s earned it…..multiple times over.
He has, but that was then. We need more now. This team is a sham, not as good as everyone thinks. The injuries are camouflaging the weaknesses. Bam, is better than ever, Dunc is improved, Ty is better too. Jaime is the best addition to this years team. JRich helps some and Caleb has the potential to. The rest are hit or miss, good games and ineffective ones. And, we miss Gabe a little. But, the biggest change is Jimmy. It seems pretty clear that he can’t carry an inordinate amount of his share to take us to the NBA championship round like last year. And Lowry is even less than last year too. Last year was last and things are different now. Jimmy and Bam need more.
You’re twisting my words bro to make it look like Tyler is a negative player.
That is not what I’m saying here. I’m saying he was a negative for just this game.
He’s been mostly a positive for the season.
Before that last game he was playing like a top 6-7 sg.
George and Leonard are just bigger, stronger and better than he is so they’re a bad matchup for him.
Hell those MFs are a bad matchup for 99.9% of the nba.
Can’t kill the guy for getting abused by guys that 99.9% of the nba can’t guard.
Tyler wouldn’t be guarding those dudes under normal circumstances but since we were missing all our top perimeter defenders and Spo was trying to protect Duncan and Lowry.
Tyler ended up in the lion’s den.
Just one game bro. Don’t get it twisted.
Tyler is only 23 years old and he is already a bad mofo.
He just needs to learn how to absorb and sell contact so that he can get to the line more.
So report is the wiz made kuzma available for trade, and they supposedly want multiple first round picks, would y’all make the offer or no?
NO! Heat need a starting 2-way PG and PF. Kuzma is neither.
At 6’ 9”, couldn’t he slide to pf? He’d be taller than anyone we’re using there now. As for ‘multiple first round picks’, no.
If you aren’t in to defense, I guess. Worst rating in the NBA! https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=best+power+forward+defensive+rating+2023-24
Wow. Pass. We already have enough weakness in that area.
There was a time when he played defense within a system where he wasn’t required to be main scorer.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=best+power+forward+defensive+rating+2020-21
His contract is cheap enough. If he could revert to that player defensively, he might be worth a gamble.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/WAS.html
Kuzma and Ty Jones for Lowry, Martin, Jovic and pick?
Okay, fine, I’m on the bandwagon, off the bandwagon, on the bandwagon. I like that both are under 30. Can we give them Highsmith or Richardson or Bryant and keep Jovic?
If their starting point was multiple first round picks just for Kuzma, I don’t think they will take it. He has 4 year contract and Jones is in last year. Other teams with stockpiles of picks will be willing to give more.
dont want to give up shnozic, hes being spotrasized, play him 7ft pg pass rebound shoots well looks like, need to see more of him spo
is he better than hh or caleb.hes got the physique of a pf.previous 2 little spo midgets playing out of position
no. respectfully
I like Kuzma, and I think he would be an upgrade at Power Forward. The Heat have been playing Small Forwards (like Jamie and Jimmy) at the Power Forward position all season. Plus he can stretch the floor, so he’s a natural fit with Bam. In a vacuum, I would love to see him in a Heat uni.
But I don’t think the Heat are trading multiple first round picks for a high-end role player. if they have a winning streak in January and they’re climbing the standings, maybe they offer a pick and some matching contracts for Kuzma, but I doubt that’s enough to get it done.
Unless Tyler Herro proves he can be a go-to 4th quarter scorer, the Heat are going to hold out for someone that can fill that role. I don’t expect the Heat to trade anything of value at the trade deadline unless Donovan Mitchell (or someone like him) becomes available.
I don’t think I would do it, he isn’t worth all those picks, and as Sunman stated he has the worst defense rating for pf .
I’m not worried about his defensive rating, he’s proven he can contribute to a title team. And I don’t give a crap about picks.
But I do think the Heat should save their ammo for a lead ball handler. Jimmy clearly doesn’t want to do it every night, and Tyler hasn’t proven he can do it yet. If Tyler (or Jamie) starts taking over fourth quarters, I’m fine with trading picks for Kuzma. But until that happens, it doesn’t make sense to trade future assets for role players.
Ty and JJJ can’t do it, need someone else in fourth. The only way I think Kuzma makes us better is if he isn’t the only player we get. But, if it’s Kuzma or doing nothing, I take Kuzma. I am convinced we are going nowhere without upgrades.
Ty and Jamie can’t do it yet.
They’re young, they’ve shown lots of improvement, and there’s no rush to make a move. This team has proven they can go deep into the playoffs without upgrades. And there’s too much young talent on this team to make a desperate win-now move. Let the season play out, and don’t make a move until the right player comes along.
But I do agree that if Kuzma is available at the right price, he would be a great addition to this team
Yes, we disagree on whether to go after a player now. But, we would both take Kuzma now. Kuzma is an offensive force and would be an upgrade if not too much is given in return. I would think the Wizards would be mostly interested in draft picks, and the corresponding salary, so maybe we could get another player too.
The one thing I want that many don’t is to stay Pat. The reason has always been Jimmy. How can it not be noticed that Jimmy is less the superstar than he was as the player who carried an absurdly large part of the load to the NBA finals. I believe he can still turn it on for the playoffs but hard to see him doing that next year. He needs help now. When you have a player, a person like Jimmy, you give him an adequate supporting cast, and if that means you sell out the future, so be it. I thought this at the beginning of the season and watching everything play out, I think it more now.
That should be, the one thing I don’t want…
Also, interesting to think about both Ty and Jaime being young, even though Ty is a vet, they may be around the same age.
yes, I think we both agree on the value of Kuzma. I think the only thing we disagree about is the timeline Miami should be operating under.
I consider an NBA players “prime” to be around ages 28-32. By that metric, the Heat only have two players in their primes. Caleb Martin (28) and Duncan Robinson (29). The Heat’s best player is Jimmy Butler (34), and their next three best players are Bam (26) Tyler (23) and Jamie (22).
So that is where we disagree. I think the Heat should be building around three players that are still young and will be entering their prime in the next few years. Jimmy Butler has played 13 seasons in the NBA, and his 3 best seasons all happened in the past 4 years with Miami. I think he’s great, but the Heat don’t “owe” him anything, and I think it would be foolish to compromise their bright future to build around someone that is past his prime.
All of that said, I have been a Heat fan for over 20 years, and I understand that the Heat are always in “win now” mode. So I do think the Heat should try to get better this year, and I think they will try to get better this year. But I don’t think they will give up valuable assets for anything other than a superstar, unless Tyler or Jamie prove they can be that guy.
True, you probably don’t care about picks, but I do, having picks are the reason we got bam, herro, and JJJ. so if we’re gonna use multiple picks ,then we better save them ,and use them for a star player or a 2 way pf or pg that can score 13 – 18 points a game. Kuzma is a very good player, but for multiple picks does he move the needle? Not enough. Now if it’s for one pick, a trade swap and Lowry, jovic, and hh. Then I might do it.
Fair point, Miami has done really well with non-lottery picks over the past few drafts. But I would happily see picks go out the window in exchange for a player.
The place where I agree with you is that the Heat need to save their picks for a star player. i am still holding out hope that Tyler can develop into that type of player. He’s young, he’s gotten better every season (including getting much better at defense this year). The last step is for him to become that 4th quarter crunch time scorer this team needs. If he can do that, the Heat don’t even necessarily need a ‘star player’. But until he can prove he’s that guy, I agree that the Heat need to save their trade assets
We’ve seen Tyler nearly or fully lose the ball on dribbles near or just inside the 3 a lot in the last few games. Sometimes doing what we see him drilling here (starts about a minute and a half in):
https://youtu.be/RiEXyCtj0HE?si=gy2Q0sTq6um5jYXS
Homie might himself have put out the homework on how to defend him. Something to think about.
We’ve seen him struggle against larger mobile defenders. We’ve seen him get his pocket picked by savvy point of attack defenders. This is not to say he’s not a viable volume option moving forward. On the contrary, I think he should shoot way more especially in transition. The more trigger happy he is, either opponents sag when he’s off, or go too hard when he’s hitting. But we need them to almost take for granted that there’s a guy on the floor that manufactures a reaction one way or another with little time to take the rest of the squad into account.
Opponents should either key in on him and do risky rotations to get the ball off him, or give him floaters or threes depending on where he’s hitting/not hitting.
We also see him passing a lot more. Almost too much (definitely too much in the last two games). It could work to his benefit on dho’s to just shoot it over a closeout and force a whistle instead of eating clock dribbling and scanning with an offense like ours that isn’t as mobile and doesn’t create as many catch and score opportunities.
For comparison, Dunc’s recourse of cutting wasn’t yielding much Q2 onward, and he just launched one off the hand off and got a whistle, making all 3.
All in all, I’m recommending the opposite of the Gabe development program. This is a gun slinger trying to be smart. Tell him to go channel the inner poole. His inclination seems to already lean toward intelligent play year after year
Well said
double rec. Love this comment.
My biggest complaint about Tyler right now is that he’s not even trying to take over in the 4th quarter. Every team needs that type of player, and the Heat don’t have one. Theoretically it’s jimmy, but he doesn’t want to do that until the playoffs, and even then not every night.
Tyler needs to start shooting the lights out in the fourth quarter. If he can’t make his shots, at least we know, and we’re right back to where we started, relying on Jimmy. But if he can start pouring in points when it matters most, this team can win a title.
A bunch of hungry players, supported by a genius coach, is enough to create some problems to an elite team for 3 qt. For more, somebody else besides Bam and Love should show up.
But it will be interesting to see, how flippers will sink this year.
Flippers look good this year for sure. I’m happy to see Harden not being a lead belt on a man at sea so far. Sucks they got the best of us on almost every measure for three quarters. Tbf, they were shooting the rafters off the arena all night, even as we were building a lead
Did you know that when Steve Balmer bought the Clippers, they hired the Miami Heat to design their new logo?
If you look at the Miami Heat logo and know nothing about the NBA, what do you see? A basketball with flames coming out of it going through the hoop.
If you look at the new Clippers Logo, what do you see? Squint, look hard. That’s right. It’s a brick.
Master Class Trolling
Ouch, ouch! Lost the last game of 2023, loss this first game of 2024. I don’t feel well so I slept and didn’t follow this match. Obviously Heat failed this test. Next games would be telling… we’ll see… still lets go Heat!
Heat got big-boy’d tonight. Kawhai, PG, and Norm are a bigger stronger faster version of Jamie, Herro, and Duncan.
Bam looked good tonight. Getting a bunch of rebounds, setting strong screens, hitting his mid-range jumper, and getting to the line. But he can’t be the go-to guy in the fourth quarter.
Watching Jamie play against Kawhai was great. Kawhai is bigger and stronger and better, but he’s also the best-case-scenario for the type of player Jamie could be.
Herro was a disappointment for the second game in a row. I’m not saying the Heat should trade him, but he does need to play better. Specifically, the Heat need to be able to rely on his scoring in the second half, and then step it up to another level in the last five minutes of the game.
Cain looks good but he can’t shoot. He’s starting to give me James Ennis vibes. That’s a compliment and an insult. He’s young, he’s got time to develop.
Lowry surprise winner for ‘most hungover’ for the New Years Day game. I could be convinced if you told me it was Herro.
Love is a great player as long as you don’t ask too much from him.
Not a terrible game, but the vets were out and this was a young team playing against a good group of vets on a winning streak. They didn’t have a chance.
On to the next one