The Miami Heat could not outlast the Denver Nuggets Wednesday evening, losing 100-88 inside Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla.
The Heat have now lost eight straight and 11 of their last 12 regular-season contests against Denver, which dates back to the start of the 2018-19 season. Thursday’s loss also marks its fourth straight loss, dropping to 35-30 and one game back of the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bam Adebayo was sensational–especially in the third quarter–finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three assists on 7-of-15 shooting–also defending Nikola Jokic at an elite level throughout Wednesday’s contest.
But it ultimately did not matter. The Nuggets outscored Miami 28-17 in the fourth quarter and 17-8 in the final 6:30. They shot 48.8 percent from the floor and 11-of-33 from deep. Miami shot 42.5 percent, but made only five of its 21 triple tries, which was one of the few key separators down the stretch.
Michael Porter Jr. continued his regular-season success against Miami, leading the Nuggets with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 5-of-9 from 3-point range, adding seven rebounds. Jokic only had 12 points, but cobbled together team-highs in rebounds (14) and assists.
Jamal Murray finished with 14 points and five assists, while Aaron Gordon tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes. Jimmy Butler had 15 points and five rebounds and Duncan Robinson had six rebounds and three assists.
Once again, the Heat’s best player wasn’t assertive enough down the stretch when it mattered most, while Denver overwhelmed Miami with its size advantage late, even though the Heat finished with just one more rebound.
Miami will now begin four straight on the road, beginning with back-to-back contests against the Detroit Pistons Friday and Sunday, respectively. Can the Heat get back on track and get out of the play-in? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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It’s time for Miami to “get busy livin or get busy dyin.”The last game of the season will be one month from yesterday against Toronto. It will be interesting to see where the team stands then.
Heat are still is solid position.
With two wins in Detroit Heat are very close to 6th seed, which is actually an ideal position to start PO, better then 4th or 5th (to avoid Boston in first and second round)
if were at 6, well probably get cleveland, which is not ideal for us.
better for us to get 5th, so we can knicks or magic.
but for now we should probably forget seeding..we should instead focus first on avoiding the playin
it also means Boston in second round.
I just looked up best point guards in the nba right now on ESPN. They list Lowry as #45 out of 50. Rozier wasn’t even on the list. Why? Because they have him listed as a shooting guard. On that list, he is ranked #8 out of 106! Mathematically, that means he is ranked higher than 92% of all guards in the category.
theres only 32 in the league.cant count the scrub players.ive said all along hes a 2 that looks like a 1.score first player.those guys need to be 6 4 or more.terrys an ok player.need a player that can slow down pgs terry cant.my opinion against the good pgs rather have wright in there just to defend,just like on luka or sga id stick hh on him the whole fkn game.
Forget the pg issue for a moment. He is ranked 8th best sg in the league!! That’s high praise regardless of how you try to negatively spin it.
hes above average below all star level
If he’s a score first player, you also need to say the same about Brunson, Maxey, Shai, Mitchell, J Murray, D Murray, Fox, Conley, and Barnes, because all of them are in the same apg range as Rozier.
The whole purpose of a team making changes in personnel is to be better than they were in the previous season. If after your changes, you find yourself in the same precarious situation you were last season, for the Heat this means staying out of the play in tournament. If your changes included have Lebron James but you are still an 8th seed and fighting to get out of a play in tournament. It is not rocket science to know that you are not in a better situation, no matter what your fantasies are. You may shout yourself hoarse from Miami to Wellington in New Zealand ” we are better today”. It does not change the fact that you are in a precarious situation. A lesson for the Heat going forward, which I am sure they will be smart not to repeat.
Because people have a different opinion than you, you refer to them as ‘delusional’ and their opinions ‘fantasies’? As the saying goes, opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one.
Sure, we’re not where we wanna be, but with healthy love, herro, and the additions of jaquez, Wright,Bryant,mills,etc…we’re a better deeper team than last year. Sure we all wanted that 2 way pf/c, but it wasn’t in the cards for this year. I’ll tell you this though there can be 2 truths to the matter … the heat got better , but also the league as a whole has gotten way better as well. Every year teams are scoring higher and higher. Also rules make it easier for offenses to score more. Most teams in the east gotten better , and we would be a play in team in the west. If you want to Contend for championships in the modern nba you gotta have at least 2 superstar caliber players and a team with talent, size and length. The heat don’t have that, it’s only so much you can do with a less talented team with not a lot of size to begin with and an aging superstar in the playoffs Jimmy. All I’m saying is teams have either caught up to us or surpassed us. Are the heat a better team then last year ? Yes, definitely. Has the NBA top contenders gotten better then us? Absolutely, size and talent matters. So hopefully Riley makes a splash next season, if not…then Jimmy Era will be over.
A solid take. What also comes into play is the havoc the salary cap can play on your team. The top 5 salaries in millions on the Heat are:
Butler – $45, Bam – $33, Herro -$27, Rozier – $22, Duncan – $18. That adds up to $145 million. The cap is $141 million, Luxury $171M, first apron $179M, second $189M. So, to be right at the first apron, and assuming a 15 man roster, the Heat have about $38M to divide amongst 10 players. That’s why to get a high quality player, you have to shed salary to bring in salary. It’s a very difficult task.
For further reference in case anyone feels Herro was overpaid, the average salary of the 3 pg (he’s on that list) above him and the 3 below him is $29M. That figure would be much higher, but the $4M Westbrook is making dramatically lowered the average.
However, as the saying goes, the best ability is availability and, as such, Herro’s contract has been dead weight for about half the season.
think the great jim mandich created that availability motto
It isn’t that the Heat didn’t improve, they did. However, top teams improved even more. Miami started the season short a good point guard and a legit two-way PF or C to start next to Bam. Riley addressed the PG at the trade deadline. He never addressed the PF/C. Caleb, Highsmith, Jaquez and Jovic are not PFs. They are SFs. Bryant and Orlando are not the answer at PF/C. Herro is the odd man out. He should have been traded for an athletic two-way PF or C, but he wasn’t. As a result, Miami is dealing with the consequences…an overworked and overmatched Bam, an aging Butler and an injured Herro. I think Jimmy’s era is almost over. He has one more year (2024-2025) under guaranteed contract. 2025-2026 is a player option season. If he is going to be traded, it needs to be this summer or Miami will lose all leverage. The only other option is to keep Butler on a very team friendly contract extension and trade Herro for the best frontcourt player available.
Both you and BG305 are coming from the same place. I think Butler’s ego is far too strong to accept a team friendly contract. That’s why you’re right/ we’re right – this offseason is the time to explore that trade option. I hope we get him to a team that gets him a ring. He deserves it. If Herro comes back soon and plays well in the last games and, especially, the playoffs, his stock will rise and give us an opportunity to trade for an equal player who is a better fit.
AMEN!
It looks like at least the three of us are on the same page. I’m looking forward to seeing if our guys can pull themselves out of their current rut before the playoffs. However, I’m not going to stress about it if they don’t perform at the level they did during last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs. As long as they give it their best efforts, win or lose, I’ll be satisfied. It is what it is.
GO HEAT!!!
Ego sure, but he absolutely saved us from a long depressing stretch as a team mired in the middle.
Yeah contracts should pay for what you will do and not what you had done and all that. So we’ll see. I suspect his will to win may be a double edged sword in negotiations, moreso than his ego.
i mean, lets win the next 3 games (pistons 2x, sixers), and were back into 6th seed baby yeah!
Mismatch, mismatch, mismatch. Said it all season, if the Heat needed changes, it was size, they needed to go bigger. It’s all coming together and clearer that a new pg was not it. Whoever, thought that having Rozier or Jimmy defend Jokic in the paint was a brilliant idea. should be banned from all Heat games, IMHO. Arguably and contentiously, post trade the heat looked good on paper but the results on the court tell a different story down the stretch. One can not really keep crying over spilt milk. Unfortunately, we have no other recourse but to sit down and watch the horror unfold during each game henceforth. Delusion often clouds reality.Is the Heat really better post trade? If you think Yes, please show me a comparative result of where the Heat was at this time last season.
Is Miami better with Rozier than Lowry? Hell yes! Is Miami a top team? Hell no!
Go ahead celebrating being an 8th seed with Rozier.
What you tawkin bout Willis? Who is celebrating? Don’t you agree that Rozier is a big improvement over Lowry? Riley didn’t address the need for help in the paint for Bam, which I have been harping on for the last 3 seasons. Herro for Kuzma or Collins would have been a good move.
offensively yes but terrys d very duncanish.when your trying to beat boston milw terry aint gonna make a big diff
Who thought Butler or Rozier guarding Jokic was a brilliant idea??? NOBODY!
Let me ask you directly – do you believe the Heat were better with Lowry than with Rozier?
Almost everyone here has been clamoring all season for the team to add a competent, productive big man that could give us a better chance against players like Jokic, Porzingis, Greek. Unfortunately, they did not fill that glaring deficiency. But adding Rozier was and is a clear upgrade from Lowry, who was a great player in his time but was reaching the twilight of his career. Right now, for example, in the third quarter he has 6 points and no assists, and he’s been pretty much the same player with the Sixers as he was with us. He’s an okay backup and mentor at this stage.
As mentioned previously, the best the Heat have been this season was 9 games above 500, and that was post trade.
Yes we need a solid pf/c. We are acutely aware of that.
No recourse but to sit down and watch ‘the horror’? Lighten up a little. It’s basketball. We’re still fighting for a playoff spot. If things don’t work out this season, I’ll hope for changes (primarily size) in the offseason.
Go angead celebrating being 8th seed with Rozier.
You didn’t answer the question dude
8th, 7th, 6th it won’t matter if Heat can’t compete against Boston, Milwaukee, Cleveland or New York. This isn’t 2023.
I’m definitely not celebrating an 8th seeding. Season ain’t over yet, so if we make 5th seed, then I might celebrate a lil with a beer and smoke. since that would be the best chance for us getting into the 2nd round. But anyways it’s all if’s right now until miami pull there heads out there bootyhole.
rozier defense is pretty bad.id almost rather have delon wright run the pt or just go big in the bc.wrights so much better defensively than terry ,way bigger.way better bball iq.think the heat need to sit terry try to go for defense and size,terry might be the duncan d of pgs hes pretty bad rc.
He’s better by miles than Lowry was. I like Delon, but he’s not a starter. And what makes you think he has better IQ than Rozier. Have you seen the passes he makes? Assist to TO ratio? If Bam wasn’t so butterfingers lately, he’d have a lot more assists.
when u have cats like holiday dame brunson maxey in the east i want a guy that can slow these dudes down.terry def cant do that.
I don’t agree. We’ll see. I’ve seen him create turnovers with his speed and quick hands. Of course he’s at a disadvantage against players much taller.
The bottom line is that none of the recent losses were the fault of Rozier, at least not much. Our two leaders have been struggling.
I think one thing most of us can agree on is that delon wright should take all of Patty’s minutes. We need his POA defense and if you pair him with Terry that make his defense better. Instead of running the duo of Terry and patty. Also Terry has the higher bball IQ.
Dude! You and I were both advocating dumping Lowry and a pick for Rozier. We were also hoping Riley would trade to get frontcourt help for Bam. That didn’t happen. Don’t take your frustration out on Rozier. He’s doing the best he can under the circumstances. He’ll be #4 scorer once Herro returns. It’s pretty clear Jovic has not demonstrated he is ready to be everyday PF.
def upgrade over lowry.but out of 32 pgs in league where do u rank terry
if terry was 6 4 be a much better player
I rank Terry as a top 10-12 pg in the league.
Delon might be better defensively than Rozier, he is bigger too (6’5 delon, 6’2 rozier). But overall, Rozier is still better than Delon, imho. With bam and jimmy on the floor, we dont need more defense. We need more offense
I agree, but I definitely think Delon should be the first pg off the bench.
might be u lose a little cred there bud.
Why? It’s a fair statement.
the answer the heat are no better with terry.
You’ve said exactly the opposite more than once since he got there. Lowry couldn’t defend any more, didn’t score, had few assists most games.
lowry is old now but hewas jimmys best friend on the team.how is jimmy liking this trade.wonder if pat went to jim before the deal.terry is a good scorer but does he make the heat team better not sure from what ive seen the heat are no better with him.he gets switched off way to much on bigs and its an auto 2 for the opposition hes very small.when guarding a bull dog like brunson has no shot in stopping him.not impressed with his overall game.hes a better player than lowry not sure if we are a better team though
Most pgs ain’t stopping no one on the defensive end, and Brunson sure as hell ain’t stopping anyone.
if bam was a little taller joker couldnt see where to pass as ez.just like a short qb trying to throw ball over incoming d lineman.bams to fkn small pat and spobot
We played a lot of low IQ basketball last night especially Jaquez.
Late in the 3rd quarter and early 4th when he was the de facto pg for the bench unit, Jaquez allowed 6-6 Christian Braun to get away with defending 6-10 Thomas Bryant numerous times in the post while he selfishly hunted his own points.
That’s low IQ basketball.
Rozier’s worst flaw is that he allows himself to be perfectly screened out of defending any play.
His ability to see screens coming and to successfully navigate them is fking turrible.
Spo seriously has to improve Rozier’s ability to navigate a screen.
In fact from my vantage point we appear to be a very average screening team, whether it’s navigating screens or setting them.
I believe that if we were to improve our ability to navigate screens and to set screens by just 25%, we would average 1 more point per game and hold our opponents to 1 less point per game.
Until KLove gets back it’s time for Spo to start trusting Jovic in 4th quarters.
He’s the only player in the rotation to have averaged over 20 mins per game and played all 4 games in this current 4 game losing streak and still have a positive plus/minus.
We need our top 8 healthy.
Our top 8 is still pretty good and battle tested
Bam, Jimmy, Herro, KLove, TRoz, Duncan, Caleb, Jaime. We need all 8 healthy for about 10-12 games to see if we have any shot at a long playoff run this season.
Miami needed to be in on Kristaps, he was and is, a piece Miami needs desperately. They also clearly miss having Kevin Love. But end of the day, the regular season Heat, aren’t scary. We can only hope playoff Jimmy and Playoff Caleb show up.
what happened to the r
you would think after watching the finals last year riley would have addressed the size differential.but no throwing bam on joker aint gonna cut it.
Stubborn is as stubborn does. Bam could be a great All-NBA Power Forward if he had a consistent 3 point shot and had a true, athletic, two-way center playing next to him.
Denver is better, no doubt about it. Miami is just not built to compete against such team.
But other teams in the west are.
So, lets hope somebody will knock Denver out in the west on the way to finals.
Hope in one hand and s*** in the other. The Heat are 2-16 vs the top 4 teams in Eastern and Western Conferences. The reality is, the 2023-2024 team has been bottom feeding vs crappy/losing teams. It isn’t built to compete with the league’s better teams, not just Denver. Time for Pat, Spo and Heat fans to wake up and smell the mediocrity. There is much soul searching and work to do this offseason.
Things will be clear in two month or so.
But, on the positive note, Butler and Bam plays like s**t lately, and Herro is out.
Being competitive most of the game with Denver is actually a good result taking into account that.
the rosters mediocre from 3 -15.
1-2 have not exactly been world beaters lately…so there’s that too.
yes main reason for the decline sun.especially #1.bam is not a real difference maker anyway.1/2 his hoops are alley oops from dunc these days.1/2 duncs hoops from bam screens.those 2 have good chemistry
These are the ups and downs of a mediocre team, a slightly better than .500 team. We aren’t alone, as teams like the Lakers and Warriors are having similar results. I use those two examples because, as in looking at them we can be more objective than when discussing the Heat. Neither of those teams are giving up but, despite having stars, and other good players, they don’t have enough. We will ride this out and root our team on, but I have to be honest, it’s not looking too promising.
But, then again, last year really did happen. I still have no idea how last years team accomplished what they did. Even now, I still find it remarkable. And, there has to be some lingering thought that it could happen again. In fact, I think this years Heat is better than last years, if Jimmy is the same and he is just coasting now and will become Himmy once the playoffs start. There will always be that hope.
Hear Hear!
For those who have read my comments, I waffled a few times this season about trying to trade Butler before the trade deadline. I think not trading him was good.
However, I have been adamant that if the Heat don’t win it all this season, that they should sit down with him and ask for a list of teams he’d be interested in to give him a solid chance to get a ring. Butler, despite tonight and some other games, still has value. We should be able to get at least one solid (not great) player plus 1 or 2 picks. We also have our pick this year, which should be in the 18-20 range. Get what you can for Herro. Move forward with a core of Bam, Jaquez, Jovic (I agree with SM that he may be more a tall sf than a too slim pf), Duncan, Rozier, Orlando, and Cain. Base decisions on Highsmith and Martin on salary demands.
How competitive the team would be would depend on who is brought in (Mitchell and a pf/c?).
Yes, I agree. If we are an early exit team, I would not keep Jimmy. Let him play the role of some of the other stars in their twilight, like the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors or Bucks have. We could be building around Bam, and trying to amass draft picks, and get young talent. Not sure who else we would keep, but definitely JJJ. I would like to keep Martin and Rozier too, but only at reasonable cost. Everyone else would be tradeable, and particularly Herro, who has some value, but I would not retain. And we should try to trade Jovic too, as a team may take him on potential. Thoughts of pulling in a whale seem far fetched to me as it may be time to do what the rest of the league does and finally start over.
I would keep Jovic. He’s on an inexpensive rookie contract and is too young to give up on. Rozier is under contract for 2 more seasons after this one. I really like the idea that we are set in that important position for 2+ years. I also would keep Martin if his asking price is reasonable (about $10 million?). Some free agents available in the offseason I like are OG Anunoby, Hartenstein, Jrue Holiday, Maxey, Bridges.
From what I remember, this is the last tough game before the schedule gets easier. I don’t look it up, so I’m infamous for getting the details wrong. But if the poetry of the season serves my memory correctly, here’s where we sit:
We have a month left in the season. The Heat are in 8th. Technically the last playoff spot. They’re one game behind the Pacers and Sixers and a couple games behind the Knicks and Magic for the 4/5 seed.
I think the Heat are better than all those teams. They’re undefeated against them in the playoffs. And it’s time for them to prove it. They’ve only got about ten games left before the playoffs. Herro and Love are coming back. If they can get hot over the next couple weeks, they go into the playoffs with a good seed, a playoff resume, and a ton of talent. If the limp into the playoffs, different story. But if they can start playing good basketball consistently over the next couple weeks…
THE HEAT ARE GOING TO WIN IT ALL!
The Heat are in 8th Place, 3 games behind Knicks and 2.5 games behind Orlando. They have 17 games left. They play Philly x2, Cleveland x2, New Orleans, Golden State, New York, Indiana and Dallas, so not exactly a soft schedule (although they should win at least 9 of the 17 games). Pacers, Knicks and Magic are better than teams than in the past. With Embiid out, Philly may not make it out of Play-in round. At best, Heat makes 4-5 seed and plays Boston in second round. Otherwise, if they are 6-7-8 seed they play Milwaukee, Cleveland or Boston in first round, assuming they get out of Play-in round.
oh man. Boston in the second round! Talk dirty to me! They would hate to see the Heat in the second round and we would love it. Bring on Dame in the ECF!
Be careful what you wish for. Heat could meet Boston in the first.
You gotta quit living in the past man. Past success doesn’t guarantee future success and this version of the Celtics is nowhere close to the version of last year.
I can’t blame this team for losing. We’ve all been a bit in denial about our chances after last year’s miraculous run. It is painfully apparent that man for man, we do match up with Denver’s starting 5. They are superior at every single position, with the possible exception of SF. If Miami finishes 7-8, they won’t make it out of the first round. If they finish 4-5, they may make it to the second round, only to face…Boston, where they will likely lose in 4 or 5 games.
Maybe it’s time for all of us to accept reality. Jimmy’s best days will soon be behind him. Without significant upgrades this summer, Jimmy’s window for a championship in Miami is rapidly c-l-o-s-i-n-g. Furthermore, he isn’t worth a three year extension beginning in 2025-2026 for $150,000,000+. On the other hand, Bam’s best days are ahead of him. This is his team! Maybe it’s time to sell high, starting with Jimmy, and obtain assets to build a new team around Bam. There are many deals to be made out there. Just a thought.
GO HEAT!!!
Boooo…
Media: You shouldn’t overlook the Heat come playoff time.
Fans: umm…are we even gonna make it in the playoffs lol
Hard to see them scrambling in play in again. Got no choice but…go Heat! 😔
No moral victories tonight….bottomline is size matters in today’s nba. The small ball Era is going close to extinct. Lastly Jimmy was trash tonight.