Another day, another frustrating loss for the Miami Heat. Last evening, the Heat fell to the tenth seed Golden State Warriors at home, 113-92.
Both teams had playoff positioning on the line, although the Warriors were a bit more urgent. They are battling for the final play-in spot in a loaded Western Conference, which is only separated with the Houston Rockets by 1.0 game.
The Heat dropped to 39-33 on the season, sitting at the seventh seed in the East and now 1.5 games back of the sixth seed Indiana Pacers. There are just 10 regular season games left and each time the Heat have an opportunity to get out of the play-in bracket, they seem to fumble.
It was a tail of two halves last night in South Beach. Both teams went on runs before halftime, and the intensity was there early. It had all the makings of an entertaining clutch game with the Heat sporting a small halftime lead. However, the Warriors outscored Miami 32-20 in the third quarter and continued that in the fourth.
The game ended up getting too out of reach and clearly showed that the Heat were lacking scorers.
Klay Thompson lit it up for Golden State, totaling a game-high 28 points and 5 rebounds. Thompson received the last minute start next to Stephen Curry in the backcourt and looked like a prime splash brother. He shot 11/20 from the field and was a +25 when on the floor. Curry’s stat-line was deceiving, he had 17 points on 7/15 shooting but only 3/10 from deep. But some of those buckets ended up being daggers.
The Heat were able to cut it to a 7 point deficit early in the fourth, but then Curry entered the game and knocked down 5 straight points immediately. That pushed the Warriors lead back to 12 and then they never looked back.
Draymond Green was picking Miami apart on both ends of the floor. He provided great defensive pressure to make it harder for Bam Adebayo. His playmaking and on-court leadership made a huge impact for the Warriors. Green finished with just four points but he had 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins each had their own moments offensively too, finishing with 18 and 17 points respectively. It was clear that the Warriors starting group was too balanced to handle on the defensive end.
For the Heat, basically everybody outside of Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith played atrociously. Jaime Jaquez Jr especially has just looked so off ever since retuning from that hamstring injury a while back. He had the worst +\- on the team last night, committed turnovers and missed shots. With the way he started this season, it was a guarantee Jaquez Jr would be in this Heat rotation long term and even deep into the playoffs. Now, that looks far from a guarantee.
Jaime Jaquez Jr is a -24 on the floor, worst on the team. Just been so off for so long but because of the way he started this season it goes unnoticed.
I’m really not sure he gets a guaranteed rotation spot when the team is more healthy come postseason
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) March 27, 2024
Haywood Highsmith brought a spark off the bench almost immediately in that first half and finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. His point of attack defense on the perimeter was causing problems for the Warriors half court offense. Coach Erik Spoelstra went on to tell the media that Highsmith’s impact was “inspiring”.
Miami’s loss to GSW might have been the most dispiriting in a season full of ’em, but there was a bright spot: Haywood Highsmith’s play (15 points, 6-7 FG, 3-3 3PT, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, -1 in a 21-point L).
Spo: “He’s playing to his strengths & he’s inspiring right… pic.twitter.com/ECzkfFifUW
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) March 27, 2024
The Warriors had the edge in shooting splits as a team compared to Miami. They shot 55% from the field to the Heat’s 40% along with 34% from deep to 24%. Golden State also had the edge in both assists and rebounds.
It’s always extremely difficult for this team to ever make excuses, but this was a frustrating game that proved the Heat have a legitimate availability issue. What makes it worse is that it is at the worst time of the season, with absolutely zero updates on the status of Tyler Herro. Kevin Love was upgraded to questionable last night just to be downgraded to out later in the day. Spoelstra mentioned that he knew Love was never going to play, which doesn’t bring much optimism that a return could be near.
Jimmy Butler was also downgraded to out prior to last night’s tip off due to an illness, along with Duncan Robinson remaining out with his back injury. Miami was essentially missing four of their top eight rotation guys; two of them being the best scorers on the team. Being fully healthy hasn’t even been a realistic notion all season and truthfully, throughout the entire Butler era.
Everybody knows how Butler operates by now, and his elite postseason abilities have proven to mask his regular season issues. Robinson reportedly should be back sooner or later. Love being initially listed as questionable yesterday might show that he could be close as well.
Herro on the other hand, is just an ugly situation. As a 24 year old and one of the most talented guys on this entire roster, he is pivotal to what the Heat do, especially on the offensive end. His availability has been a liability over the years. Coming off two consecutive injury riddled playoff runs, one of them that held him out for the entirety of an NBA Finals run, it has become more of a privilege to have him playing than an expectation. Herro is on pace to maybe be shut down completely until the playoffs at this point, and would have only appeared in 36 out of the 82 games this season after a season ending injury last season as well.
The best ability is availability. Unfortunately for the Heat, the most important players on the team seem to always be unavailable. Time could be running out, but if the Heat can limp their way into the playoffs and get close to fully healthy mid April, anything can happen.
These last few weeks have proved to me who Spo’s 8-9 man playoff rotation needs to be:
Rozier
Herro/Duncan
Jimmy/Caleb
Jovic/Highsmith
Bam/LoveOf course this all depends on health, which you just never know with this team. Herro especially. I’d also keep Jovic minutes…
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) March 27, 2024
Their next two games will be against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, followed up with a matchup against the Washington Wizards.
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Herro’s days may be numbered in Miami. If Butler’s are too, Miami may be in for a complete makeover. This should be a very interesting summer, any way you cut it.
https://sircharlesincharge.com/posts/nba-rumors-tyler-herro-already-played-his-final-game-miami-heat-uniform?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
Tyler Herro has progressed to next stage of injury ramp-up, Spo said.
i feel like the addition of Terry Rozier has made me appreciate Tyler Herro more. I don’t think Tyler has enough trade value to make it worthwhile to trade him
Utah and several other bottom dwellers would L-O-V-E to have him! Miami could get a nice haul for him.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-teams-3-point-shooting-rankings
I agree any team could use a young 20 point per game scorer, that shoots above 38 percent from 3, and rebound well. Whose a pretty decent passer as well. So can’t downplay the talent.
and rebounder
shooting % never shot over 45.defense plays very little,injuries always.most nba players are talented these are the few hundred best players on earth.overall a c player,welcome to jordon poole jordon clarkson .rather have dunc over ty
Ok? And? Fg percentage doesn’t matter as much nowadays because of all the 3s being taken, his pt percentage is what matters because teams are always looking for 3 pt shooters. Also he better then Clarkson and Poole. Also his defense isn’t the best, but it isn’t the worst, and it’s getting better, already better then those 2 players you said.
Exactly! More reliable. Cheaper/shorter contract. Better defender. Not as “needy” with the ball. Can play as a starter or on second unit. No ego involved.
hes always fn hurt.better defender lol .no ego agree on that,guys talented offensively no doubt so are poole and clarkson .if he s hurt at this young age just gonna get worse as he ages.trade him asap for a pf/c.like u said john collins
What is a good shooting percentage for a player? If a player shoots under 47%, is that bad?
46 or more
Glad you answered that because the guy you said is a #1 ss has been under that 5 out of his 7 years and is 45% for his career. I’m absolutely sure you will make an excuse as to why that’s okay for him, while not okay for others.
This is a time when your harsh take is probably correct. Ty is a beautiful athlete, but he may be too fragile for the nba world.
Yup. If he can’t get on the court, it doesn’t matter how suspect his defense is or how good his offense is.
beautiful hmm.if ty could stay healthy hed be a good 6th man.he can def fill the hoop at times other times no.im curious to see what the heat could get for him.one thing for sure him and dunc cant be on ct together
what are they offering that will make Miami better next season? And will they give us almost that amount of value for Terry Rozier instead?
I’m sure Miami can get a two-way PF/C for Herro.
like who? And will it be worth taking away minutes from Caleb Martin and a year older Jovic? And will it be worth going into next season with a starting backcourt of Terry Rozier and J-Rich?
You can get Collins, toppin,bagley, beef stew, Johnathan Isaac, jalen Smith, maybe a myles, Jonas valanciuanas, Claxton, bridges from hornets, Naz Reid, kuzma.
If Miami is going to make a move or two this summer, Butler AND Herro should go…throw Caleb in there too. Get a legit PF/C, and SG.
wish u were the gm of an nba team
Why look to move a player who is available most of the time, has a better contract, and plays hard, for one who has missed more than half a season?
calebs a below avg player thats why.
You may want to try reading that again. He, and I, were talking about Rozier, not Martin.
roziers a better player he plays ty doesnt
That I agree with.
I understand the frustration with Herro’s availability.
But the injury in last year’s postseason was fluky, and came on a classic “Hardest Working, Most Professional” Heat Hustle play.
Didn’t he also turn the same ankle and miss time earlier this season too?
Doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating and isn’t context for his career up to this point, but I don’t think it should be the expectation moving forward either.
Your right. It’s not fair to have that expectation yet. But, he is one more injury away from earning it. And the odds are probably not in his favor. He is such a gifted athlete, reminds me of Kance Akworth who they used to call Bambi. But, Bambi’s often break down a little easier.
Lance Alworth.
football contact sport ty just brittle.
hornets beat cleve that cleve beatdown aint looking so hot.again for the 100 th time we go as far as jimmy takes us.
Bucks will go as far as Greek takes them…
Nuggets will go as far as Jokic….
Celtics will go as far as Tatum…..
Clippers will go as far as Kawhi…..
That’s pretty much the way it goes with most teams in the NBA. It is not news to anyone. If your best player doesn’t play well or is not available, the chances of success are slim to none.
100% correct are season depends on jimmy
Our
“our” season depends on much more than just “Jimmy”
w/o jimmy we will not beat one team in a 7 game series P(2qbn)
Hawks just beat Celtics by 1 point in OT after beating them by 2 on Monday. Bulls are playing well. So if Heat are in play-in round and face 76ers with Embiid and lose and then face winner of Hawks vs Bulls, their season may be over before the playoffs start.
True
hhh will go as far as rc posts takes them
Ha! That won’t be too far!
6th Place Indiana lost by 26 to Bulls are now 41-33
7th Place Heat idle are 39-33 1 G.B.
8th Place Sixers lost to Clippers by 1 are now 39-34 1.5 G.B.
Pacers play Lakers, 76ers play Cavs and Heat play Blazers on Fiday.
Chance for Heat to move into 6th Place.
And then Heat will rest the vets. Again. Just dnt lose to these blazers
Nobody loses to Blazers. They suck. 3 point shooting sucks. Defense sucks. Coach sucks. GM sucks. Owner sucks. Fans are dillussional. Did I miss anything?
as far as the standings go, the Heat are fine. But I don’t bother scoreboard watching until the Heat get their players back and start playing good basketball.
Just pointing out that as bad as Miami has been playing, the team still has a chance to avoid the play-in tournament and facing Celtics or Bucks in first round.
yeah i gotcha. i think if the Heat start playing the way they did in December or February, they’ll be in good shape with the six seed. But if they keep playing the way they have over the past couple weeks, it doesn’t matter who they play
Not only is the Heat just 17-24 this season against teams that entered Thursday with a winning record, but the Heat is also a dismal 1-11 this season against the league’s best teams. (0-3 vs. Boston Celtics, 0-2 vs. Denver Nuggets, 0-2 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 0-2 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and 1-2 vs. Milwaukee Bucks)
besides randle knicks team acquired last 3 years thats a gm doing his homework not going on carnival cruises
Yeah, a gm that gets to 3 ecf and 2 finals in 4 years sucks. Especially compared to that outstanding Knicks gm who has led the Knicks in the last 4 years to………..Absolutely Nothing.
By now that should’ve gotten to hfl’s head, we’re sounding like a broken record already. But nice to be reminded always Heat still one of the best franchise 😁😀💪🏻🔥
heat have had more success in the past 4 years than knicks have had in the past 4 decades
Yesterday is but a memory and tomorrow is but a dream. Today is all that counts.
east looks like 3 team race bost milw nyk.
mitchell robinson back for the knicks
Everything seems the same as last year. We were minutes away to go fishing in April, but that happens a month or so latter after a lot of additional games.
Interesting article on how Jimmy has Miami over a barrel. Here’s a passage:
“But the question of whether this is all worth it will cross Pat Riley’s desk this summer. Butler will be up for a contract extension, and the Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman reported before the season that Butler will be seeking “Jaylen Brown money.” In other words, a contract upwards of $60 million a year.
Can the Heat afford that? To pay Butler like a top-10 player into his late 30s? When he routinely does not play like a top-10 player for 82 games? Because maybe he’ll get the chance to play like that for 16 games?
Let’s face it, as beloved as Butler is in Miami, that’s not good business. At the same time, Butler can refer to his body of work and the success of this run and demand to get paid. And he would have a point. This is where negotiations can get hairy.”
https://allucanheat.com/posts/miami-heat-jimmy-butler-golden-handcuffs?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
NOTE: If it was up to me, I would trade him to the highest bidder. Jus sayin.
Totally agree. As I’ve said before, giving Butler that type of money at this point would, imo, be the biggest mistake the team has ever made.
Time to move on with rebuild. Younger teams are leaving Miami in the dust…and it won’t get better without retooling and bringing in younger players with growth potential and keeping only those veterans who fill a need, add value and are on reasonable/ affordable contracts.
who are your keepers bam terry? hh cain jjj niko orob
Rotation players:
Bam, Rozier, Duncan, JJJ, Niko, JRich, Love,
Bench:
ORob, Bryant, Highsmith
G League:
Cain, Swider, Williams
Trade:
Butler for Mitchell
Herro for Collins
Caleb for OB Topin or TJ McConnell (sign and trade)
Revised Rotation:
Rozier, Mitchell, Niko, Collins, Bam
Reserves:
McConnell or Tobin, JRich, Duncan, JJJ, Highsmith, Love, Robinson, Bryant
cavs wont be trading donovan for jimmy straight up. they will ask more from us.
Depends on whether they think they can win title with Butler. Mitchell doesn’t have such a great track record with Cavs or Jazz.
utah it was him and rudy lot of sht cleve not much help.hes a bonafide #1 ss
Yeah, they were awful in 2020 with that lousy 52-20 record, #1 seed in the West, 6 players averaging double figures including Conley, Bogdanovic, and Clarkson, plus several players averaging better than 40% 3p%. Yup, a real sht team except for those 2.
somebody has to score rc there not gonna score 45 pts a game.one superstar one giant lots of avg players
donovan was by himself in the playoffs remember watching him play.never played with an all star.at least jim has bam whos a borderline all star
We’ll both be happy if we see Mitchell in a Heat uniform
Maybe, especially with the age difference. But although I haven’t heard anything since before the season, Mitchell had stated he doesn’t intend to re-sign with Cleveland. If that were the case, and he opted out after next season, they’d end up getting nothing for him.
If he asks for that type of money, especially after a 2nd first round exit… his ego would be at an all time high. Like if he really wanted to win, he would take a paycut. Honestly this year playoffs will define what we do in the future… either rebuild or retool.
dont want him back.better have a good plan b though.aka fa donovan bams good buddy.bam get bz please.
Mitchell would be a good plan B, a better scorer, for a lil bit cheaper. He would automatically be the number 1 scorer, but the D will take a hit. The backcourt would be too small, two guards under 6’4. The only way I can see that working is if we can get a 7 footer to pair with bam.
ok then go with deln wright hes a tall guard lol
for 5 mins and 7 mins in the second half the heat did not score a fg.
Doesn’t Butler have like three years left on his contract? No, he’s not getting an extension. And I doubt he gets traded this offseason.
If the Heat have to make a move, I think it makes more sense to trade Butler and build around Bam/Herro/Jamie than it does to pay Butler a big money extension to play 50 games per season.
Most likely, the Heat can’t get healthy by the playoffs, they make a couple fringe moves this offseason, and they hope to have fewer injuries and a better season next year. If they get bounced in the first round two years in a row, then I expect them to make moves.
Butler has 2 seasons left on his contract after this, but the second is a player option. The guideline for the extension:
”How do NBA contract extensions work?
If a player is in the last year of his contract or has two years left with the second year being a team or player option, an extension may be signed at any point during the season up through June 30 (the last day of the NBA league year)”
Butler will be eligible for an extension next season as he has a player option for the 25-26 season. The dilemma is if he expects/demands an extension and the Heat (wisely) don’t give it to him, there’s going to be bad feelings all around. As I’ve stated before, if we flop this season, they could try to work with him to get him to a team he wants to play for and gives him a chance for a ring.
If that’s what it comes to, I would hate to see Jimmy go, but that is the only reasonable decision. Riley wouldn’t overpay for post-prime D-Wade, I’m sure he’s not going to overpay for post-prime Jimmy Butler. The short contract makes him tradable, but i dunno. Let’s not forget that when he came to the Heat, he had never been past the second round of the playoffs. He burned bridges in Chicago, Minnesota, and Philly. I’m not sure there are a lot of teams willing to trade fifty million dollars worth of talent for a 35 year old Jimmy Butler
Talent still speaks loudest on issues like this and he still has plenty. If a team is close to a ring and just needs that one key piece to put them over the top, he can be that guy. Teams like the Thunder, Lakers, maybe Cleveland (for Mitchell?), or even Knicks (Anunoby, Bogdanovic, plus one of Knicks own #1 or their #1 from Dallas?).
Interestingly, Mitchell has the same player option for 25-26, and has stated he doesn’t intend to re-sign with Cleveland.
oh yeah, no brainer. Riley would always rather add than subtract. it’s why I started by saying I don’t think Butler gets an extension and I don’t think he gets traded. Riley wants to make this team better every year. After arguing with Blazers fans about the “strategy” of tanking for the third year in a row, I can’t even explain how grateful I am for that mentality.
Philly would trade for him to make Embiid happy. What assets they have or are willing to give up is another matter. Almost all their player contracts expire at the end of this season, including Tobias Harris ($39.3M). I’m sure there will be teams who don’t quite make the cut during the upcoming playoffs who will be looking for a potential difference maker.
Ok can we chip in for Butler’s contract here in hhh? Mini-max only (if there’s such a thing) not supermax ala Celt’s brown. I think Pat will do good by him and vice versa. As they say, they’ll cross that bridge when they get there.
Here we go… didn’t watched whole game as I got busy. And Heat got lazy. Again. I know, I know not by design. I was hopeful that “we have enough” will grind out Ws but I guess the health woes has really caught up with this team. Though I’m not one to make excuses but it looks like its seriously troublesome that Heat might falter in playoffs. If they even get there. Yes, there’s still hope but now I think it’s so slim it all depends on everyone’s availability. Minus JRich of course. Heat will be Heat. Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. Got it eh hfl?
there saving their bodies for playoffs .spo has a plan.
Okay, right……
I think so too after all every coach has a plan but will it work this time around? We shall see.
Jimmy is saving himself for the Lord.
bam gave it his all just aint a #1.butler is a #1 gave us sht. f u butler hope u read this .get the f out of town tired of your act
How do you really feel about Jimmy? Go ahead heat, open up…you are among firends.
A trip to Dire Straits Avenue will not be Heat’s first rodeo. The coach, team captain and a few of the old crop of players are familiar with the terrain.
Go Heat, Go1
True, and I hope you’re right, but I also hope we’re not paying these guys Money For Nothing.
patty and deln $$ for nothing
What about the chicks for free?
That’s the way you do it….
That ain’t workin…