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Heat 113-92 loss against Warriors raises questions on player availability

Bam Adebayo was the player of the game, totaling 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists on 10/21 shooting.

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.

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”.

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.

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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SunManFromDogBone

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

vagibugi
oregoner

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

SunManFromDogBone

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

Last edited 7 months ago by SunManFromDogBone
Big_guy305.

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.

SunManFromDogBone

and rebounder

heat for life

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

Big_guy305.

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.

SunManFromDogBone

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.

heat for life

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

Reality Czech

What is a good shooting percentage for a player? If a player shoots under 47%, is that bad?

heat for life

46 or more

Reality Czech

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.

Bout30man

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.

Reality Czech

Yup. If he can’t get on the court, it doesn’t matter how suspect his defense is or how good his offense is.

heat for life

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

oregoner

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?

SunManFromDogBone

I’m sure Miami can get a two-way PF/C for Herro.

oregoner

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?

Big_guy305.

You can get Collins, toppin,bagley, beef stew, Johnathan Isaac, jalen Smith, maybe a myles, Jonas valanciuanas, Claxton, bridges from hornets, Naz Reid, kuzma.

SunManFromDogBone

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.

heat for life

wish u were the gm of an nba team

Reality Czech

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?

heat for life

calebs a below avg player thats why.

Reality Czech

You may want to try reading that again. He, and I, were talking about Rozier, not Martin.

heat for life

roziers a better player he plays ty doesnt

Reality Czech

That I agree with.

Sundayafternoons

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.

Bout30man

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.

Bout30man

Lance Alworth.

heat for life

football contact sport ty just brittle.

heat for life

hornets beat cleve that cleve beatdown aint looking so hot.again for the 100 th time we go as far as jimmy takes us.

Reality Czech

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.

heat for life

100% correct are season depends on jimmy

Reality Czech

Our

SunManFromDogBone

“our” season depends on much more than just “Jimmy”

heat for life

w/o jimmy we will not beat one team in a 7 game series P(2qbn)

SunManFromDogBone

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.

Reality Czech

True

heat for life

hhh will go as far as rc posts takes them

Reality Czech

Ha! That won’t be too far!

SunManFromDogBone

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.

ManilaHeat

And then Heat will rest the vets. Again. Just dnt lose to these blazers

SunManFromDogBone

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?

oregoner

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.

SunManFromDogBone

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.

oregoner

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

SunManFromDogBone

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) 

heat for life

besides randle knicks team acquired last 3 years thats a gm doing his homework not going on carnival cruises

Reality Czech

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.

ManilaHeat

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 😁😀💪🏻🔥

oregoner

heat have had more success in the past 4 years than knicks have had in the past 4 decades

SunManFromDogBone

Yesterday is but a memory and tomorrow is but a dream. Today is all that counts.

heat for life

east looks like 3 team race bost milw nyk.

heat for life

mitchell robinson back for the knicks

vagibugi

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.

SunManFromDogBone

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.

Last edited 7 months ago by SunManFromDogBone
Reality Czech

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.

SunManFromDogBone

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.

heat for life

who are your keepers bam terry? hh cain jjj niko orob

SunManFromDogBone

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

ZechMerquise

cavs wont be trading donovan for jimmy straight up. they will ask more from us.

Last edited 7 months ago by ZechMerquise
SunManFromDogBone

Depends on whether they think they can win title with Butler. Mitchell doesn’t have such a great track record with Cavs or Jazz.

heat for life

utah it was him and rudy lot of sht cleve not much help.hes a bonafide #1 ss

Reality Czech

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.

heat for life

somebody has to score rc there not gonna score 45 pts a game.one superstar one giant lots of avg players

heat for life

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

Reality Czech

We’ll both be happy if we see Mitchell in a Heat uniform

Reality Czech

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.

Big_guy305.

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.

heat for life

dont want him back.better have a good plan b though.aka fa donovan bams good buddy.bam get bz please.

Big_guy305.

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.

Last edited 7 months ago by Big_guy305.
heat for life

ok then go with deln wright hes a tall guard lol

heat for life

for 5 mins and 7 mins in the second half the heat did not score a fg.

oregoner

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.

Reality Czech

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.

oregoner

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

Reality Czech

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?).

Reality Czech

Interestingly, Mitchell has the same player option for 25-26, and has stated he doesn’t intend to re-sign with Cleveland.

oregoner

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.

SunManFromDogBone

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.

ManilaHeat

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.

ManilaHeat

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?

heat for life

there saving their bodies for playoffs .spo has a plan.

Reality Czech

Okay, right……

Alien

I think so too after all every coach has a plan but will it work this time around? We shall see.

SunManFromDogBone

Jimmy is saving himself for the Lord.

heat for life

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

SunManFromDogBone

How do you really feel about Jimmy? Go ahead heat, open up…you are among firends.

Alien

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

Reality Czech

True, and I hope you’re right, but I also hope we’re not paying these guys Money For Nothing.

heat for life

patty and deln $$ for nothing

SunManFromDogBone

What about the chicks for free?

Bout30man

That’s the way you do it….

SunManFromDogBone

That ain’t workin…

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