Game story:
The Miami Heat failed to capitalize on another opportunity to pick up a statement win against a contending team the other night, falling to the Dallas Mavericks by double digits. They have dropped to 44-36 and baring any notable standings changes, the play-in is looking more and more likely as the days go by.
The Heat are:
- 2-11 in nationally televised games
- 0-10 as a home “underdog”
- Sporting a 24-17 road record (second best in East) but have a 20-19 home record
All of this could be pretty concerning and disappointing, as the team seemed to look better as they did a year ago. Unfortunately some circumstances, health mostly, has stalled the Heat into making strides this season after running it back with the same core.
However, Miami has earned the reputation to never count them out. This is a roster that is built for the playoffs, and another deep run is still a legitimate possibility no matter what has transpired this regular season.
Jimmy Butler is a proven playoff riser, and it is it only fair to expect that he can return to his superstar form on a consistent basis in meaningful playoff games once again.
Tonight they will look to pick up a bounce back win against the twelfth seed Toronto Raptors. Toronto sports an underwhelming 25-55 record and are just 2-8 over their last 10 games. There are several key players for them on the injury report as well.
The Heat and Raptors are 1-1 against each other and this evening will start a two-game stretch inside the Kaseya Center between the two teams to conclude the regular season.
It is a relatively clean injury report for Miami, with everyone who has played the last game and on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks to be available. Terry Rozier is still listed as questionable with neck spasms as Duncan Robinson and Josh Richardson remain out.
Coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t have any positive updates on Rozier, saying that his neck is “jacked up right now.”
It will be important to get some continuity going in these final games, especially building the rhythm and confidence of Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.
Herro has looked very good since returning from injury, but Adebayo has been struggling. He is coming off an abysmal 8 point performance on 3/13 shooting against Dallas. He was a team-worst -20 on the floor and got outplayed by Daniel Gafford.
Hopefully the Heat can respond and head into the play-in with a little bit of confidence after this weekend.
Tonight’s game will tip off at 8:00 PM EST on Bally Sports Florida.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Terry Rozier (neck) — QUESTIONABLE
- Duncan Robinson (facet) — OUT
- Josh Richardson (surgery) — OUT
Toronto Raptors:
- Bruce Brown (knee) — QUESTIONABLE
- Gary Trent Jr. (back) — QUESTIONABLE
- Scottie Barnes (hand) — OUT
- Chris Boucher (knee) — OUT
- Jakob Poeltl (hand) — OUT
- Jontay Porter (personal reasons) — OUT
- DJ Carton (ankle) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Tyler Herro, G
- Caleb Martin, G
- Jimmy Butler, F
- Nikola Jovic, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Toronto Raptors:
- Immanuel Quickley, G
- Gary Trent Jr, G
- RJ Barrett, F
- Bruce Brown, F
- Malik Williams, C
Betting Lines:
- Check the current odds out at FanDuel!
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 8:00 PM EST
- TV: Bally Sports Sun (Eric Reid, John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!
gonna miss rc tonight could be a quiet night w/o him around
That means you will need to post twice as much. Really sorry I’ll miss the gamethread, I’ll be watching game delayed on DVR.
NBA Top 25 Players by tiers 1-5. Bam is in Tier 5. Butler is not listed at all.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/25-best-nba-players-by-tiers-april-2024/ar-BB1lwdqi?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=83eb4518e57e429c95f74e04aabb8a7c&ei=13
In St Pete, so doubt I’ll see the game. I’ll check espn.
ck hhh ill keep u updated along with my takes praises and criticisms,enjoy st pete
Are you in southeast or Orlando?
hollywood fl
954 guy dolphins panthers heat marlins canes,dislike ny teams the most
I lived there a number of years. When my son was young, I coached soccer at Boggs Field for Hollywood Wildcats.
where r u now
Injuries? Sure…every team deals with injuries. But team leaders shouldn’t do girlie or Mickey Mouse hair looks nor lose their cool getting tossed and making it worse disparaging a whole team (Pelicans) then not backing it up. Oh well…very disappointing season for Heat, Spo, & Jimmy. Maybe go add Donovan Mitchell with Butler & Bam without gutting the team too badly.
mitch butler bam terry orob for next year dreams to come true every now and then
Very interesting article. Here’s a quote: “Butler is the 34-year-old who entered this season seeking a contract extension in the $60 million [per year] range. And after 80 games of non-$60 million basketball will be the face of non-stop Hulu ads while donning a lime-green suit the late Craig Sager would deem tacky.”
If Heat falter, Jimmy Butler will bear the blame. Fair or not.
https://allucanheat.com/posts/if-miami-heat-falter-jimmy-butler-blame-fair-or-not?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
fair but rest of team not that good need a #2 player with him bams #3 type player
You are talking yesterday and today. I’m looking at tomorrow. Jimmy’s time has come and gone, regardless what happens during the play-in/playoffs. No way in hell he is worth $180 MILLION 3 year extension. Period!!! If Heat get a decent player/assets for him in return, they can re-tool.
nobody will give him that sun man
He’ll shoot for the stars and take what he can get. If Miami gave him $150+ he would probably take it and them to the cleaners.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if the Heat give Butler a massive contract extension, it’d be the worst decision in the history of the franchise! Worse than Waiters and JJ combined. Heck, might as well bring in CP3 and Lillard and a geriatric doctor.
Don’t forget to add Beal. He’s on massive no trade contract and scoring 17 ppg.
when u play with kd and booker that will happen
Beal making $900k less than KD and $10.7M more than Booker. Seems like a lot of $$$ for 17.8/4.3/5.0. But that’s just me.
i blame pat more than jimmy look at dallas gm what he did.u give jimmy pj and gafford for ty dunc caleb etc now your looking at a legit contender.
Jimmy ain’t no Luka and Bam ain’t no Kyrie. Plus they are still only 5th place in west.
Denver, Minnesota, OKC and Clippers will eat their lunches, slap their asses and send them home.
in the previous playoffs jim was a s good as any player just about.not sure what hes got left.but he has very little help currently.the eastern teams are all beatable i believe.
Boston and Philly (with a healthy Embiid and Harris), would be tough to beat. The rest are beatable if Miami can find a way to play up to it’s potential.
yeah i think its philys year the way maxey is balling.boston with brown and tatum playing hero ball will come up short.nyk will be tough to beat donte and hart are ballers if they had randle id say they could get out of east.dont like our chances this year jimmy has not flashed at all.bams just not good enough.terry could be the x factor he can still ball and win u some games.im taking phily this year in the east.
Philly hasn’t made it past the 2nd round as of yet. Can Embiid survive multiple series? Also, they are likely playing either the Celtics or Bucks in the first round neither of which they have beaten in the playoffs. Bucks would be the preferred 1st rounder and hope giannis isn’t ready. Win and likely play the knicks in the 2nd, followed by the celtics. That is a tough playoffs.
no james helps and maxey is flourishing as a 2nd option .tobias oubre decent 3 4 not great might be their downfall
If 76ers win out they get 6th spot and would face 3rd seed. Second seed is up in air. If Heat get out of play-in round, they would face Celtics or 2nd seed team.
I still can’t believe Pat passed on Maxey and took Precious at #20 and left Maxey to 76ers at #21. The next year, he trades Precious and Dragic for washed up Lowry. Oh well.
Some really bad decisions by Pat. He has made many, especially recently. And some of the reasons are conceptual, and affect his talent evaluation. In fairness, he still makes some really good ones too, just not as high a percentage.
too many misses,hes lucky he drafted wade 30.drafted winslow instead of booker to.beasley pick.bam was good pick ty ok.jjj???jovic??never be all stars
gafford pj were added late there a diff team now.think there the only team that can beat denver.they totally kicked our butts like no other team has
I know. I can’t believe they got Gafford. That hurt to see.
we could have use a pf like pj washington