Monday night hoops featured the Miami Heat earn a needed bounce back victory, 110-95 over the Brooklyn Nets. They finally snapped their three-game losing skid and find themselves back over the .500 mark at a 14-13 record, along with continuing their undefeated streak in the new Blood Red jerseys.
The Heat were scorching with their shooting, going for an impressive 50% overall from the field and 41% from 3-point range as a team. Despite allowing a 29-19 Nets second quarter advantage that got them within 1 point heading into halftime, Miami responded following the break.
They had a 52-38 point differential over Brooklyn in the second half of the game. It was a dominant and efficient two-way outing from the team, who tightened things up down the stretch to take back a commanding lead. The Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo duo stepped up in Jimmy Butler’s absence.
Butler was downgraded prior to tip-off as he is still struggling with a stomach bug. He wasn’t the only one to deal with unfortunate availability issues though, as the Heat’s win came at the cost of what seemed like a serious Dru Smith injury.
Smith went down after just seven minutes of action from a non-contact lower leg injury. He needed assistance from his teammates to help him head back into the locker room, and did not return to the game. It is a devastating blow to a player who was emerging as an impactful rotation piece; as well as on the cusp of earning a standard deal with Miami.
Heat Nation will brace themselves for an update that hopefully comes sooner rather than later, but it doesn’t look good for the undrafted guard. He was forced to sit out most of the 2023-24 campaign after an ACL tear and battled all the way back, just to go down again in back-to-back seasons.
Alec Burks received the backup point guard minutes after Smith went down. He finished with 12 points on 50% shooting as Terry Rozier was also downgraded to out prior to the start of the game.
On the brighter side, Miami received plenty of contributions from the rest of the supporting cast. Duncan Robinson filled it up from beyond the arc, finishing with 17 points and 4 assists on 5 of 10 shooting from 3-point range. Nikola Jovic also added 18 points on 4 of 5 from deep. The Heat outscored the Nets by 21 points during Jovic’s 32 minutes off the bench.
Recently, the third year forward has been seeing his most success coming in a reserve role, with tonight being no different.
But the biggest takeaway may have come from the continued dominance during Kel’el Ware’s run off the bench. He posted 9 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals on 4 of 6 shooting in his 17 minutes. He showcased how legitimate his 7-foot presence is in the paint as a strong rim protector. Ware’s energy has been contagious over the past two games, and he is giving coach Erik Spoelstra no choice but to play the rookie big man.
He was unable to see any playing time alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt, but he could be working himself up to that level in the near future. The Heat’s final form could come with that duo, which has plenty of potential to be special on both ends of the floor.
The Nets stayed within striking distance and answered with an offensive run during the second quarter, but they just didn’t have enough firepower to sustain it. Cam Johnson and Noah Clowney each posted 19 points for Brooklyn in the loss.
The Heat will get a few days off during the holiday break until suiting up again for Thursday’s rematch in Orlando against the Magic.
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Please no D Smith jr or Elfrid Payton!!
Unfortunately, Dru has a torn achilles tendon and is out for the season! 😕😕
Another article suggesting it is in the best interest of Butler and the Heat to trade him before the deadline. I hope Riley is listening.
NBA Rumors: Miami Heat are about to make another disastrous trade deadline moveThe Miami Heat has made bad move after bad move of late, and another one could be coming.
https://sircharlesincharge.com/nba-rumors-miami-heat-another-disastrous-trade-deadline-move?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
Merry Christmas or whatever you may celebrate or best wishes if you don’t celebrate anything in particular!
All the best to all posters.
There was so much going on in that game. Ware played well enough to deserve rotation minutes from here on. And Dru needs to be replaced if he is hurt for a long time. What Dru provides, point guard ball handling, is in short supply on the rest of the team.,
But, I would be remiss if I didn’t address Pat’s social experiment. It’s no secret that Pat has tended to draft and play more white players than anyone else in the league by a wide margin. Utah and Memphis have the next most, but there are fewer and they play less important roles. Most teams have one to two whites, and a few have none, like Brooklyn ( I think Bogdonovich is injured).
Last nights game often saw the somewhat remarkable sight of four white players versus an all black team for several minutes and most of the game seeing three whites playing. Since this is never otherwise seen, it served to illustrate some interesting things. Yes, it was only one game, but one could see a few myths being called to question that perhaps some of us need to realize. One, second teamers (rotational players) are just as limited in ability whatever the skin color, and the reverse racism we all engage in with our expectations are somewhat unfair. For example, black players get more time to develop, and blame for losing is disproportionally placed on white players shoulders. I am not saying there is not a rightful dominance of black players in the league as more of them have the incredibly high skill required in playing in this most athletic of all sports. But in a game where Tyler Herro was clearly the most gifted athlete on the court, maybe some of our deeply held beliefs about the potential for white players like Nico, JJJ, and Pelle to develop into solid players, can be adjusted more fairly. And coded phrases like speaking of two way players are not just taken at face value as each players performance is evaluated, because Nico, as one example, appears to have excellent defensive instincts, and some of those Nets were being blown right past.
Hopefully I have not sounded like a jerk in saying this.
I m not sure what you want to say, but its probably “white man can jump”.
I just want to mention, that some of the best white players (like Jokic and Doncic) are not gifted athletes in traditional way, but they still can play at the high level. Tyler is gifted athlete and white at the same time, which is actually quite rare.
I wouldn’t go too deep about this, I just want to cited Thompson comment about his teammate Luka. He said something like that.
We were told that we have to be the fastest and to jump highest to be good basketball players. And then there is Luka, who can hardly touch the rim.
And there is the biggest difference. Americans likes athleticism, which can be provided from black athletes. There is another way, which can be used from others too.
I know, Good comment. I was kind of sorting out my own feelings about the Heat and the rest of the league. And, I have been unfair at times myself. There is so often a tendency in basketball to view losing with an almost kneejerk “blame the white guy” explanation. And everyone can search their own consciousness and know that on some level that is true. I have done it here so many times in subtle ways but will do it no more. Because, you have to ask yourself about last night when there is no one to blame and the Nets still lose. It just made me think a little. Maybe we need to be a little more nuanced in some of our evaluations.
As for Jovic and Luka, their athleticism is of a different sort than the quick twitch explosiveness, but it is no less rare or skillful or any less of a gift. There are many different aspects to athleticism.
Good team win. I hope Dru isn’t seriously hurt.
Ware continues to impress. It’s time for him to be in the rotation on an ongoing basis. I can’t wait to see him and Bam starting together.
We got a glimpse of life after Jimmy, if he is traded before the deadline or opts out and moves on after the season The Heat has a good group of young role players. Without Jimmy, the team may continue struggling against winning teams and beating bad teams. On the bright side, we will get to see the young ones developing, bonding and improving over time.
I hope Riley decides what he is going to do about the “Jimmy situation” soon. It’s never to early to plan for the future.
If Dru is going to be out for very long, Riley should sign Johnson to a regular contract and move Stevens to a two-way contract ASAP before another team signs him. There may be enough cap space available to sign both Smith and Johnson to regular minimum contracts.
Yes, I referenced that situation earlier. The open roster spot must be filled in the next 5 days. They actually will have enough space to sign 2 minimum rookie contracts. Of course, if the injury requires another year long rehab (hope not), that last spot may go to another 2-way player or a player that is waived near the trading deadline or later in the season.
And, yes sir, Ware has been impressive. He changes the attack of the opposing team – they are more wary of a 7 footer in the paint with that long wingspan than when Bam is down there.
Ware really improved, and he had a really good impact. If he continue like this, we have a good backup center this year and maybe a starting one next year. Step by step.
I am hoping the injury is not as bad as it looked. We will have more information tomorrow but it definitely doesn’t look good.
This presents an interesting dilemma for the team. The assumption was that Dru would get a regular contract to fill the slot left open with the Bryant trade. The Heat are REQUIRED to fill that slot in 14 days from that trade, or now within the next week. So now, who gets the 14th spot? The leading candidates imo are Keshad or Christopher. If one of those gets it, they can give the open 2-way to Stevens. Dark horse candidates are Little, who has been playing very well for the Skyforce. Little is not eligible for a 2-way. And then there is Dennis Smith Jr, but I’m not a fan.
dam rc hats off to your contract apron knowledge u got me on that i have no clue about that stuff.i guess i can google that stuff but no interest ill let you do the talking on that stuff ill stick to my love for duncs defense and bams not a center stuff.
Thanks buddy
Keep beating bad teams and losing to the good teams.
I am fine with this until the trade deadline.
But I can’t believe Riley wants to go into the playoffs like this
Good win, sucks that dru got hurt, I hope he’s alright. Loved seeing ware tonight, he was truly a menace in the minutes he played. Felt great seeing bam as a closer in the 4th looking like Jimmy with the middy. Great jovic game killing it from 3 and showing some dominance with improved post play. I’m still kinda mad we lost to magic, but magic beat Boston tonight, so I guess that makes feel a tiny bit better.
tatum didnt play