While it didn’t come easy, the Miami Heat escaped with a 125-120 win over the Indiana Pacers Friday evening inside Kaseya Center.
After Pascal Siakam’s layup gave Indiana the 110-108 advantage with 5:50 left to cap an 18-4 run, both teams jostled back and forth for the lead. Tyrese Haliburton’s 17-foot pull-up jumper tied it at 120 with just over a minute.
But Davion Mitchell drained the eventual game-winning 3-pointer–coming off a key extra pass from Tyler Herro for his seventh-and-final assist–followed by a pair of free throws from the Heat’s first-time All-Star to all but seal their second-straight win.
Friday marked Miami’s second-straight win for the first time since Jan. 27 and its first win against a team with a .500 record or better since Jan. 7. The last two months hasn’t been an easy trek, but it collectively dug its heels into the mud and persevered down the stretch when it needed to.
Herro tallied a team-high 29 points on 11-of-25 shooting and 3-of-10 from 3-point range; Duncan Robinson had another huge performance off the bench, registering 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Mitchell finished with 10 points and a team-high eight dimes while Bam Adebayo had 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting.
One game removed from being one triple shy of tying the team’s franchise record in makes, the Heat drained 17 3-pointers at a 53.1 percent clip Friday–shooting 57.1 percent as a whole (12-13 FT). Indiana’s offense, led by Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton, also hummed, shooting 53.4 percent and 21-for-39 from deep.
Friday evening’s win was a huge step in the right direction for the Heat, who move to 28-30 on the season. They’re still in line for a play-in spot, but could this build some late-season momentum heading into the final 24 games?
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With Jovic and Jaquez injured, does that leave an opening for Spo to play Keshad Johnson? Asking for a friend.
too muscular athletic for spobot he ‘ll go with pelle or maybe the beach boy
Unfortunately, still with G League.
Why did they sign him to a regular contract if they are going to treat him like a G Leaguer? If that is the case, maybe Larsson should be in Sioux Falls too getting playing time instead of sitting at the end of the bench in Miami next to Love.
I just wanted to let everyone know that if I disappear for like two weeks, it’s not because anything happened to me, it’s just because the pipe that brings Internet to Alaska is leaking internet all over the ocean. I had to jump through hoops just to post this message.
True story.
https://www.ktoo.org/2025/02/28/partial-internet-and-cell-phone-outage-affects-juneau/
Hang in there!
This is a blessing, actually. Like a holiday from this mad world.
Yeah, I get a break here and there not because I want to, it is because of work schedule. But then I realize how refreshing it is.
I plan a working break of 2-3 months for a while know, but its seems its always just around the corner. Well, maybe in April, as it seems now.
Fo awhile I have been thinking of an Alaskan visit. It may happen this summer. I have to check my chances of seeing the northern lights.
dont happen in summer
While I think it’s always a good idea to visit Alaska in the summer, you do need darkness to see an aurora. And we don’t call it “the land of the midnight sun” for nothing.
If you’re looking to book a cruise, late-September can sometimes have good aurora showings. In recent years some companies have opened up October sailings, which are better for aurora viewing, but A) the weather starts to turn pretty bad by then, and B) a lot of the shore-side tourism infrastructure will already be closed up by then (restaurants, tours, shops), because it’s not worth it to stay open for the low frequency of October sailings.
But don’t let this discourage you. It’s just stuff that people often don’t think about when planning their trip 🙂
“Quiet Quitter” missed Golden State’s game today due to back spasms. He has struggled over his last two games, totaling 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting. It’s unclear when he’ll suit up again. Sound familiar? His next chance to play will come Monday in Charlotte, which is the first half of a back-to-back set for the Warriors.
By the way, Golden State lost their game to the 76ers 126-119 playing without Joel Embiid, who is out for the season. The Warriors (32-28) are in 7th place, .5 game behind the 6th place Clippers and .5 game ahead of Sacramento, Minnesota and Dallas. It sure would be nice if they ended up in 10th place. That way, even if they make the playoffs, they would get no lower than the #18 pick, which will convey to Miami. If they make the play-in round but not the playoffs, they would get a lottery pick (likely #13 or #14), which would also convey to Miami.
Life is good!
when he started playing with gsw he was on about a 30 day vacation.wear and tear on those 35 year old legs it was inevitable.father time pretty much got jimmy ,i feel bad for steph he got damaged goods
As long as we get their 2025 pick I could GAF about Warriors. They knew he was a snake when they picked him up. “Buyer Beware!” I’m waiting for Butler to get in a fight with Green. I’d pay to watch that one. 😂
speaking up ppv fights did u see tank davis lamont roach jr fight what a great fight.for anyone to last with tank 12 rnds is shocking.
No. I read about it. Ref screwed up not counting Davis taking a knee as a knockdown. He counts and Davis loses. Aren’t Tank and Shakur supposed to fight later this year? My wife and I watch boxing and UFC all the time. We wait for pay events to be free later. Just saw the Bivol v Better event from Saudi Arabia. What a loaded card and excellent matchmaking.
he said he had some sort of grease in his eye .took a knee not sure why that didnt count as a knock down.thought roach won the fight anyway as did most others.this will prob setup a rematch.im not super into boxing but i was surprised anybody would last would tank
Honeymoon finished already?
couple more injuries probably.hes been a catalyst for their creedence clearwater revivial.quitters a baller when he was young and healthy unfort hes old and oft injured .hes a part time baller now
Quentin Grimes went off for 44 points vs Warriors. WTF?
And he missed 6 free throws.. Could have scored 50.
on any given day.if hh would take 25 shots he could go for 40 its a mindset all these guys are super talented the best ballers in the world.
That is what is frustrating about Highsmith. He’s not aggressive enough on offense. He could be a great two-way player if he consistently scored 15-20 points a game. Maybe one day he’ll reach his potential. Hope it is with Miami. Spo has until the end of next season to unlock THAT player.
The same goes with Mitchell this year. If Spo can get him up to 15+ points per game, Miami has their PG of the future. If only 10ppg, he would be a great back-up PG and starter in a pinch.
Jovic and Jaquez are in similar positions. They both have to find a fifth gear (15+ ppg) or they will always be borderline rotation players.
jimmy hurt already f him
29pts looks good but 11/25 fgs 30% 3s not really pretty but boy wonder had a lot of help and it was a great team effort to get the W.
11/25 FG = 44% (not bad).
Progression of this “2026 preseason” continues to go in the right direction.
This team has a mixture of B+,B- and BC grade players. Hopefully, by the beginning of 2026 season we will have more of AB players, at most 3 B+ players on this team and NO player in the lower grades.
My grading scale.
A+ = Superstar, perennial all star
A- = All star caliber.
AB = All star capable player but some inconsistency limiting the potential.
B+ = Good player but not 1st team material, alternates between 1st and 2nd team.
B- = Obvious Bench team players.
BC = Has great potentials and need NBA game exposure.
C+ = Meets the minimum criteria to round up the NBA mandated roster requirement.
C- = G league.
Correction: With a psaltry amount of AB players, the team is a mixture of few B+ Players and mostly B-,BC and C+ players.
I like it. We need to quantify (or is it qualify?) talent. The overall grade should reflect how much the player leads to winning and the cumulative value of all aspects of his game, including his crunch time effectiveness. Sort of like a WAR in baseball.
Ditto.
Progression of this “2026 preseason” continue to go in the right direction.
This team has a mixture of B+,B- and BC grade players. Hopefully, by the beginning of 2026 season we will have more of AB players, at most 3 B+ players on this team and NO player in the lower grades.
My grading scale.
A+ = Superstar, perennial all starA- = All star caliber.AB = All star capable player but some inconsistency limiting the potential.B+ = Good player but not 1st team material, alternates between 1st and 2nd team.B- = Obvious Bench team players.BC = Has great potentials and need NBA game exposure.C+ = Meets the minimum criteria to round up the NBA mandated roster requirement.C- = G league.
Correction: With a psaltry amount of AB players, it is a mixture of few B+ Players and mostly B-,BC and C+ player
For as much as Herro was player of the game, they don’t win this game without Duncan and Burks in second half. Burks rallied the team in the 3rd and Duncyard dog did it in the 4th. Man he was cooking with alley-oops, pump fake little moves inside, plus the 3’s. He was barking at those refs on two of those three’s wanting fouls. He was really in the Duncyard zone.
Crazy they won this game with no Niko, Wiggins and JJJ getting hurt. The team did not crumble even though I thought they were going to in that 4th when Siakam was going ham.
Take out the Knicks and it will be the best Heat weekend in a while.
The duncyard dog was definitely in the zone, and was clutch in that 4th quarter. We don’t win that game without him, and burks 2nd half production was pivotal, he gave the bench a major boost. The heat showed perseverance getting the win , with those players out, hot shooting from pacers, and spicy p going crazy velociraptor mode .
Very entertaining game, and very good win against a surging pacers team. Pacers came out blistering hot, making a bunch of threes in the 1st half, but we kept battling back. Then spicy p went for almost 40 with a career high 8 3’s, but that didn’t stop us from winning. The duncyard dog was magnificent especially in that 4th, along with mitchell who had a team high 8 assists, boy wonder also did some wonderful things as well. Also it felt good seeing burks play well that 2nd half after some bad games and can’t forget how solid locksmith was as well. Lastly Jaquez played a good 1st half until he got hurt, get well soon.
It was amazing how they got back in the game and won. In the first quarter, they were at 80% on 3 pointers and ended the quarter over 72%. Both teams ended the game at about 53%!
Wow both teams was shooting lights out from 3. But you’re right It was amazing seeing the heat get back in it, after pacers tested us all through the game. Sidenote: this is the 2nd game in 20 games for pacers that they lost after putting up at least 120.
I don’t get the whole racial thing I’ve seen in the game threads
mate are u australian?
do u watch american football mate or just rugby.
I strongly agree. People stated their views, fine. Now, give it a rest.
It’s been nice to just enjoy the game and not have to swim through the floating turds.
I am not sure of what you mean, granted I do not read all threads. Can you be more specific, please?
I am guilty, I take the blame, sorry for any unpleasantry. I wish I never said anything. But that would be dishonest. We have the team we have. It’s not like any other. We won last night against a team that usually beats us when they shoot that well. Certain patterns emerged in the rotations that were notable in getting the win. Any other team in the league it doesn’t come up.
one thing id like to see brought up first by rc which ive rarely seen is for ware to hit the offensive boards.once he sees a shot going up just head to the rim .if your gonna hang around 3 pt line show some aggressiveness and get us some second chance pts
I like your comment and hope he reads it.
Huge win last night. The players we have, when used optimally, are capable of a 46 win season, if we played them all year like we played them last night. In other words, when we get the best out of our talent, we are just as good as last year.
We still are at best a first round exiter, but not far off. We need to play more Burks and Rozier, more Bam and Kel’el, less Nico and JJJ. I am never happy when a player gets injured, but we don’t win last night with either Nico or JJJ getting big minutes. Rozier may be in the doghouse right now, and deservedly so, but he still has skillsets that are lacking on this team, particularly the ability to create his own shot. He will bounce back.
We should have Ty and Dunc playing first team and second team, and four good defenders with them. That is our best team. Again, more HH, more Burks, more Rozier, less JJJ, less Nico, less Love ( I guess he is done barring injury), and a starting five of Ware, Bam, Ty, Davion, and Wiggins, with a bench of Burks, HH, Rozier, Dunc, and only occasionally JJJ.
That is our best team. That will beat fast athletic teams like Indy. That won’t beat Boston or Cleveland, but it might also beat NY and Milwaukee, time will tell.
Last night was telling. Hopefully we learned something about our rotations.
Something we could do right now is get another big on the buy in market to play Bryant minutes (we shouldn’t have let him go). That would help the second unit. We are talking maybe ten minutes a game or less. That player, like Bryant, only has to be a C+ player, but it should not be Love getting those minutes. And Nico can be used only if Dunc is not on the floor too.
I have tried to explain this before. The team wanted to convert Dru to a regular contract. A two way player is not eligible for the playoffs. They moved Bryant because he was the best choice due to his minimal contract that was for one year. Love is on a two year contract, earning twice as much per year than Bryant. We cannot right now get another player without releasing a player. The only players on small enough contracts that you could waive to do that are Burks or Keshad (they converted him after Dru was hurt). And when you waive a player, you have to pay them a negotiated amount.
This isn’t MLB. You can’t just spend any amount you want to without facing egregious penalties. It is very possible that the Heat miss the playoffs this season. That would give them the 14th pick at worst. Do you know what would happen if they were over the second apron? They would not get that 14th pick. They would instead get the 30th pick. If that happened, you would be saying, how could Riley mismanage the situation and hurt the team like that. And, there are other repercussions as well, some of which came into play with other teams when we were trying to trade Jimmy Butler.
I can appreciate that some people don’t want to get into the nuances of the CBA. I just know some very basic stuff. It is the equivalent of reading all that fine print on your prescription medicines. That medicine may help your condition, but there are some potential side effects that can kill you. Caveat emptor.
No, you are right. Sometimes I look at our roster and make suggestions like we have no limitations. Thanks for the explanation of some of the nuances of the cap and where we stand.
niko would be all europe 1st team .here all sitting on bench team 2 best games of year we played when he got hurt .sorry for u niko fans just doesnt do well here.better options are hh and burks 2 2 way players from city ball usa less size but just better ballers.jjj just doesnt have the foot speed or athleticism to be a good player could be a 10-12 min a guy player
You forgot to mention Love and Larsson.
Maybe you didn’t notice, but Jaquez shot 100% last night. 100%!! Did not miss a single shot he took, played solid defense, played aggressively. His best game in a long time with 11 points in the first half. Assuming we wouldn’t have won that game if he played the whole game doesn’t make sense. He was a nice part of the second quarter comeback.
agree rc but again hes a limited player.like his defense and ruggedness has to work on his jumper to be a good rotational player.guys are stripping him and blocking him very frequently.
That’s true. He was playing well. And JJJ is no slouch on defense. He is still, at this time, a marginal player in this incredibly talented league. He could still be on the ascent though.
To this point, it seems unlikely that he would ever deserve to start. He is one of those glue guys that can come in, work hard, and give you 15 or so minutes per game. I sometimes like to go and review the draft where we got a certain player and if that player was decent value. In the 2023 draft, players drafted in front of Jaquez, that I don’t think are as good, or not better than him right now include, Anthony Black 6, Jarace Walker 8, Jett Howard 11, and Kobe Bufkin 15. On the other hand, players who were chosen in after Jaquez at #18 who may have been better fits include, Noah Clowney 21, but not much more depending on how you view Cam Whitmore 20 and Brandin Podziemski 19. So, imo, you could not really expect any more from your #18 pick than what we have in Jaquez.
Thanks. That is amazing how meh the pickings were middle to late in the first round that year. Perhaps only the top five picks will almost surely produce a solid player, and in the next five there is a good chance too. The next five you probably will hit, but maybe not. After that it’s a crap shoot. You would think that there would be more very good players produced in colleges and around the world.
I disagree with you saying less nico, obviously rozier should get some minutes, since Nico is hurt, but if Nico comes back he should get more of the minutes because rozier been a disappointment this year, his 3pt shooting went downhill, and he been missing so many layups, probably the most layups missed on the team. Nico was the most consistent bench player before he got hurt, is way better 3pt shooter, is a better facilitator, and more size. I understand saying less Jaquez, but less Nico is ludicrous.
All I can say is, look around the league, and at team structure since the seventies, for the last fifty plus years.
Sorry, but we have a bunch of emerging players with a redundancy in their limitations. Cuts need to be made somewhere. Potentially valuable players do need to go.
With respect to my draft reviews like the detailed one above, Jovic was actually a very good pick at 27. There are probably 5-10 players picked above him that are not as good. Of those chosen after and using 20/20 hindsight, there was Nembhard 31, Jaylin Williams 34, and a very solid Max Christie 35. But I still say Jovic was solid and has fared well for a #27 pick. Despite my colleague’s Euro-league comments, I believe he will be in the NBA for the foreseeable future.
I am rooting for Nico and the rest of the team too.
If nothing else, the players on this team have a lot of heart. Mitchell has them playing together and under control. I hope he continues playing well and decides to sign a multi-year contract with Miami this summer. Life is good.
GO HEAT!!!
another way of saying not too talented.agree.when u look at the top teams bost ind okc denv lal dallas memphis nyk houston.talent needs to be upgraded still not a champ contender .just get a friggin whale already pat or give up your job.or as brother 30 keeps saying 2 good players
If I am Pat, I will be easy on that multiyear contract. 1 year deal and 2nd year player option is what I will offer. But then, I am not Pat Riley.We have seen guys become “non performers” with multiyear contracts.
one was on the ind bench last night never plays not sure if pats still paying him
Thankfully no. 3 year, $43 million! Good grief! Bad Riley deal. $14.5 million a year. In his 5 contracts since then, he’s averaged about $2.5 million. Still, that buys a lot of gummies.
If he plays well this year, there will several teams interested in acquiring his services. How much is a good back-up PG going for these days?
Yes, a 2 or 3 year deal would be good with a team option, not a player option on the last year. That would best protect the team if things didn’t work out.
I think this team still needs a lot of time to come together. I don’t want to get too high after one win.
But damn, Mitchell is a great backcourt partner for Herro. Ware is a great frontcourt partner for Bam. JJJ and Wiggins are good (not great, but good) small forwards. Jovic and Slo-Mo and Duncan are nice bench players.
This is a really good team. Not a championship contender, but a good young team with a lot of potential. Nice quick rebuild on the fly by Riley.
I second that emotion 😀
Yes, that is right, good analysis.
I agree, and mitchell is a def good backcourt mate with herro, had solid numbers including 8 assists. Ware is good for bam too helps a lot with rebounding had like 12.
miss your game day comments usually spot on except when praising 55 lol
Lol you got jokes huh, but yea I was busy running errands In margate.
Nice they have a long “preseason” in my opinion for 2026 to continue to grow and getter better.