First Quarter:
- The Heat started hot from three, with Tyler and Bam scoring from long range to get things started.
- Wiggins also had some nice buckets, but it was the Tyler/Bam 2-man game that was acting as the offensive foundation.
- The Heat really took advantage of the Hornets’ inability to score, generating an 8-0 Run to go up 10 points.
- As always, because the Heat were up by double digits, the Hornets clawed back.
- The Heat stalled out briefly, but Ware and Wiggins got the Heat back on track.
- The Heat looked unchallenged on offense at times towards the end of the quarter, with Wiggins scoring at will and the team capitalizing on second-chance opportunities.
- Miami took a 13-point lead into the second quarter.
Second Quarter:
- The Heat reserves continued to excel against the Hornets’ defense, with Highsmith, Terry, and Bam continuing the scoring assault.
- The Hornets started to find some success driving the rim, using Miles Bridges to draw fouls and get to the line.
- Despite controlling the pace of the game and holding the lead, Miami was still very sloppy in its offensive execution, shooting bad shots, turning the ball over, and just not being locked in on the details.
- Herro scored well to keep the Heat in front – but on the other end, the Hornets were making noise on an 11-2 run, trimming the lead to 10.
- Wiggins, and Mitchell calmed things down momentarily, but another Hornets run would trim the lead to only six headed into the half.
Third Quarter:
- It was back and forth to start the third, but Miami was able to regain its footing with some good scoring from Herro and some great defense by Kel’El Ware.
- Davion Mitchell only has one gear, and that’s pure hustle.
- Miami’s inability to hold leads kept rearing its ugly head, with the Hornets chipping away at the margin and getting things down to two.
- Spo’s reluctance to move away from the 2-3 zone cost Miami as the Hornets figured things out.
- Miami mounted a 7-0 run to take back control of the quarter, briefly led by Bam and Herro.
- Charlotte tied things up with a couple of minutes left, threatening the lead once again – but Miami stayed ahead heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Duncan got things started for the Heat in the fourth, increasing the lead to five.
- Miami’s shot selection remained sub-par (I can’t help but call out Terry ignoring a wide-open Jaquez to shoot a step-back three).
- The Heat doesn’t play winning basketball right now. They instead constantly put themselves in positions to lose.
- The Heat built back its lead and dropped it less than a minute later.
- Why this team cannot lock in defensively baffles me.
- Herro, Wiggins, and Bam can deliver excellent plays, but it doesn’t change how one-dimensional and un-fun this team is.
- With Charlotte on a 14-3 run, Miami proceeded to unravel in clutch time offensively with sloppy mistakes.
- Duncan, Tyler and Bam would thankfully clean things up on offense, but a Bridges three put Miami down momentarily.
- Herro got the lead back with less than a minute to go, but Bridges stole it back again.
- Herro was unable to hit a three to take the lead, and Williams’ dunk put the Heat down 4 with seconds remaining.
- Bam hit a three to get things within one and had a chance at the tie on the next Heat possession.
- He’d airball the ball and sum up the Heat’s season in one play.
- Miami somehow got another chance at the tie with 3.7 seconds left, but Herro would brick the three.
- A horrible loss against a bad team and the Heat have reached a new low. This is as close to tanking as I’ve ever seen from the Heat.
I am glad I only watched the first half.
Man, that really hurts.
What is happening right now?
This team is not that bad.
yeah I don’t understand. They have to be good enough to build up a twenty point lead. And blowing those leads SOMETIMES is a sign of a team that isn’t as good as you think. But building double digit leads and then blowing them EVERY NIGHT is a sign that there is some sort of mental block. I’m not sure there’s enough time left in the season to reverse it. It might be one of those “all it takes is one game” situations to reverse the trend, but I’m worried this team is just mentally fried after a long five years, and is checked out on the season already.
I agree, it might be a mental problem. One thing is to loose every tight game because you don’t have experience or you don’t have closers. This is also a problem for the Heat, but bigger one is, that the team should be good enough to make a separation before the final minutes, and response in the right way when opposite team makes a run.
these are the best players in the world.so theyre all good players,bridges ball williams are equal to bam wiggy ty.we think our guys are better but they really arent these are pretty even teams talent wise and bridges couldnt be stopped,conversely teams like nyk cleve bost there top players are better than our top players.so it is understandable where we are ,its up to pat this summer to get a genuine star. on a side note this sunman produces the best posts ive ever seen on any sports sight,the print font size and thoughts behind the posts are lebron jameish spectacular.thank u for your great posts cant wait to see them the following day after a heat game im sure i speak for my fellow hhhers to.we thank u coolio your the best
Thanks heat. I appreciate your kind words. I try to write about things the way I see them. I always try to remain positive, even when times are not so positive. Even now with the Heat, I see it as a transitional period when the team needs to leave the past behind and turn the page to a new chapter. I don’t see problems as obstacles. They are simply puzzles in search of solutions. The current Heat team is the puzzle in search of a solution.
The talent gap is definitely there. Until/unless Miami can recruit, draft, develop or trade for top level talent, they will continue to be a mediocre team. I agree with you that “playoff Jimmy” was the team’s only ss. Unfortunately, rather than play his ass off and earn his desired extension, he decided to make life miserable for Riley, Spoelstra and the entire team in order to force his way out of Miami. What bothered me most about the whole fiasco is that he intentionally missed games, slacked off and ultimately, quit on his teammates. I don’t give a damn how good he is. By putting his ego and greed above his contractual obligation to the team and commitment to his teammates and by demonstrating a total lack of concern about the negative impact his selfishness was having on the team’s chemistry, I lost all respect for his sorry @$$.
Honestly, I hope the team misses the playoffs and keeps it’s lottery pick. There will never be a better time to begin re-tooling and transitioning to a younger team than this summer. It’s time to shake the tree and see what falls. Simply “running it back” and making minor adjustments around the edges is no longer good enough.
It’s time for:
Excellent post. I agree with all and especially the end. It is time for new direction. Looking around the league, one can learn things from the results. One game to focus on from last night is the Lakers-Nets. You can see how much having a superstar covers up a myriad of shortcomings. That game was a microcosm of what happened here and why we are getting the results we are now. And why we need new direction. The problem is at the top.
dont want spo as gm.new direction means he and pat are gone.gm coach 2 diff jobs why would he make a good gm,you would be a good gm based on your posts.ill wait for spo to posts to make my assessment of him.he would prob hire dunc as his assistant..duncs d has given me many laughs over the years a highlight reel of his defense would be must see tv on the comedy channel
Heat as constructed have everything they need to be a solid team. Not good, but solid.
Teams like Bulls and Hornets don’t have that.
Here’s my assessment of what needs to be done at the end of this season:
Management/Coaching:
Keep:
Keep players on rookie contracts (for payroll purposes). They can be included as part of larger trades, if they improve the team.
Re-sign players on two-way contracts
Consider Not Re-signing:
Trade if possible:
2025 Draft
Worse case scenario, draft best player(s) available, trade for the best player(s) available and wait until the 2025-2026 offseason for contracts to expire, before making any major moves.
Meanwhile, use the next month to evaluate all players to confirm which ones are keepers and which ones aren’t.
dont want mitchell back when u avg 7pts and u play 25 mins a game and your that small and get abused by bigger guards id say its isiah stevens time spobot.
Good back-up. Not a good starter. Kind of like last year’s Delon Wright. I like both of them. However, Mitchell is probably not worth what other teams may be willing to pay him. He already makes $6m+.
i like wright more better size better d.davion just get pushed aside to much.always winds up under the basket when guarding onn driving layups.way to small
I like your four core players and your ideas in general. But, now that the hope of this team meshing or being good enough has been lost, I take some different views on some of our personnel.
And one thing I disagree on is Jovic and Jaime. Both cannot be on this team. Either they should be at the end of the rotation or at least one has to go. They both can’t play big minutes or we will lose. I wouldn’t mind both being gone as I think they both hurt more than help. But, one can be at the end of the rotation, a la the Celtics set up, preferably Jovic.
We need to trade Dunc and Terry, those two, while useful players, aren’t worth their contracts. I don’t mind keeping HH, Burks, Slo Mo, or Mitchell, at least till we upgrade for at least two of them. Love is a wonderful person who has made a mark in the world beyond basketball but he is no longer functional as a player. I still want to see more of Pelle as he is a very good athlete with potential.
I think we hope for more from our GLeaguers than they will likely become. It is time to see what they can do but it is much more likely only one of the three of Stevens, Christopher, or Johnson will be NBA level, and that one will likely be no better than an eighth man. I wish GLeaguers would more often emerge but it isn’t that easy. Dru may have been an exception but his injury may hinder his chances.
Our best bet is the draft but we have to hit on the two picks we will have. We aren’t going to recover from where we are overnight, but if we make smart moves from here, improvement can be relatively fast.
burks at 2 mils a bargain dunc at 19 just awful work by pat again.same type player all round burks better player
game after game just reinforcing that bam and ty are not ss.good players top 30.but no wade jimmy lebron type need one of them then we can talk ,
If we all feel down, what shall we say of Rozier?
We need to lean on him for strength or is it the other way round.
Front office when the team chokes lead after lead but we still watch every game
Little River Band would tell our Heat (and not our Little River, 79th and Biscayne Blvd),Time for cool change, I know that its time for a cool change. And now that (the season is so pre-ordained), I know that it’s time for a cool change.
We are officially tanking
Surely we have to be tanking, no?
No, we are not tanking. We are just in the lows.
Well, even if we are not tanking, we are tanking.
Involuntarily tanking?
When I see the Arena half empty, then I know things are really low. Remember Golden state Warriors in the late 90s and early 20?
only care about miami heat f all the other teams and fans love me some rc sun big 30