- Tyler Herro led all Heat scorers with a statline of 21/6/5 on 4/8 shooting from deep. (pic via @basketballforever)
The Miami Heat snap their small 2 game losing streak with a bounce back win against the LA Lakers, 110-96.
They have swept the season series against the In-Season Tournament Champion Lakers 2-0.
Miami improves to 20-14 on the season and have a chance to finish off their 5 game West Coast trip with a 3-2 record on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.
8 players scored in double figures tonight for the Heat; every single man that was in coach Spoelstra’s tight 8 man rotation.
Every single one of the Heat’s eight rotation players were in double figures tonight:
🔥Tyler Herro — 21 PTS
🔥Jaime Jaquez — 16 PTS
🔥Nikola Jovic — 15 PTS
🔥Bam Adebayo — 15 PTS
🔥Duncan Robinson — 13 PTS
🔥Kyle Lowry — 10 PTS
🔥Kevin Love — 10 PTS
🔥Josh Richardson — 10 PTS— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) January 4, 2024
The Miami Heat’s depth is insane.
All this without Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith as well. pic.twitter.com/mM1GVGoqE6
— Mink Flow (@currypistonn) January 4, 2024
Tyler Herro led along with 15/7/5 from Bam Adebayo, 16 and 8 from Jaime Jaquez Jr and 15/7/5 from Nikola Jovic.
Jovic filled in for the starting unit tonight as he was placed next to Adebayo and Jaquez Jr. in the front court.
Jaquez Jr. was a game high +24 when on the floor and made his presence known on both ends of the court. He played very fluid offensively with a spring in his step, and held his own on multiple possessions against LeBron James. Jaquez hit a dagger turn around jumper on the baseline over James in the final minutes of the game.
The 3 man bench rotation of Duncan Robinson, Kevin Love and Josh Richardson combined for 33 points.
Love had a season high 14 rebounds to go along with 10 points and a +11 as the veteran pulled in a double double in 28 minutes.
Robinson was an absolute flame thrower from beyond the arc in the clutch, pulling together yet another double figure 4th quarter.
4TH. QUARTER. DUNCAN.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 4, 2024
It was also nice to see Richardson back in action after sitting the last few games with a back injury.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with a dominant 29/17 double double, but LeBron James struggled and was held in check by the Heat.
James finished with just 12 PTS on 6/18 shooting, 0/6 from three.
The Heat shot more efficiently as a team tonight compared to that last loss against the LA Clippers.
Miami went 44% from the field and 38% from deep.
They lost the rebound battle 50-39, but made up for that by putting their imprint on the game defensively getting into all the passing lines and applying pressure.
The Heat forced the Lakers into 21 turnovers compared to the Heat’s 8 and had the clear advantage in the steals category as well, 14-3.
Miami will conclude this West Coast trip with a matchup in Phoenix Friday night at 9:00 PM ET.
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Anthony Davis 29/17, Lebron 12 pts. Am I surprised, NO!
In a previous post, I commented that Anthony Davis is one of the players in the competition I worry about, LeBron not so worried.
These dudes are head strong. Great win and my man Duncs is clutch. I hate the Lakers so getting to stay up and watch until the end was a treat. Sleep be damned!
Checking the box scores, you see that Dame shot 6-18 last night, one of several times he shot inefficiently this year. It seems like the Dame Milwaukee got is more similar to a Harden or Westbrook type, still effective occasionally, but a little past his prime. I now say we were lucky we didn’t sign him and give up a lot. Give Riley his due on that one.
I would trade Tyler for Dame in a heartbeat. But Tyler is more than 10 years younger and gets paid half as much. But some rumors included Tyler, Duncan, Jovic, Jamie, and picks. That team could beat the Blazers! I’m not saying the Heat dodged a bullet, but I also don’t watch this team and wish they had made the trade
LA was bad. This game was offered on silver plate.
Still, a lot to like in this game. Jaime, Jovic, obviously. And Duncan and Love.
That’s true. The Lakers have problems right now. We caught them on an especially bad night and an ESPN article this morning says they are upset with themselves. Still, we played amazingly well for the players we had available. For us, the way Jovic played gave the team a lift. And Dunc rescued us when we appeared to be faltering, along with timely contributions from just about everyone else. It was a win we needed bad.
Juan wick made the lakers pay for not picking him and straight embarrassed the lakers. Duncan came alive in the 4th with clutch shots ,and a herro dagger to top it off. Plus jovic was bright spot offensively and defensively. Even Lbj didn’t want to talk to the reporters after the game. Lakers are in trouble after winning IST. They might have to fire that HAM MAN.
Reposting my earlier post. I would be entirely against including Jaquez in any trade. After tonight, I might feel the same about Jovic. Of course, I understand you have to give something to get something.
”To this point, Cleveland has been adamant that they are not trading Mitchell. Just blowing smoke? Maybe, but they have him under contract for 1 1/2 more seasons, so they could afford to wait.
I’d love to see Mitchell in a Heat uniform. I’ve said it before. He’d be a game changer. But at what cost? Herro, Jaquez, Jovic, and 2-3 first round picks?
For comparison purposes, this season’s stats:
Mitchell – 45.7 fg%, 34.7 3p%, 90.1 ft% 27.9/5.7/5.7 1.9 st, 2.6 to
Herro – 45.5 fg%, 42.4 3p%, 87.2 ft%, 23.4/5.5/4.5 1.3 st, 2.7 to.
By hfl standards, Mitchell is an average to above average player since he puts so much weight on Herro’s fg%, it’s only fair.
i don’t think a major deal is happening.”
I don’t like Mitchell. I watched him against Dallas in PO 2 years ago. He was bad. That was his second or third PO failure of Utah, and he was the reason for all of them.
So the reason why I don’t like him is his PO performance. Its worse then Herros.
Honestly i don’t think I want Mitchell anymore. Maybe if it was a year ago, I’d say yes,vbut I don’t think we need him anymore. Firstly the cavs will want too much. Also I don’t want a small backcourt of Lowry and Mitchell, which would make us more undersized. Small backcourt lineups hasn’t worked for Mitchell with the cavs or the jazz. Herro is 6’6 and already a better shooter. Lastly you might say we need more scoring, but it would be counterproductive trading away 50 points of scoring between herro,Robinson, and whoever else for half those 50 points and less depth. I think the cons outweigh the pros for Mitchell.
I wouldn’t trade Jamie. At this point, he’s at least as good as Shane Battier, with a potential that could reach Kahwai Leonard status. The Heat need to see what they have before they trade him.
As for the Mitchell vs. Herro debate…
Listen, I like Tyler. I think he’s good. I don’t think the Heat need to trade him. But if you watch the second half of any Cavs game against a good team, do you know what you’re going to see? Donovan Mitchell getting after the bucket. He’s driving the lane. He’s shooting three’s. Sometimes he gets hot and it looks great, sometimes the shot won’t fall and it looks bad. But he’s always getting after it.
The best teams in the East have Dame, Tatum/Brown, Maxey, Haliburton, or Brunson. In the West, the best teams have a Jamal Murray or Ant Man or Sha or Booker or Steph.
You need someone to take over in the fourth quarter if you want to win in this league. Jimmy Buckets is awesome, but he’s 34 and he’s never been as good in the regular season. Bam is an every-year all-star, but he’s not a fourth quarter scorer. The Heat need a guy like that.
Is Tyler that guy? If yes, don’t trade him, because the Heat have enough to win a title. But if Tyler is not that guy, the Heat need to find that guy to win a Championship.
Just checked the east standings and its a very close list from #4 thru #8 only one game between them. Heat need to rack up wins and get that 4-5 position.
Good team effort, especially on defense. Bam is a great defensive center, except against taller, more physical, skilled players. He would make an excellent PF in a line-up with Davis, Jokic, Embiid or another monster center. I gave him all the credit in the world for being able to compete with the other, taller centers in the league. He just can’t compete with the best.
I have been stressing the need for Miami to trade for a starting two-way PG and PF all season. After watching tonight’s game, it is obvious that Bam is the PF the team has been lacking. What we actually need is a big center to compete with the big bodies in the NBA. We still also still need a PG.
There are a few big centers out there that my be had in a trade, such as Vukevic, and others. There are also starting caliber PGs. The question is, what is Riley willing to give up to bring them in? Time will tell.
GO HEAT!!!
If bam had a 3 point shot, it would be so easy to slot a center next to him, but since bam doesn’t have that in his bag yet. Spo has to run him at center with an undersized pf’s that can space the floor, with the exception of an old Kevin love. Finding bigs that can shoot at a good rate from 3 are rare. Vucevic is 33 with maybe a couple of good years left. Wish he we would of came to mia, when he was younger instead wasting most of his prime with the bulls. With that being said if the price is right, I’ll trade for him , but not if they want too much for him.
Bam doesn’t need a 3 point shot if the center he plays with has one. Vucevic is a career 34.4% 3 point shooter, although he is having a down year so far this season. He also pulls down 10.5 rebounds (career), including 10.4 this year. His contract is only $18.5M this year, $20.0 next year and $21.48 in 2025-2026. He is big enough to guard the paint and bang with the big boys while Bam helps in the paint and patrols the parimeter. It could work.
But who would you trade for him? And how many picks are you willing to give up for him?
That’s Riley’s decision.
50/50 LA trip. Passed this test with flying colors. Though lakeshow fans said Bron is sick. Doesn’t matter, it’s a Heat win. Might’ve caught Lakers another off night but they came from two losses so this was supposed to be a wake-up game for them. And great to see Jovic balling!! Upside looks good. Very, very good I’m drooling! Next serious test Phx. Go Heat!!