The Miami Heat opened the first of five games Tuesday night, this one being on the road against the Charlotte Hornets. In what came down the game’s final possession, the Hornets squeaked past the Miami Heat 111-108.
The Heat’s starters–Terry Rozier, Alec Burks, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo–only played in the first half. Adebayo led with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, though over half of his shot attempts (5) came from 3-point range, converting on two (one ATB, one corner). He also had six rebounds with one steal.
From the opening tip, Jimmy Butler came out engaged, posting 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block, finishing 3-of-6 from the floor. Jovic posted nine points, three assists and one steal in his first game back from injury, while Rozier added seven points, four boards and a pair of assists.
Burks impressed in his first Heat stint, racking up eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting with three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Heat second-round rookie Pelle Larsson impressed most in the second unit, adding 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. First-round rookie Kel’el Ware, who checked in with 4:59 in the third quarter, posted 13 points, five rebounds, four blocks (!) and two steals on 5-of-9 shooting across 17 minutes. He was arguably the biggest standout of the night–figuratively and literally.
Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball led all scorers with 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc in 23 minutes; rookie Tidjane Salaun had 15 points and eight rebounds while Tre Mann scored 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
A total of 17 players saw the court for Miami–except Zyon Pullin and Nassir Little, who signed with the team in late September days before training camp. No Heat player appeared for more than 17 minutes, shooting 42.4 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from 3-point range.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t mix-and-match too many lineups Tuesday evening–letting certain groups figure it out for prolonged periods of time. But he has the rest of the preseason to figure that out–all in all, it was beautiful to have Miami Heat basketball back, win or lose.
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Not everyone is going to see things the same and thank goodness for that. But, seems like our loyal hhh analysts are expressing generally more realistic expectations for our chances this time around. We are all continuing to hope for the best, but we can see things more clearly this time around as the miracle season of 22-23 becomes farther back in the rear view mirror.
People always count out the Heat… Looks like some of y’all do, too. And that’s okay. It will be sweeter for all of you when the Heat steamroll the playoffs and go back to the finals.
I know there were some additions to teams in the East, but they aren’t scaring me. What scares me are the injuries we have suffered from prior to and during the playoffs.
I’m hoping that we put together a good showing in the first half of the season and secure a high seed in the second half of the season for the playoffs. We have Spo… It will be fine. I still believe in our defense. We have several players now that can go get buckets.
Injuries are a part of the game, for sure, but to judge a whole team for an injury-riddled season is a bit short sighted. We aren’t the Clippers. Health + playoff position = good things for the Heat.
I know you guys love this team and just want the best for us, I do, too. I’m just not seeing what some of y’all are displaying. Maybe I’ll see it this season, but I’m hoping bad luck doesn’t strike in consecutive seasons. This may be it for Jimmy Butler on the Heat… It would be a great storyline for him to finally get the chip. Miami deserves it.
I just wanted to show the glass half full side of things. Carry on.
Yes, that’s a valid perspective too. Go Heat….you never know.
Sorry to hear about Barkov. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be as bad as it first appeared.
Considering this was the first preseason game with many rookies and some relatively “new” players coming back from injury, I feel good about the Heat’s roster. Was not until Robinson subbed in, did I remember that the Heat still have Robinson, Hero, Jovic, Richardson in the roster.
This explains a lot about Jimmy’s mental attitude the last part of the season. On Netflix.
What happened to Jimmy Butler’s biological dad? The father of Jimmy Butler is Jimmy Butler II. He left him and his mother and him when he was very young. Butler has not revealed any more information about his father. However, he stated that he had reconciled with both his mother and father and keeps in touch with them.
https://allucanheat.com/netflix-series-reveals-grief-jimmy-butler-playing-through?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
jimmys problem is father time sun man.has to pace himself cant bust ass all the time he can no longer beat his man and get to the rim like he use to remember jimmy free throws,he made some nice passes last night,i think his scoring avg will go down but his assists and all round game should keep him at an all star level,no longer ss.needs the youngens to improve around him for us to compete vs the big boys
Jimmy is not a max player. Maybe a marginal all star. Too many young up and coming players in the NBA. Depending how he does this year, Heat may offer him a discount extension. Otherwise, he’s gone one way or another. Miami has too many good young players to put all their eggs in the Butler basket. It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7zkd0kRS4
hes still our best player.
He was. Bam is now. He’s all star, all defense, captain, younger.
both are top 20 players after that falls off to much
id rather see the youngens get run over dunc and always injured ty.of course that will not happen
Heat has one of deepest benches in league. They need to trade a few folks and get another star.
exactly all these guys are ok have no stars except a fading star in jimmy.nobody wants ty dunc,have to trade jjj only guy with value.do not trade ware,ware kind of makes bam expendable hmm.do we dare trade bam sun for a star cause i think ware gonna be as good as bam
Do we dare? No. Bam is untouchable. This goes in category of Minny trades Edwards, Dallas Luka or Boston Tatum.
Its wrong and shouldnt happen.
Ware played with 3th team in first game. There is a reason for that. Obviously he is not ready to play with big guys yet.
Yes, it would be ridiculous to consider trading Bam. If he continues to hit 3s at a reasonable rate, it elevates him from a B+ to an A or A+ player. To SunMan’s point, he is now our best player. If the Heat trade anyone, it should be Butler, Herro, Bryant, Richardson, Duncan.
bryant rich dunc lol
this roster is stale like the dolphins roster
That would mean semi level tanking. I dont think Riley is ready for something like that.
We see this idea from different perspectives. I believe, and looking at mock trades by reputable sources, that they could get a solid player or players for Butler, PLUS picks to use to acquire more talent.
Maybe.
I try to think about this from perspective of Heat and Butler. I believe there are good reasons that everything is quiet.
Heat knows, that they wont get a better player then Jimmy in any trade. Butler knows, that wont get his max contract nowhere, as things stands now. For both sides is better to stay together and play as good as possible this season.
I expect Butlers trade only in case, if everything goes really bad. But the team is solid, so this is not really a possibility.
could have gotten the same player for nothing derozan
Trade JJJ for which superstar?
If Heat going to trade now, trade Jimmy! He has most value. Miami is undergoing a youth movement right in front of our eyes. Jimmy is the odd/old man out. Golden State, Houston and OKC might be interested.
If Duncan doesn’t perform up to par he is gone. His contract is only partially guaranteed next year. Richardson, Bryant, Burkes all on one year contracts. Rozier, Highsmith and Love contracts expire after 2025-2026.
I think this is the time to wait and see how this team performs before panicking and having a fire sale. Jus sayin.
wasnt demar a fa
bryant dunc love all dead weight.rich old but can play good d.burkes nice bench help for us.terry is still a quality baller got little duncan in his defense though..dont trade jimmy your not gonna get equal value.ride it out with him .see if ware can help us by playoff time.if healthy by playoff time gonna be a tough out for any team we play
A lot of young talent in the pipeline. I’m excited and will write more about it soon. Fyi to those that were unaware – DeRozan was not a fa when traded. Definitely want to see how the team gels in the first month of the season.
derozan for harrison barnes chris duarte lol how bout derozan for herro and dunc.chicago prob wouldnt do it.a lineup of terry demar jimmy jjj and bam .that would get me excited.does that get rc excited
dipo on nba today got a new gig.
Its a preseason game, but I would grade the following:
A++ young talent Heat has.
A Larsson
A- Ware (a bit lazy rebounder, everything else is great)
B Jovic, Bam, Burks, Bryant(because improved ball handling and 3p shooting).
C and lower- all the rest.
Agree, but will put Jovic and Bryant in the C category on this game.
I especially agree with that last sentence!