The Phoenix Suns clawed back from a 15-point deficit to edge the Miami Heat 115-112 on Wednesday night in a thrilling showdown in Phoenix. Kevin Durant led the Suns with 32 points, while Jusuf Nurkic turned in a commanding performance with 20 points and 18 rebounds, playing a crucial role in the Suns’ late rally. Durant’s clutch jumper from the free-throw line with just 16 seconds left sealed a four-point cushion for Phoenix, leaving Miami with little room for a comeback.
Tyler Herro stood out for the Heat (3-4), scoring 28 points and keeping Miami competitive throughout the game. Haywood Highsmith provided a strong boost off the bench with 19 points, while Jimmy Butler contributed 15. Bam Adebayo struggled with efficiency, going just 5-for-21 from the field, though he did record a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds to go with 6 assists and 5 steals.
The Heat had one last opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds. Down by three with four seconds remaining, Miami’s attempt to set up a potential game-tying shot fizzled when Butler, after faking a shot, passed the ball to Herro, who was positioned out of bounds. The turnover sealed the win for the Suns.
This latest defeat adds to Miami’s early-season struggles as they continue to search for consistency.
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Looks like the light finally went on for Spo about Jovic.
Looks like the light finally went on for Highsmith about being assertive on offense…and defense.
Looks like the light finally went on for Spo about playing Ware. It’s obvious Bam can’t do it all.
Looks like Pelle Larsson, like Jaquez before him, has quickly earned the confidence of Spo as a “plug and play” option off the bench.
Looks like Herro has finally realized his potential and value as a two-way player and as the team’s “go to” offensive player.
Looks like Alec Burks was a good offseason acquisition.
Looks like Duncan Robinson and Burks will be competing for minutes, especially after Jaquez returns.
Looks like Heat have a good young (under 30) core for the future. Bam, Herro, Jaquez, Ware, Larsson, Highsmith, Jovic, Johnson, Christopher, Smith. If things go south before the trading deadline, I can see several players being in demand on playoff and title contending teams, especially the 30 and over crowd (starting with Butler, Rozier, Robinson, Richardson, Love). They could bring a good haul of draft picks and young assets with potential.
Interesting times…in more ways than one.
GO HEAT!!!
https://allucanheat.com/erik-spoelstra-makes-first-significant-change-to-heat-starting-lineup?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=e0273490fd355e2c28bdb25751d41af65a4dd80936ff00a80be9866c97887955
I agree. Some things were encouraging last night. We are close when we are healthy and use our players optimally.
It was a good game, good effort. Again we lost by a narrow margin. Herro is playing the best basketball of his career.
I am not disappointed, although we lost, we lost to a good team (and they were slightly better yesterday to be fair). But we could have as well won, if it wasn’t for Nurkic shooting threes like Steph and KD being KD.
Anyway, I think we can still get better, even with the current roster. But we cannot improve enough to become a contender, unless we make a trade(or two). And even if we do that, I am not sure it will make us good enough to contend.
But for sure we are up for an interesting season, everything is open. Although I am afraid we won’t be enjoying it at times.
With a full team, we gave a decent fight against one of the top ten or so teams in the league. When healthy, we are not far off. We are currently in the fifteen to twenty power ranking area. But, in my best case scenario, a blossoming Ware could eventually take us to fifteen or so. And, again, this is all predicated on health, so we still need at least trade deadline reinforcements (if not before), but this is my best case scenario…. Put Ware in, first as a sixth man and maybe five games later as a starter, allowing for growing pains to be severe. Augment with Bryant and Jovic off the bench, mostly Bryant. But Bryant will be spelling Bam too. Use JJJ to spell Jimmy, have Burks, Highsmith, and JRich next three up( JRich will be fine, he started terrible last year too). Bring in Dunc or Larsen to spark offense. Keep Love only for injuries. Part two, package at least one of Jovic and/or Larsen with a pick, get another big, 6’10” or taller, a B+, low A- type, one who adds scoring perhaps more than defense (Larsen and Jovic have upside and can be traded). Still, get another player, maybe a castoff center, but better than Bryant (Drummond level), at the deadline.
Go for it in Jimmy’s last hurrah!
I hope the Heat do not consider trading Pelle. The difference between him and Jovic is natural aggression. Jovic isn’t a bad player and very likely will continue to improve. But at this point, he is still a bit passive. Pelle is a solidly built player who can score and defend.
I feel the same, but I feel like jovic Is more a passer then a scorer currently(point forward), he’s like in the same phase locksmith was last year, being passive. I think he will grow more assertiveness later on the year because his confidence been low, blowing easy layups the last 3 games. I want ware to start eventually, but it won’t happen anytime soon unless bam gets hurt. But he ain’t starting with bam because of spacing issues because spo still trying to implement a new offensive philosophy.
I see what you are saying too. Larsen is built very solid and still has good fluidity. He definitely has a chance, and body type is one of the most important factors.
Herro’s stats so far this season:
31.5 mpg, 50.0 fg%, 45.9 3p%, 82.1 ft%, 4.9 rpg, 4.4 apg, 22.7 ppg
Now, of course these numbers will probably come down a bit.
But someone is suggesting that he is not yet a winning type player??
Give me a break!
So far, he’s been the best player on this team.
Spo may want to consider a hockey rotation. It worked for both the Spurs and Bulls during their glory years. He has the personnel, all he needs is to find the right combination of five players the compliment each other.
I actually think his numbers will go up a bit due to Jimmy not being the same player like he used to be. Herro even outplayed his favorite player booker.
I was thinking the same thing last night
Herro is definitely the best player on this team right now. Bam has been searching for his identity within Spo’s new offensive system. So far he had only one good game against the rebuilding Wizards. Jimmy is not the same Jimmy that we used to know. He’s also had only one good game so far. Yesterday Highsmith looked like the better player and it was not even close.
There is too much talk about problems this team has, and not about bright spots. Here are some:
-Herro is doing great.
-Heat are actually solid in defense, among the best in the east,taking into account OPP PPG.
-With Pelle heat struck gold again.
But of course, I expected more from Jovic and JJJ. they are obviously both better players then last year, but this somehow doesn’t transfer into their and team success. Its still early, maybe this will change.
Bam, Jimmy, and to some degree Rosier were mostly bad or average. My fear is, that game changes that much in a year or two, that this is their reality, not a temporary thing.
Still, NY, Philly, Bucks, Orlando has the same or bigger problems. There are 10 or so good teams at the moment in NBA, 8 of them are in the west.
For sure Bam and Jimmy are way below expectations. I am baffled by how passive Jimmy has been in most games so far. We have seen it last year too and attributed it to him not really being engaged during the regular season. This year it has become even worse. I believe the reason for his passivity is just that he got old and simply cannot do what he could before. And if he tries, he is just bad.
He misses the shots he used to make, he gets blocked or cannot even cannot get a shot off.
Yes, Jimmy is a concern.
I know this is far fetched and I may be 100% wrong on this, but is there a pattern with Butler? I know he’s older, but it seems to go deeper (there are several players his age or older doing well). Does he get bored after a while? In Chicago for several years, to Minnesota and things went south, now Miami and things seemed to have gone south. Watching him, I see aggressive Butler in spurts during games, then passive. It seems too simplistic to just chalk it off to age – he is in top shape.
Jimmy is a tough read
I think the reason for Jimmy butler’s downward trajectory involves his shooting, like Russell Westbrook. He was afraid to take that lost shot from 3, and content with passing it. Also his style play has drained him all those years with other teams. Even his mid range has taken a hit, resorting to too many turnaround/spinaround fadeaway jumpers. Those are difficult shots, I would say Jimmy bag of moves are limited compared to his older counterparts you said. Like if I compare Jimmy to demar, they both have a kinda similar game, but demar has a deeper bag.
Herro has improved to the point where he is clearly an asset. With adequate support, we can win with Herro. He is not just scoring. He is passing well, and is doing acceptably well on defense.