First Half:
The Heat came out hot to start this one on offense, but it didn’t stick. They struggled to grab defensive rebounds, allowing the Celtics many second-chance points and on the other end, the offense became disjointed likely because of another brand-new starting lineup. Miami had some moments early though, they slowed the pace well, forcing the Celtics to make free throws but things went awry quickly with the Celtics putting together a 17-2 run.
Miami answered back with good scoring from Duncan and Highsmith, but the Celtics locked in on defense in the second quarter, forcing the Heat to search for answers while playing some very sloppy basketball. One positive was that the Heat never let it get completely out of control, summoning periods of instant offense to get within striking distance Unfortunately, they just had no offensive focal point when Herro wasn’t on the floor, or missing his shots.
Miami also got nothing out of the Heat bench in the first half (or really the game):
Payton Pritchard has 16 points off the bench for the Celtics
The Heat entire 5-man bench unit has scored 7 points.
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) December 3, 2024
Second Half:
If Miami’s defense consisted solely of Herro pull up jumpers, maybe they’d have an elite offense. Anyway, the Heat started the second half strong once again and trimmed the lead to single digits. It did not last as Boston locked in again and went back to scoring off the many Heat turnovers.
Still, the Heat continued to show flashes of good offense (even Bam scored a little bit) but they’d follow it up with multiple bad sets. They’re consistently inconsistent and it’s infuriating.
The Celtics, specifically Pritchard, Brown, White, and Tatum just had their way with the Heat on offense while Kornet kept Miami from scoring on the other end. Back-to-back and shorthandedness aside, the Heat just did not dig in this one and it showed. It’s worth noting that the Celtics were very much not at full strength either and it did not matter at all.
I might sound pessimistic – but there is nothing special about this Heat team, and at the moment there isn’t a near future where they compete for a championship. It’s time to cut them up and go young. I think the next few games even with Jimmy back will cement this in a serious way.
Things worth pointing out:
- Lack of effort. The Heat gave up buckets because players were walking back on defense. This has never been a fixture of any Spo-coached team. Completely unacceptable and not part of the Culture.
- Defensive rotation, or lack thereof. Miami’s shell was porous as simple ball swinging left them open for long-range assaults. Pritchard was also able to slice and dice his way to the hoop, showcasing Miami’s lack of rim presence.
- Where is All-Star Bam? We have a real problem here. This level of play from Bam can’t continue if the Heat want to compete, if the jumpers aren’t going he needs to be aggressive. Bam has always been passive, but this is the worst we’ve ever seen from him from an offensive standpoint. Miami needs him to be a star, this isn’t the Olympics.
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Let’s Go (Rebuilding Route) Heat!
OK Class, here’s a problem for you.
So, the question is, do you:
You make the call.
Simple solution, Professor. #2. While the Heat had an outstanding, somewhat surprising season in 2003, the joy was watching a wildly entertaining new player named Dwyane Wade. There was suddenly hope and optimism for the future. It’s how other team’s fans probably felt about the arrival of Banchero, Wemby, Cunningham, Holmgren. Currently, our team has the middling present. Is it possible they can go on an impressive run and be competitive? Improbable, but anything is possible. But, as presently constructed, it holds little optimism for the future. The time to act begins December 15 (when several contracts become tradable) through February 6.
I hope that’s the route Riley goes because this isn’t working. The Heat’s record vs winning teams last year and this year tells him everything he needs to know.
Discussions should already be underway with multiple teams. There are several teams well under the apron who are looking for help. I’m sure there are also a few 3-4 way trades that can be had. https://hoopshype.com/salaries/
If handled properly, he should be getting interested parties to bid against each other.
That was hard to watch. Celts came to show everybody who is the boss. And they did it perfectly. We are all know now, who is who.
Miami looked like a G League team tonight.
It is what it is. Miami finished first in the Eastern Conference in 2021-2022. Since then, Miami has been running in place, while the rest of the league is evolving and moving forward. The team regressed from first place in 2021-2022 to being a play-in team in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. This year, the jury is out on whether the Heat will even make the play-in round. Like a man without a country, they may be a lottery team without a 2025 draft pick (it is owned by OKC).
Meanwhile, other teams have improved since 2021-2022.
”Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Whatever Miami did in the past is no longer working. It is time to evolve or risk wallowing in the depths for the foreseeable future.
I agree. The team is a mess. It’s so ironic that Pat gets honored with his team in such dire straits. So many poor moves in the past few years have left us with a roster that is seriously undermanned, and yet we have few draft picks and little cap flexibility. I fear it will take a good while to right this ship.
to wrap it up riley has sukd last few years
did u ever work for a newspaper u make ira windermans wrap up look like trash.good job brother stayed up late to read u
Thanks. Glad I missed the gamethread…again.
Pat had to see this coming in between his ocean cruising with mickey injured jim.our small overrated pf not a center,duncans d,tys inconsistency and injuries.its time to reset its a painful thing to do but its the right thing to do.i;m looking at rosters with good upand comers to go with jjj pelle ware keshad christopher.
Exactly, we haven’t been able to improve the roster and adress its weaknesses since 21-22 season.
One comment though, I believe our 2025 pick is lottery protected, so if we finish the season as a lottery team, we should have our pick and OKC would get our 2026 pick.
My bad! You are absolutely correct! Miami should trade Butler, Rozier and Robinson, at minimum and “tank it up.” With a lottery pick plus whatever young players and draft picks they can get, they can kickstart a retooling/rebuilding process. Otherwise, no pick and continued mediocrity with a bunch of spare parts after Butler walks.
Yes, we need to take action already! Either improve this team by trading for a really good player to add to the core of Herro, Bam and Butler or break it up and get young promising players and picks.
I believe the first option is hard to do, I am pretty sure they would have done it already if they were able to. I think it is not about not wanting to trade and believing in the current guys, but they simply haven’t been able to pull it off.
So, that leaves us with the second option, but the problem is Pat doesn’t want to tank, so I am afraid we might end up with the current roster and only some minor trades (Rozier, Jovic), that will not really alter our direction. That’s what I am afraid of. But even then there’s still a chance we will end up as a lottery team even if we don’t tank intentionally.
Thanks for such an honest write-up.