The Miami Heat are in the midst of one of their worst stretches over the last decade. They have lost six straight games and are now eight games below .500 for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
The Heat dropped their contest Friday night to the reigning champion Boston Celtics 103-91, continuing their ongoing struggles in the fourth quarter by scoring just 14 points; no NBA team has scored less than 15 points in the fourth quarter more times than Miami, which has done it twice.
Miami has lost seven straight meetings to their rival, though one could hardly consider it a rivalry anymore because 1.) Boston is clearly better than the Heat and 2.) It’s been significantly one-sided since the 2022-23 season.
The Heat look to snap their six-game skid Saturday in the second night of a back-to-back against the Memphis Grizzlies, who also played Friday. Memphis, currently 42-25 as the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, lost to the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 133-124 despite a remarkable 44-point performance from Ja Morant.
Miami and Memphis will play twice over the next three weeks. Will Miami be able to snap their ugly skid? Time will tell!
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
NOT YET SUBMITTED AT TIME OF PUBLISHING.
Memphis Grizzlies:
NOT YET SUBMITTED AT TIME OF PUBLISHING.
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F
- Kel’el Ware, C
Memphis Grizzies
- Ja Morant, G
- Desmond Bane, G
- Jaylen Wells, G
- Jaren Jackson Jr., F
- Zach Edey, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 8:00 PM EST
- TV: NBA TV & FanDuel Sports Network Sun (Eric Reid & John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
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“I understand it. But I hate the PR game that’s been played. What Jimmy did in Miami, not a lot of players is going to put on that Jersey is going to be able to accomplish. He didn’t do it by himself, as the leader of that team is the best player, what he did there not many players that will put that jersey on would be able to do that. So for the legacy of the Miami Heat Organization, I hope one day he can come back and sit courtside and we can all sit there and laugh and joke. But also too, Jimmy may not ever come back.”
~ Dwyane Wade ~
Words of wisdom. Not many players could do what Jimmy accomplished for us. And everything that ensued after made sense too, just one of those things that had to happen like it did. We had a good ride with Jimmy but it’s the end of an era. We just have to have a little patience now and watch a new chapter begin.
Amen! Patience is a virtue. Now is the time for patience and positive thinking. Time for Heat to move on from Butler era. Sure could use an alpha male closer and a third big to rotate with Bam and Ware.