Photo by: Heat.com

The Miami Heat faced the Washington Wizards again on Wednesday night. Unlike last time, the Heat were a little healthier in this one. Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent were back in this one. Miami jumped to a huge 21-point lead in the third quarter. However, like we seen in recent games, the Heat allowed the opposing team to climbed back into the game. The Wizards cut the lead to three heading into the fourth quarter and briefly had the lead in the fourth period. In the end, the Heat were able to escape with the victory thanks to late heroics from Herro. With the win, Miami moves to 8-11 for the season. Here are my takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Wizards.

Strong First Half for Kyle Lowry

With the team facing so many injuries, Kyle Lowry has stepped up his game. He’s been playing huge minutes and leading the team in the team’s stars absence. Despite the losses, Lowry has been the one bright spot for Miami. Lowry continued his strong play on Wednesday night. He had a career-high 24 points in the first half against the Wizards. Lowry was hitting from downtown in the first half with five three-pointers. He also got into the paint a couple of times and drew fouls as well. This was the best we had seen from the Heat point guard in a long while. Lowry finished the night with 28 points and six rebounds.

Herro Back

After sitting out two weeks with the ankle injury, Herro was back in the Heat’s lineup. However, it was a uneven first half for him. He picked up two quick fouls in the first three minutes of the game. And later picked up his third in the second quarter. There was a scary moment when he landed hard on his side after a strong drive to the basket. The good news is he got back up on his own and walked it out. Herro later bounced back with a huge fourth quarter. He hit a couple of tough buckets to give the Heat’s offense life in the fourth quarter. Herro finished the night with 17 points, all scored in the second half.

Caleb Martin’s Night

It was a good night for Heat forward Caleb Martin, who played the small forward role in Jimmy Butler’s absence. This was the second straight game Martin has played in that role. Throughout the season, Martin has been used as the power forward with the team playing small ball. But on Wednesday night, he was back in a familiar role as the small forward. And unsurprisingly, he played very well. Instead of focusing on dribble handoffs, Martin was able to play with and without the basketball. He was a big part of the Heat’s offense early on with his slashing to the basket. Additionally, he played a huge role in keeping Miami afloat while the Wizards made a huge run. Martin finished the night with 24 points, nine rebounds, and two steals.

Third Quarter Issues

Once again, Miami built a huge lead on a team in the first half. They lead by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. But then, the Wizards came back in the third as the Heat’s offense got stagnant and took advantage of the Heat’s bad transition defense. Lately, this has been a recurring issue for the Heat. Losing a 20-point lead means the team is doing badly on both ends. Offensively, the basketball seems to be sticking a lot and not moving around. The team has a bad habit of going away from what built that huge lead. Given the injuries the team is suffering from, there’s little margin of error for this Heat team. They have to do a better job of holding on to their leads.

Next Up: The Washington Wizards on Friday. Game tips off at 8pm eastern.

The Miami Heat was just a shot away from reaching the NBA Finals last season. They pushed the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics to seven games, only to fall short after the missed Jimmy Butler three-pointer. However, many still predicted Miami to be at least one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. So far, that hasn’t been case 18 games in the season. After suffering a 105-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Heat have fallen to 7-11 for the season. One of the biggest reasons has been the depleted rotation due to injuries from others, including their top players Butler and Tyler Herro.

Heat Needing Reinforcements

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra knows how tough it is to play without his best players. He’s done it before and sometimes found ways to get it done without them. It just hasn’t been the case this season. And he knows the team cannot afford to fall too deep in the Eastern Conference. If you fall to deep in the standings around January, you lose a shot at the third seed and now found yourself competing for the play-in for a shot at the playoffs. So now, Spoelstra is pleading for some of his injured players to play, even if it’s in limited capacity.

“At some point, hopefully we’ll be getting some guys back. Even if they’re not fully 100 percent, as long as they’re close enough, maybe they can give us a little bit of reinforcement, even if it’s just short minutes,” Spoelstra said.

Depending on Younger Players

For the past three games, the Heat been having seven through nine available players. Against the Timberwolves on Monday, they were without Butler, Herro, Udonis Haslem, Victor Oladipo, Gabe Vincent, Omer Yurtseven, and Duncan Robinson. Six of those players would’ve gotten minutes if healthy. With those players out, it’s forced Kyle Lowry to play big minutes in recent games, including 51 minutes in the overtime loss to the Washington Wizards. Additionally, Spoelstra has also had to depend on inexperienced players like Haywood Highsmith, Jamal Cain, and Nikola Jovic among others. This is why Spoelstra is now pushing more his key players to push through their injuries.

“Just give us whatever you have,” Spoelstra added. “Whatever you have, just give us. If you’re used to playing 30 minutes, just give us 15. If you’re used to playing 20 minutes, give us eight, so we can kind of manage things right now.”

The Heat will host the Wizards on Wednesday at 7pm eastern. Hopefully, when the game tips off, Spoelstra had some extra players back in time.

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Both the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns entered the night missing their key starters. Chris Paul was out with a heel injury and Tyler Herro was out with the ankle injury. It was an entertaining first half with both teams hot from three-point range. The game took a turn when the Suns got a 13-point lead over the Heat in third period. Once Miami trimmed the lead in the fourth quarter, the Suns built the lead back up to double digits. However, the Heat got a spark from Bam Adebayo that brought Miami back in the game. In the end, Jimmy Butler got the defensive stop on Devin Booker that sealed the Heat victory. With the win, Miami moves to 7-7 for the season. Here’s my takeaways from Miami’s win over the Suns.

Butler Gets the Clutch Block

We know how important Butler is to the team. Offensively, he’s the guy the team goes to when the offense gets shaky. There’s been plenty of times when Butler has had to will his team to victory. But tonight, he did it on the defensive end against Booker. After grabbing the offensive rebound, Booker tried to take Butler one-on-one in the game’s final seconds. Butler stayed right with him moving his feet. Once Booker went up for the shot, Butler blocked him without fouling and the game was sealed. Butler has saved the team many times with his offensive plays, but it was the defense this time. He ended the night with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists.

Bam Adebayo Fourth Quarter Takeover

This was a performance many Heat fans have been waiting for. Seeing Adebayo dominated on both ends in the fourth quarter was a great sight to see. The basketball was Adebayo’s hands down the stretch. He was attacking the rim with purpose. Especially in transition. One of the plays he had in transition was a ridiculous circus shot after the foul. And he kept going from there. He had another and-1 basket that cut the lead down to three. Adebayo had 15 points in the final period. This was one of Adebayo’s most impactful games. Hopefully this will be a game he can build off of. Adebayo finished the night with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Defensive Schemes A Work In Progress

Last season, the defensive end was a position of strength for Miami. Their switching scheme was often successful because they had the players for it. With Miami lacking size, they have often been punished by smart teams, as the Suns did with Kyle Lowry on DeAndre Ayton. On Monday, the Suns were getting good looks over and over again. The bigger issue is that the Heat are often too predictable with their soft switching. They should mix in a couple of 2-3 zones and more drop coverages with Adebayo as well. We also saw them try to blitz Booker in the second half with Dewayne Dedmon and that didn’t go well. Booker and Ayton kept punishing the Heat blitzes with Miami slow on their rotations. The Heat still need to seek size in the trade market to put alongside Adebayo.

Random Scrub Heat Killer Strikes

Miami has this thing where a random role player would have a dominating game against them. Heat fans on social media often refer to those players as “Random Scrub Heat Killers”, or RSHKs for short. Duane Washington Jr. was the RSHK of the night. He came out on fire, scoring 16 points in five minutes of action in the first half. At times, he was looking like Stephen Curry from beyond the arc. Some of it had to do with the Heat’s defensive lapses. And the other is the player catching fire at the wrong time. The good news is that Washington Jr cooled down in the second half.

Next Up: The Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. The game tips off at 7:30 pm eastern time.

Photo By: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

The Miami Heat are coming off a close victory over the Charlotte Hornets, who were without three key players. It’s been an underwhelming start for the Heat this season with a 5-7 record. Through 12 games, Miami hasn’t looked close to the team that clinched the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season. Last year, they had the 12th-best offensive rating at 113.0 and the fourth-best defensive rating at 108.4. However, so far this year, they have fallen to 21st in offensive rating (109.8) and 13th in defensive rating (110.8). Normally, contending teams are in the top ten in at least one of the categories. Unfortunately, the Heat are not in the top ten in either category this season.

Miami’s biggest roster hole has been the frontcourt position. Since P.J. Tucker departed to the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami hasn’t found a replacement for him. Instead, they decided to keep the roster intact and see how the current team looks. Usually, teams wait until after the first quarter of the season to engage in trade talks with other teams. There’s not much panic from the front office to make moves this early in the season. Additionally, the trade deadline is in February so there’s no pressure to get a deal done. And there’s players who won’t be available to be traded until December and January.

Jae Crowder Talks Picking Up

With that being said, the team is likely still keeping an eye on Jae Crowder. According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Phoenix Suns have been re-engaging teams in Crowder trade talks in recent days.

“In the last few days, from what I understand, the Suns have picked up their Jae Crowder conversations,” said Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective Podcast. “And tried to reengage on some old talks, so I am told. “Now, does that mean they will find a deal? Obviously they’ve had some impetus to do that. It was bad news when Cam Johnson got hurt, but good news he was able to have a surgery where it was a partial removal as opposed to a repair, which would have meant him being out for the year.”

It’s no secret that the Heat would love a reunion with Crowder. Crowder last played for the Heat during the 2019-2020 season after being acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade. He was a key part in the Heat’s role in reaching the 2020 NBA Finals. The forward left Miami after the season to sign a three-year, $30 million deal with the Suns. Crowder could help fill the void that was left after Tucker’s departure. The Heat really need help on the frontcourt, where they are very thin at. Crowder’s not going to solve all of the Heat’s problems, but they really need someone who can space the floor and defend on the other end.

The Challenge in Acquiring Crowder

However, a pathway to a deal will be difficult. Currently, the Heat have three players they can’t move until at least January. They could trade Duncan Robinson, but Phoenix may not be interested in taking on Robinson’s contract. Robinson has three years left on his deal worth nearly $60 million. The Suns are looking for someone to fill the void with Cam Johnson out. Robinson has struggled at times to stay in the Heat’s rotation and it’s hard to envision the Suns taking a tax hit to acquire. It will most likely take a three-team deal to get a deal done.

While a pathway to a deal remains difficult, the Heat will likely keep poking around as long as the forward is available.

Photo Credit: Heat.com

The revenge tour continued for the Miami Heat on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings, who defeated them on Saturday. Both teams were without their top players with De’Aaron Fox and Jimmy Butler being sidelined. Other guys had to step up in their stars’ absence. It was a very competitive game with both teams trading baskets. The game went down to the wire. But in the end, Tyler Herro answered the call. Herro pump-faked and converted the game winning three-pointer to seal Miami’s victory. With the win, Miami moves to 4-5 for the season. Here are my takeaways from the game.

Kyle Lowry Sets the Tone

Without Butler, the Heat needed someone to pick up the scoring slack. Surprisingly, it was Kyle Lowry who took the scoring charge and led the team with 17 first half points. The 17 points matched a season-high for the Heat starting point guard. Lowry was aggressive from the start scoring the team’s first points from behind the three-point line. He also got in the paint a couple of times for the layup. This made his pick-and-roll game with Bam Adebayo easier. Lowry’s aggressive also made it easier for his teammates as well. He made a clutch basket down the stretch to give Miami the lead. In the end, he finished with 22 points, five rebounds, and seven assists.

Herro to the Rescue!

After leaving Tuesday’s game with an eye injury, Herro was back in action on Wednesday. Herro’s scoring was essential without Butler. He had a quiet start to the game and was playing more off the ball than usual. However, he came through when the Heat needed him most in the fourth period. Miami was trailing by seven points midway through the fourth quarter. The Heat’s offense was stalling, and they needed Herro’s shot creation. Herro got into his midrange pull game two possessions in a row off the pick-and-roll action. On the final possession, the ball was in Herro’s hands. After a pump fake, he leaned in and sunk the game-winning three-pointer. Herro finished the night with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks.

Quality Minutes from The Mechanic

The backup center minutes have been problematic for the Heat this season. When accessing the issue, the first name that comes up is Dewayne Dedmon. Dedmon hasn’t had a great start to the season up to this point. He’s been bad on both ends of the floor. But on Wednesday, he provided some quality minutes off the bench. He hit a couple of triples from the top of the key. Dedmon also crashed the boards and dished the ball to the cutting teammate. He did have one possession where he attempted a fadeaway jumper over a shorter player. Overall, it was still a solid performance from the Heat backup center. Dedmon finished the night with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Miami’s 2-3 Zone Struggles

With Butler and Victor Oladipo sidelined, the Heat were missing two of their best perimeter defenders. Both guys are good on-ball defenders and can guard at the point of the attack. To combat this, Miami utilized the 2-3 zone early on since they were playing multiple negative defenders at one time. The zone usually allows Miami to hide its negative defenders and keep them away from isolation. Unfortunately, the Kings’ quick guards were able to get into the paint and messed up the zone. There were times when a Kings’ guard was able to get into the paint without much resistance. This will be something the Heat coaches will discuss in the film sessions.

Next Up: The Indiana Pacers on Friday. Game tips off at 7pm eastern time.

Photo credit: Heat.com

You don’t often see an Eastern Conference team playing a Western Conference team twice in one week. But that’s what happened when the Miami Heat hosted the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. Coming off a disappointing road loss against the Sacramento Kings, Miami was trying to get a bounce-back win back home. Both teams went back and forth throughout the whole game. The game ended up going down the wire. In the end, Miami was able to seal the victory with a huge Jimmy Butler jumper in the last seconds of the game. With the win, Miami moves to 3-5 for the season. Here are my takeaways from Tuesday’s victory over Golden State.

Strong Fourth Quarter

The Heat entered the fourth period trailing 94-86. Golden State had outscored the Heat 38-28 in the third period and pushed their lead to eight. However, in the fourth quarter, Miami was able to bounce back. The team got multiple stops down the stretch. Both Duncan Robinson and Max Strus were able to knock down a couple of triples. Most importantly, Butler was able to get his game going at the right time. He hit a nasty spin move on Andrew Wiggins to get to the basket for the and-1. A couple of possessions later, with a three-point lead, Butler was able to seal the deal with a pull-up jumper. Miami outscored Golden State 30-15 in the fourth period.

Bench Provides Spark

Miami’s offense was very shaky in the beginning of the game. There were a couple of bad isolation plays to start. Tyler Herro kept trying to drive over the Warriors’ length and was unsuccessful. With the offense not functioning to start, Butler kept taking three-pointers. Overall, there was no flow in the Heat’s offense early on. They needed a spark from somewhere else. And that spark came from the Heat’s bench trio of Gabe Vincent, Strus and Robinson. The Heat kept going with the dribble handoffs and got the offense going. There was a lot more motion in the Heat’s offense once the bench came in compared to the first unit. When there’s ball and player movement, the offense looks much smoother.

Robinson and Strus Big Night

The two players who provided a huge boost off the bench were Strus and Robinson. With the Heat’s offense struggling, Strus got offense going. He was already up to 11 points with around nine minutes left in the second period. Robinson later joined him and shined in multiple spots of the floor. There was the spot-up shooting, movement off the ball, and passing out of the double-teams. Both players are already threats with their three-point shooting. But when they provide this type of production, it helps the team out a lot. Now, it’s about being more consistent with it.

Herro Leaves Game with Eye Injury

Herro’s night ended early when he got poked in the eye during the second quarter. When battling for a rebound, Herro was swiped across the face by Warriors’ guard Moses Moody. He left the game before halftime and never returned. At the time of his departure, he had two points on 1-of-4 shooting and one block. He struggled early against the Warriors’ length and couldn’t get going offensively. After the game, the Heat guard told reporters he’s hopeful to play in Wednesday’s game against the Kings.

Next up: The Sacramento Kings. Game tips off at 7:30pm eastern time.

Photo credit: Sun Sentinel

The Miami Heat finished last season as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. They were one made Jimmy Butler three-pointer away from reaching the NBA Finals. Despite being close to the NBA Finals, Miami brought back much of their roster without acquiring new talent. So far, they have a record of 1-3 through the first four games. All four of these games were a part of the season-opening homestead. Miami is now trying to bounce back after a slow start. Kyle Lowry says part of the problem is the team is figuring each other out.

“We’re just trying to figure it out,” Lowry told the Miami Herald after Monday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors. “I mean, honestly, it’s four games in. I think we’re trying to figure it out. I know we said running it back, and I agree with that, but we still have different guys in different roles in different situations. So, we have to figure it out, how to all be on the same page.”

Adjusting to Lineup changes

The 36-year-old point guard was acquired during the 2021 offseason in a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto. Lowry was brought in to be a playmaker and orchestrate the team’s offense. He played a huge part in Miami grabbing the one seed while dealing with injuries to Bam Adebayo and Butler. This season, he’s one of many Heat players trying to figure things out. After a good season off the bench last season, Tyler Herro has been starting alongside Lowry this season. Lowry is now playing off the ball more this season with his usage rate being lower than last season.

“We got guys who can really play basketball,” Lowry said. “We’ve got guys who can really make plays and we’ve just got to all find ways to mix and match, not take turns, but figure out how to play off each other a little bit better and play with each other a little bit better. Honestly, everybody has a different role this year, things are a little bit different, right? Tyler’s in the starting lineup and Bam’s more aggressive. We’ve got different lineups with this, that and the other and we’re just trying to figure it out right now.”

Lowry’s Solution

So far, Lowry has been inconsistent. There’s been two decent games and two bad ones. On Monday, he scored seven points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting from three-point range, two rebounds, and three assists. Through four games, Lowry is averaging 10.8 points while shooting 28.2 percent from the field, 28 percent from three, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. As the third highest-paid player on the roster, Miami needs more from its point guard. Especially as a threat on the offensive end, where he’s been struggling to hit shots. One solution Lowry proposes is giving him the ball more to run the Heat’s offense.

“I could probably have the ball a little bit longer, keep the ball in my hands a little bit more. That could help,” Lowry said when asked how he can generate more shots for himself. “But I’m an unselfish player. So sometimes it’s called for you to kind of get off the ball and let the game come to you.”

Miami begins its three-game road trip tonight against the Portland Trailblazers. After Wednesday’s game, they’ll face the defending world champion Golden State Warriors on Thursday and finish the road trip on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings. Entering the road trip with a 1-3 record is not ideal, but the Heat have shown in the past they can come together on the road. We’ll see if they can do it again this time.

Photo credit: Heat.com

For the first time since the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat met in Miami again. After losing a tough Game 7 at home, Miami was looking for revenge on Friday. The game went back and forth with each team making big runs. However, the Celtics were able to hold off a Heat rally to win in the end. Boston’s top two players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both combined for 51 points. Tyler Herro led Miami with 25 points in the Heat’s loss. With the loss, Miami moves to 0-2 for the season. Here are my takeaways from the game.

Adebayo Aggressive Early and Making Shots

Even though Bam Adebayo struggled on opening night against the Chicago Bulls, aggression wasn’t the issue. It was the fact that he was missing shots. On Friday, he stayed aggressive, and the shots were falling. The Celtics gave him the mid-range jumper and he was hitting them. By the end of the first half, he had 12 points on 6 of 7 shooting. The issue was he kept getting into foul trouble. He picked up his first two fouls in the first six minutes of the game. And later in the third period, he had four fouls. Every time Adebayo went to the bench, the Celtics made huge runs. Miami tried to stay afloat with Dewayne Dedmon and Haywood Highsmith playing backup center minutes. Unfortunately, that didn’t work.

Defensive Issues Remain

Against the Bulls the other night, Miami’s defensive rotations weren’t good. There were late rotations, early switching, and not much communication. On Friday, it wasn’t much better. The Celtics two stars were able to pick up their isolation matchups pretty easily. Miami also allowed too many wide-open threes. Miami usually has success with switching and helping. However, they should consider mixing it up against a team like Boston. Maybe mix in some drop coverages at times with Adebayo on the floor. Last season, they were able to hold their own with drop coverages while Adebayo was out. It doesn’t hurt to mix it up throughout the season.

Offensive Issues

In addition to the defensive issues, there were issues on the other end as well. Miami’s offense was very stagnant at times. With the current roster, you would think the team would have better movement on offense. They have shooters who move well without the ball. Two on-ball creators on the floor at the same times as well. But yet, the offense remains stagnant with only two-man actions. And while the two-man action was going, the spacers were just standing still. With no movement, it’s easier for the defense to muck up things on that end of the floor. This is a team that cannot rely heavily on isolation plays. It’s an area Miami has to clean up as the season progresses.

Lowry Has His Moments

Heading into Friday’s contest, most of the eyes were on Kyle Lowry. Lowry had a bad showing against the Bulls on Wednesday. He had two points on 1 of 7 shooting against the Bulls. The pull-up triple wasn’t there at all. That changed on Friday. Lowry looked better than he was on Wednesday. He bounced back hitting on a couple of jumpers, especially the pull-up triples. When he’s hitting the pull-up triples, it changes things for Miami’s half-court offense. It opens up the pass to the roller with more space. Defensively, Lowry also had good moments. He drew offensive fouls, got in the passing lanes, and dove for loose balls. His effort on the defensive end in the third period spark a big Heat run to grab the lead. Lowry finished the night with 17 points and six assists.

Next up: The Toronto Raptors on Saturday.