The Heat went into the Wolves’ den, scraping away with victory. Kevin Love made his season debut with the starting lineup, and Haywood Highsmith was inserted into the group in place of Nikola Jović, who made the game-winning play for the Heat.

 

Jimmy Butler was absent with a right ankle sprain.

 

Anthony Edwards took the first bite out of the Heat’s defense, splashing a left-side tray with Highsmith covering him closely. He also tallied a basket, piercing through the lane, but missed seven shots. The rest of the Timberwolves logged five of 16 looks.

 

On the other side, the Heat hunted Rudy Gobert in pick and roll, plus were the superior defensive team, deploying zone and man-to-man coverage as they raced out to a 27 to 20 lead through 12 minutes without much offensively from Adebayo.

 

Then the defense loosened up, permitting the Wolves 12 of 20 baskets, including six of seven in the restricted area.

 

On offense, Herro rattled off seven points in a row. He made a shot on a  pick-and-roll set with Adebayo, beat Jaden McDaniels from the top to the cup for a layup and swished a 3-pointer against Gobert in drop coverage. The rest of the Heatles made six of 14 shots in the period.

 

At halftime, the Heat led 52-51. Additionally, the team committed 10 turnovers and had 24 paint points, 12 on the break, five via second chances and 24 from the bench.

 

The Timberwolves had 26 interior marks, two in the open court, eight on extra tries, 15 from the reserves and eight giveaways.

 

Subsequently, the Heat came out of intermission crashing on offense courtesy of the Wolves blowing up actions. They lasted six-and-a-half minutes without a point until Jaime Jaquez Jr. connected on a corner tray shielded by a pin down, then made a left-handed layup on the left side over Gobert. On the other side, the hosts took and built a lead on a 3-pointer from Naz Reid plus consecutive triples by Donte DiVincenzo.

 

The fourth quarter started with the Heat down 68-71.

 

Herro buried a pull-up mid-range shot in transition and nailed two 3-pointers.

 

But Minnesota’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker connected on a layup and triple plus dribbled past Terry Rozier for a layup on the left side. And then Jaden McDaniels tracked Mike Conley’s long-range miss, putting it back to take a two-point advantage for the Wolves.

 

With nine seconds left and the Heat down 92-94, Jović cut backdoor from midcourt, caught the sideline inbound and scored through a foul. He then took the lead, making a freebie.

 

Next, Conley failed to make the corner triple out of the inbound for the Timberwolves.

 

The Heat won 95-94. The team had 44 paint points, 26 on the break, 13 via second chances, 23 off turnovers and 36 from the bench.

 

Herro had 26 points on 60% shooting, with six rebounds, three assists and eight turnovers.

 

And Adebayo had nine digits on three of 11 looks, with seven rebounds, seven dimes, one steal, three blocks and four turnovers.

 

The Wolves had 42 interior marks, four in the open court, 19 on extra tries, 20 off turnovers and 35 from the bench.

 

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said, “That’s the hardest we’ve played in any of the regular season games.”

 

In the locker room, Jović said these games “help you keep building” and that it was an important win for the team.

 

Observations:

 

1. Highsmith was a powerhouse on defense, recording five steals by stripping Anthony Edwards twice and seizing the passing lanes thrice. He also blocked Edwards’ corner shot on a closeout.

 

2. Bam had another poor offensive performance- nine points on three of 11 baskets- against Gobert, McDaniel and Reid. All of his jumpers outside of the lane bricked, too.  His best move was blowing past Reid on a face-up move from the key to the basket for a powerful jam.

 

Gobert gave him most trouble, forcing a miss on multiple face-up jumpers and on looks off the catch.

 

Still, he helped out his teammates by being an offensive lineman. He set four screen assists for nine screen assist points.

 

On top of that, Adebayo blocked Edwards once and Randle twice before intermission. Edwards was denied on a baseline attack. Randle was stopped on a drive from the top to the cup and in transition.

 

-Jović had 15 points on six of 12 tries, with seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover. He had one of his toughest games of the season two nights prior, losing in Denver to the Nuggets. Multiple players checked in off the bench before him, but his hunger was still burning.

 

-Despite logging eight turnovers, Herro was the Heat’s strongest player, continuing the trend for the season. He made nine of 15 baskets, including four of six in the lane.

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The Heat are 3-4 after soiling themselves in Phoenix. Each of the losses was versus a quality opponent, and the wins were against the bottom of the league. The squads that have beat the Heat (Orlando, New York, Sacramento, Phoenix) amass an 18-14 record. The teams the Heat defeated this season (Charlotte, Detroit, Washington) have a combined record of 8-15.

 

The team’s next outing is Friday in Denver, facing off with the Nuggets. 

 

Let’s review what stands out through week three.

 

Observations:

 

1. Jimmy Butler’s free-throw shooting and close-range finishing have fallen off a cliff. He converts 12.6% less freebies and 15.3% less makes at the rim while decreasing his tries in that zone by five percent. 

 

Additionally, he is 10th in the NBA in drives to the basket (15.9), attempting five field goals nightly on the go. He averaged 5.26 shots per game on drives in the five past seasons with the Heat, but he isn’t taking over like he used to.

 

Butler was a no-show against the Magic and was missing in action versus the Knicks. He was excellent in the second half of the Heat’s last-moment loss to the Kings. And his production was insufficient in Phoenix while also passing out of the last play, letting time expire.

 

Unless he and Bam Adebayo rediscover their abilities, the Heat’s season is toast.

 

2. Adebayo has lost his touch from his favorite spot, the paint non-restricted area. His efficiency has dropped 18.2 percent at the zone. To boot, most of his attempts have been guarded tightly, per the NBA’s tracking data, and he’s making 40% of those. The league defines guarded tightly as a defender within 2-4 feet of the player. Notably, in 2023-24, most of Adebayo’s tries were guarded tightly, but he made 55.2%.

 

3. Nikola Jović is not ready to be a starter. He doesn’t provide much in the half-court besides waiting for the kick out and scoring on the occasional cut. Defensively, players of comparable size or larger can take advantage of him. Wednesday’s match was the second consecutive game he was benched early after 12 minutes. 

 

Consider this: the starting lineup of Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Butler, Jović and Adebayo, only averages 39.9% of attempted field goals and has a hopeless 119.5 defensive rating. 

 

Haywood Highsmith should start over him while keeping his seven fourth-quarter minutes. Despite being five inches shorter, Highsmith is a stricter defender and more impactful offensive player. 

 

4. Another Heat problem: Terry Rozier hasn’t been a good fit for the starting lineup because quick or bigger ball handlers can expose him. Also, his shot selection is suspect, and he’s logging only 38.4% of tries, including 39.6% from deep.

 

5. Tyler Herro has been the Heat’s best player through seven outings. He and Highsmith kept the team afloat in Phoenix on Wednesday until the end of the fourth. Herro was also the strongest player in the loss against the Kings. 

 

He has the highest effective field goal percentage (63) and true shooting percentage (66.1) of the starting lineup while taking the most shots on the team. This year, he is taking three fewer two-pointers and nearly one more triple nightly while providing the best off-ball work of his career.

 

Additionally, the Heat have been dependent on him carrying the offense early. Only four players who have logged at least six games- Jayson Tatum (12.3), Anthony Edwards (9.8), Damian Lillard (9.4) and Anthony Davis (8.9)- score more in the first quarter than Herro. But Miami’s guard records a higher field goal percentage in the frame (67.6) than all.

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Bam Adebayo snapped out of his early-season funk against the Washington Wizards in Mexico City, leading the team to its third win in five outings. His jumper was falling, and he was dynamite at close range. The rival was 2-2 before that, but it was a tune-up game that he must build on going forward and likely will.

 

But there’s still a more significant concern: the Heat have only beat low-level outfits and aren’t getting enough from Jimmy Butler. Before Paolo Banchero hurt his oblique against the Bulls, the Heat was drawn and quartered by his Magic squad on Pat Riley appreciation night. Then the Knicks derailed them in the second half of the game on Oct. 30.

 

Butler, age 35, underwhelmed both nights, looking more like a JAG than a franchise player.

 

Perhaps they’ll atone with a convincing win in Phoenix. And maybe, they’ll finish above the Magic in the standings as their 1A is out indefinitely. But the Heatles don’t stand a chance against the Celtics and Cavaliers because they are too small, not as talented and Butler has presumably slowed down.

 

The reality of the build is that too many things had to go right for Butler and Adebayo to win a championship. Perhaps the former had the juice to be the kingpin on a title squad, but Josh Hart jumped into his ankle in 2023, then the Trail Blazers refused to swap Damian Lillard for Miami’s background players months later, and Goran Dragic plus Adebayo were wounded in 2020, so we’ll never know.

 

This much is clear: Adebayo is at best the third-best player on a championship unit. Management has failed to bring in someone with extra polish offensively for over a half-decade as rival execs were not and are not wowed by the trade bait. Adebayo is unqualified for the Robin role because his offensive arsenal isn’t diverse enough and his effective field goal percentage and true shooting decrease with higher usage.

 

Adebayo has added a hook and mid-range jumper, but those moves aren’t reliable enough, and the deep shot is still in its elementary stages. He is best as a rim roller due to his supreme athleticism.

 

Consider this: he’d be the sixth offensive option on Pat Riley’s Lakers behind Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo and Byron Scott.

 

Adebayo’s defense is far superior and is rarely equaled. Most players around him can guard well as a team, but the Heat needs stricter pests to maximize him. The group finally got size around him with Nikola Jović, but he plays just 23 of 48 minutes nightly and can get exposed by speed.

 

After five seasons into the Butler and Adebayo mold, the team shouldn’t have any untouchables. They overachieved by making two Finals appearances and winning at least four series they weren’t favored before it tipped off. That’s a special run those who lived it will never forget. But there isn’t extra fuel to burn.

 

Where is Pat Riley? Can’t he see that no gut check will save them or that his successor, Erik Spoelstra, has expended every ounce of gas from the club? If only it were as simple as Spo lining up his troops, Full Metal Jacket-style, and having Riley and Alonzo Mourning stand face-to-face with them, sizing them up and demanding more.

 

Bearing in mind Butler’s age and decreased impact during the last year of his contract, management would get something decent back in return for trading him, but they have until Feb. 6.

 

Adebayo is the top trade chip for the team, but he can’t be moved until mid-December. If a real white whale whale becomes available, he along with a couple of role players and multiple first-round picks, turns into an attractive package. In that hypothetical scenario, snagging the star and figuring it out later, like the team has done before, is the way.

 

Sure, the team could move Butler and proceed with Adebayo as the top dog, but it’s too hard to build around an offensively limited player. Don’t forget how the Heat resists the tank, so they’re not drafting a stud unless the teams above them blow it with their scouting evaluations. If this is the route chosen, the only salvation is if a star successfully demands a trade to Miami at the expense of their reputation.

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The touring Heat won its first game of the season in Charlotte versus the Hornets in clutch time, improving to a 1-1 record. The crew punished the Hornets on giveaways. Terry Rozier swished three trays and finished four shots in the restricted area. And vintage Jimmy Butler closed the deal. 

 

Tyler Herro and Rozier combined for nine of 14 first-half shots, outplaying Charlotte’s starters, LaMelo Ball and Seth Curry. 

 

And despite a poor-shooting third quarter, the Heat were in control heading into the last sequence. 

 

The Heat held a 14-point lead with nearly nine minutes left. The Hornets erased the lead to three points with five points in transition, a pair of Cody Martin 3-pointers and a step-back triple by Ball over Nikola Jović. 

 

Subsequently, Butler scored nine points in the last few minutes, Herro splashed a top-of-the-key 3-pointer, and Rozier canned a corner basket to carry the group to victory. 

 

The Heat scored 46 paint points, 18 on the break, eight via second chances, 24 off turnovers and 25 from the bench. 

 

Rozier handled the on-court interview. When asked about playing with Herro, he said it’s easy. “He’s a gamer. You guys [have to] pick your poison when playing against us, and we know that…”

 

Observations:

 

1. Butler played the connector role in the first quarter and didn’t look to pressure the rim. Then he started the next frame dropping seven straight points- flaring into the lane for a layup, firing behind a pindown and making an and-one on a low post drive.   

 

He continued plowing into the paint, embracing illegal contact, finishing with 11 of 17 freebies; six of nine came in the fourth quarter. On top of that, he pierced the lane for two baskets in the half-court, made a huge three off the catch, and set up an Alec Burks corner triple with dribble penetration.

 

Noticeably, Duncan Robinsonwas the screener on three plays Butler scored on. Presumably because Butler can draw multiple defenders and Robinson is lethal off the catch.

 

2. Good things keep happening with Jović in the open court. He fed Tyler Herro for a dunk and triple on the break in the first half, hit Robinson on the go for a layup in the fourth and scored himself on a dunk. 

 

But he still needs to do more in the half-court. He started the game passing out of an open shot under the rim and is not an inside threat.

 

3. Bam Adebayo shot poorly for the second straight game. He missed jumpers and putbacks that usually fall in single coverage plus both of his 3-point tries were flat. 

 

4. The Heat shot poorly in the paint nonrestricted area, making five of 16 attempts and slightly above average at the rim at 66.7%. The league average in that spot is 64.6%.

 

5. Ball had five turnovers via the Heat’s aggressive help defense in the back, intercepting his sideline inbound and poking the ball loose on his drive into the lane. One of his giveaways was a mistake on his own, making an off-target pass. 

 

6. Through two games, 81.4% of this team’s offensive plays are in the half-court. But they score 152.4 per 100 transition plays, which is first in the league, per Cleaning the Glass.

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The Champs got their new jewelry, raised their 18th championship banner and outclassed the Knicks in the season opener, unleashing a record-tying 3-point bombardment. 

 

Kristaps Porziņģis was absent for the Celtics as he recovers from surgery on his left leg. 

 

The hosts started off by attacking Karl-Anthony Towns for multiple buckets at close and long range. They subsequently had a 20 point lead with a minute to go in the first frame. 

 

Jayson Tatum, who was guarded by Mikal Bridges before the switch, downed four trays, three off the pick and pop, and another isolating Jericho Sims for a deep pull-up at the top of the key. The rest of Gang Green sprinkled in six of 11 3-pointers. 

 

On the other side, Brunson maneuvered to the interior, dropping in two layups and nailing a baseline jumper. And Miles McBride provided seven digits off the bench. But Bridges fired four jumpers, all looking horrendous because of his slow release and fractured mechanics. 

 

Brunson continued providing relief, attacking in transition and canning a left-wing triple over Al Horford. And McBride and Towns broke into double figures. Defensively, they cranked up their defensive intensity, holding the Celtics to five straight misses early in the quarter. But it didn’t last long. 

 

Tatum checked back in and hit his fifth 3-pointer on the left side while guarded well by Bridges. Then he splashed his sixth, checked tightly in the right corner by Bridges, pushing the champs past 70 points. Defensively, the best possession was when Brown forced an eight-second violation in the back court while checking Brunson.

 

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau presumably had a conniption in the locker room at halftime. His team made 11 of 18 baskets in the second quarter. The hosts countered, making 11 of 22. 

 

At that point, the Celtics led 74-55. They had an edge on the glass by eight, were ahead in paint points at 24-18 and made 17 of 32 3-pointers.

 

Afterward, the Celtics started the second half making seven of eight triples in over six minutes, forcing a Knicks stoppage as the scoreboard read 99-70. As the quarter went on, Tatum toyed with Sims on the right wing, letting him come up close to defend and then successfully pulled up in his eye.

 

Defensively, the champs didn’t show much resistance, allowing the opponents 57.1% % accuracy in the frame.

 

Next, the fourth quarter started with the Celtics on top by 26 points. The threes didn’t slow down much to begin the quarter. Boston rattled off three more, tying the record for most in a game. They also missed 13 in a row, looking to claim sole possession of the record. Momentarily, the lead swelled to 35 points. 

 

The Celtics won 132-109. They had an advantage on the boards by six and collected 30 paint points, 12 on the break, 16 via second chances, 19 off turnovers and 19 from the bench.

 

Tatum had 37 points on 14 of 18 attempts, including eight of 11 triples, with four rebounds, 10 assists, one block, one steal and one turnover. 

 

Derrick White logged 24 digits on eight of 13 tries, with three rebounds and four assists.

 

Brown put up 23 points on 39% shooting, with seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one giveaway. 

 

And Holiday recorded 18 points, making 78% of attempts, with four rebounds, four assists and one steal. 

 

The Knicks had 42 paint points, 13 on extra tries, four in the open court, two off turnovers and 43 from the reserves. 

 

Brunson scored 22 points on nine of 14 attempts, with one rebound, two assists and four turnovers.

 

At the postgame presser, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said his championship ring is too big, he’ll never wear it, it’s cool to have, but he likes the banner more.

 

 Regarding tying the 3-point record and trying to break it, Brown said, “It was almost like we got jinxed or something… once the crowd got into it and we started hunting them, we couldn’t even hit the right side of the barn. Everything was off; we got a bunch of great looks, but it was like a lid on the basket.”

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