Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Suns outshine the touring Heat

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Kevin Love carried the Heat early, supplying 15 points, firing behind the arc, facing up in the post and cutting to the basket on a perfect five attempts. Kyle Lowry splashed a pair of triples. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored off three back door cuts. But the Suns, without Kevin Durant, devoured the Heat’s Jimmy Butler-less defenses and held the visitors to its season low of 97 points. (Butler was absent with right toe irritation, and Caleb Martin was too with a right ankle sprain.)

Phoenix’s Grayson Allen burned the Heat for unnecessarily abandoning the corner twice, plus canned a transition trifecta and his last was against drop coverage. Devin Booker added 10 points on four of six shots from all three areas of the halfcourt.

In the second quarter, JJJ, Nikola Jovic, Duncan Robinson, Lowry, and Tyler Herro logged a donut. However, Bam Adebayo was the source of the offense, powering past multiple defenders on the baseline and in the lane, hitting a reverse layup over Drew Eubanks, swishing a couple of jumpers at the nail and slamming a lob on the roll, fed by Herro. Counting his five freebies, he totaled 17 of the Heat’s 26 points in the frame, and only Josh Richardson recorded a field goal, aside from Adebayo’s six.

Defensively, no formulas stopped Allen from connecting on three more trays and blowing past Love for a finger roll layup. In this period, the Heat flashed the zone and man coverage, yielding four of five baskets in the restricted area. Additionally, Bradley Beal and Booker combined for 14 points on 54% shooting, getting to the paint whenever they wanted.

At halftime, the Heat were down 55-62, with 18 paint points plus four off turnovers and zero scored on the break. The guests were behind on the glass by two but took 12 extra free throws and converted 46.2% of its field goals.

In the third quarter, the offense made three buckets in a row, then subsided, failing on nine straight, courtesy of the Suns’ defense. Herro and Lowry were useless, registering no points. All eight attempts from the left side missed as the Heat produced on just 29.2% of its looks.

Within four minutes, the crew was down 17 to the Suns. Booker was contained, but Chimezie Metu, Bol Bol, Eubanks and Beal didn’t miss on nine tries.

The final quarter was a disaster shooting from the perimeter, making only two of 10 triples. Yet, Adebayo plowed into the paint for a dunk, lob off the roll and floater in transition. Getting within 13 points with six minutes left was as close as the Heatles got in the period to threatening the lead.

The Heat lost 97-113 in a match that featured 14 first-half lead changes. The offense produced 94.4 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 40th percentile of all games this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said the hosts were getting lots of easy baskets in the first half which established their momentum in the second. “At the start of the third, when we weren’t knocking down shots, now you’re dealing with a team that had great flow, great confidence, and they were just able to play with ease pretty much offensively in that second half.”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: HBO’s unanswered questions about Winning Time’s cancellation and the upset Lakers

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HBO canceled its show Winning Time in September because of a 40% drop in viewership and has refused to answer who the intended audience was. Remember that the Lakers team shown in the program is between 45 and 40 years old (the show’s story ends in 1984). The network also didn’t answer what made them think the public would be interested in the stories of a group that age when the NBA has recently added an In-Season Tournament because it wants to “drive additional interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule.”

That’s code for the NBA is not satisfied with its number of spectators.

Additionally, HBO PR chiefs Raina Falcon and Diego Aldana did not answer what impact the criticisms of former Lakers had on the show. Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more spoke negatively about Winning Time any chance they could when the show went lite on their reputations in comparison to Jeff Pearlman’s book, Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, it is based on. Interestingly, no one is discrediting Pearlman’s writing, and he spoke with close to 300 people for the assignment.

In the summer of 2023, during the SAG-AFTRA strike, cast members of Winning Time could not promote the program. Still, Pearlman, who even had a cameo as a journalist in one episode in season two, did futilely on X(formerly Twitter) as much as possible.

Johnson told reporters he “never watched” HBO’s “fictional” account and that no one could tell the story. Yet, the scenes from the show of him working out with Pat Riley to recover from his knee injury come from his 1983 memoir (published at age 23) Magic by himself and Richard Levin.

Abdul-Jabbar said it was boring because of bland, crude characterizations and compared it to gossip-mongering on the Real Housewives in his Substack writing page.

Nixon said it wasn’t true and that he never had issues with Johnson, as a guest on the Skyhook podcast with Michael Cooper and Abdul-Jabbar. His son, DeVaughn, portrayed him on the show.

In later interviews, he criticized Johnson for his tight bond with Buss, saying he couldn’t hang out so frequently with the owner and then with the team, but never mentioned that he partied with both as well. (At the peculiar press conference introducing Pat Riley as Lakers coach, Buss revealed that he was going to a birthday party with Johnson and Nixon.)

Gary Vitti chose not to return after two days of consulting in protest of Jerry West’s portrayal.

Riley just walked by and said “no” when asked by reporters at Miami Heat training camp if he liked Adrien Brody’s interpretation of him.

Jeanie Buss, who tried to get the show canceled before it aired, said she thought no one had a right to tell the Lakers’ story in her interview with Graham Bensinger. “We tried for a couple of years [to shut down the show. We] really leaned on the corporate lawyers, and I thought they would be able to stop it. The explanation given to me is that it’s protected under first amendment rights…”

Despite early objections to production and material in the program, Jeanie Buss admires the performance of John C. Reilly as her father, calling it “absolutely breathtaking as [Jerry Buss].

Here’s the deal: The show took many liberties, bothering and hurting some of those who lived it, especially West, who even pursued legal action, demanding a retraction and apology from HBO. The Network denied both.

In reality, West didn’t throw his trophy out of a window. Johnson didn’t storm off the court after his altercation with coach Paul Westhead. Jack Kent Cooke was not that unfriendly towards Jerry Buss. Bill Sharman couldn’t raise his voice that high, then. Claire Rothman did not unbutton her shirt to flatter Buss’ eye. And Buss was more sensitive than his portrayal, despite showing mainly his cavalier side, plus many other things.

But it was never a documentary and there is a disclaimer that it is a dramatization.

Still, Johnson is the luckiest that Winning Time was canceled and didn’t follow Pearlman’s book 100% to the text. Here’s an excerpt of Frank Brickowski describing his mansion parties in Chapter 13- Virginal: “He would have the finest girls in LA there. The absolute finest. And at midnight you had to get busy with somebody or get the fuck out. So, if you were a guy, at midnight you’d get as close as you could to the hottest possible woman. Magic went around in this voyeuristic way. He’d check on you. He’d go throughout the house, the pool. He’d order people to start doing things. All you had to do is be near a chick. There were guys who would yell, ‘Magic, she’s not getting busy! She’s not!’ He’d run over there and she’d get busy…”

Furthermore, in one scene of the show in Episode One, The Swan, Abdul-Jabbar is shown telling his child co-star of the film Airplane to “Fuck off.” He denied this in his blog or ever mouthing off to any minor. However, Linda Rambis, executive director of special projects with the Lakers, is on the record in Chapter 4- Center of Complications in Pearlman’s book saying, “Some little kid would ask for an autograph and he’d say, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ But Kareem was, otherwise, an incredible professional.”

But Rothman, the former general manager of the Forum, now retired at 95 years old, said to Five Reasons Sports Network that Winning Time was unfair to its subjects but that it was closer to realism in the second season.

Regarding Buss, Rothman said the show did not accurately depict the dimension of the man. “He was an avid reader who read two or three books a week. He loved theater. He loved symphony. He loved ballet.”

He was also receptive to the ideas of his employees. For example, Rothman once asked for a raise. She wrote him a memo explaining how underpaid she was compared to people from all over the country who did similar work, but he never read the second page. Two weeks later, Buss summoned her to his Pickfair mansion for a business lunch. There, he obliged her wishes and gave her a $100,000 raise on the condition that she couldn’t ask for another next year.

Buss also got involved as a donor to The Music Center in LA. Rothman was on the board at the time. She and others who were closely around him were dispirited by the direction of his character because they agreed Buss wasn’t one to disrespect another publicly.

Concerning the interpretation of Abdul-Jabbar, Rothman said it was stupid.

Rothman was appalled by West’s “unkind” depiction, too. She had a friendly relationship with him when she worked at the Forum, but he never interfered with her business. His priorities were basketball matters, and the one time they discussed anything in her field was in a brief comment about Barbera Streisand not coming to perform at the Forum, according to Rothman.

She said there weren’t enough moments that showed his softer side. Towards the end of Pearlman’s book, he does showcase West’s generosity, taking his colleagues out to dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House while providing them with laughs.

And she was sickened by the scene of her character undoing her hair and then the top buttons of her shirt.

Pearlman said in an interview on The Rich Eisen Show that Winning Time wasn’t a documentary, but he understands the frustration of those portrayed, and that he has no issues with the characterization, particularly West, because it is in line with his autobiography, West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life. “It’s sort of true to the tortured and tormented soul that he was.”

He would add in his interview with Eisen that West “was combustible, highly strung, couldn’t watch his team…”

Jeanie Buss wasn’t interested in helping HBO after she saw the script for episode one. She sent a copy of it to Rothman, who, in solidarity, wouldn’t participate either.

In 2022, the same year as Winning Time’s first season, the Lakers publicized their show Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers. It is a 10-part docuseries directed and produced by Antonie Fuqua. Jeanie Buss was also an executive producer.

The first four episodes cover the Showtime Lakers era, and some of the interviews shown validate Pearlman’s book.

In the first episode of Legacy, West, a program volunteer, said, “Coaching for me was a difficult chore. I am an emotional person, and sometimes, I don’t hide that very well.”

He also mentions feeling sad for the players who competed for him from 1976-79.

The following episode explains the awkward press conference when Buss announced that West and Pat Riley would be in charge of the offense and defense post firing of coach Westhead. Jeanie Buss described it as tone-setting for their working relationship because her father wanted to be known as a decision-maker. The team’s former public relations director, Bruce Jolesch, is quoted in Pearlman’s book, saying, “We put on a clinic on how not to conduct a press conference.”

In the same episode of Legacy, West says that he didn’t think Nixon was a good compliment to Johnson in the back court, but the two of them were arguably the top guard pairing in the NBA. Johnson wrote in his memoir that he told Buss that Nixon was the top guard choice he’d like to play with because “his quickness adds a dimension to my game that nobody else can.”

According to Pearlman, West booted Nixon from the team the because he saw him as an issue. He hired a private investigator to try to identify a drug problem to justify his cause.

With Winning Time’s cancellation, the opportunity was wasted by HBO (unless the rights to the program are bought and another studio continues) for the show to continue the dramatized story of Showtime or even one of the following duos- the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant era from Pearlman’s Laker follow up, Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.

West, Jeanie Buss, Nixon and Pearlman didn’t want to speak for this story.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Catching up with the Heat

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Through nearly 2/5s of the season, Jimmy Butler hasn’t been himself on the court despite the Heat having a 19-13 record and sitting at fourth in the East. A year ago, the squad had a .500 winning rate after the same number of matches, while JB was ripping defenses at a 53.2% clip but appeared in 20 games. Now, he is attempting a career low in percentage of attempts at the rim and logging his least efficient campaign in a Heat uniform.

Injuries have been a factor. He’s been absent nine outings with rest, personal reasons, an ankle injury, knee tendinitis, and he recently missed four in a row with a calf strain. Then, in Saturday’s duel with the Jazz, he hurt his right foot, leaving midway through the third quarter, and he’s out for Monday’s meeting with the Clippers because of it.

At this rate, Butler, who is 34 years old, is on pace to record 62 games this season, which would be his second-lowest percentage since joining the team behind 2021-22. That isn’t ideal for a squad that should aim to secure home-court advantage through the first round, at least, but it hasn’t hurt them so far. The record in games without him is 5-3.

In the present campaign, Butler has arguably the best band ever put around him in Miami. Bam Adebayo is a top-three center. Tyler Herro keeps ascending. The group struck gold in the Draft, selecting Jaime Jaquez Jr. And Duncan Robinson has turned into a threat inside the arc, apart from being a lethal outside marksman. In theory, the cast of characters should allow him to age gracefully.

But is it that simple?

At Butler’s age, only 11 players in NBA history have averaged 20 points on 50% shooting in the Playoffs, per Stathead. Of course, he isn’t just a scorer, but the Heat are most dangerous when he looks to put the on-ball or backline defender in foul trouble.

Throughout his time in Miami, he has developed a “wait until the Postseason” reputation, and he’s lived up to it all but one year (2020-21). Yet, when he doesn’t look as sharp as he did in the losses at Milwaukee, Utah, and in defeats at Kaseya Center to the Nets and Cavaliers while tallying his lowest field goal percentage as a Heatle, it’s fair to wonder if accumulated mileage has caught up to him. Of current guys in the league, Butler is 10th in Playoff minutes.

It’s not strange that after 13 tours, he’s presumably downshifted from sixth to fifth gear. Exhibit A: Jaquez is currently the team’s best close-range threat, attempting 3.2 shots in the restricted area, converted at 69.6%. For reference, Butler logs 3.4 tries from 0-3 feet at 65.9%. His peak production rate in this category for Miami was 4.6 shots on 72.2% in 2020-21. Exhibit B: Last season, when Butler had one day of rest before a game (37 times), he would make 52.3% of the shots. In 2023-24, with the same time in between (15 times), he is converting 47.4% of tries.

Age showing its medusa-like face doesn’t mean he can’t take over. But it does signify that picking his spots probably means lowering the RPMs in the regular season more than ever. This is happening on the Lakers with LeBron James and on the Suns with Kevin Durant- both still produce loud numbers, but their impact isn’t the same. Heat supporters likely will not care if it buys Butler another prepotent Playoff showing that takes the group on another deep run.

Before that can happen, it must take care of business until the end of the year. The concern is that with Butler coasting, the Heat won’t get a high enough seed to host a series. In 2022-23, it was the first Play-In squad and second eight seed to make the Finals, but counting on another ride like that is unwise. It was historic for a reason.

A top-four spot would lessen the mental burden of starting a series in hostile territory.

Can the Heat get there?

There are 50 outings left. Nonetheless, the team is on pace to win 49 games. In the last two years, the fourth seed (Cleveland, Philadelphia) won 51 matches. Today, Miami and Orlando are tied for fourth place, with the former owning the tiebreaker.

The Knicks, two games out of the Heat’s spot, are also on the hunt after dealing for O.G. Anunoby (and in the long term if he extends, which is likely). What makes Anunoby special is that there aren’t 10 other dudes in the NBA who defend the other squad’s top perimeter player AND score 15 points nightly, as he does. The Heat still has two meetings left with the Knicks on Jan. 27 in New York and April 2 at home.

Herro and Adebayo are Miami’s leaders in scoring average, and their two-man connection is one of the strongest on the team. One of the next steps for coach Erik Spoelstra is making sure JJJ works well in a rotation with them because he is Butler’s expected successor.

Jaquez is first among rookies in minutes, second in steals, points in the paint, and third in assists, and made freebies.

However, negatively affecting the Heat’s effort to grab a top-four seed is inconsistent production at point guard. It’s part of the reason it can’t sustain leads, aside from being average at covering the 3-point line. Kyle Lowry is third in games played and fifth in minutes. These days he is only helping if his long-range jumpers are falling and with the occasional outlet pass. He only gets one paint touch per contest and is willing to reach on defense instead of staying with his man.

Josh Richardson will get his minutes gashed if he keeps getting torched on defense, too.

The team is depending on Caleb Martin (ankle sprain) and Haywood Highsmith (jaw contusion) being high-level contributors when they get back.

Considering injuries and deficiencies- aside from JJJ, Adebayo and Butler, the rest of the team can’t get into the paint as easily- the chances the Heat keep the fourth seed are around 40%. This team takes 38.5% of its looks from deep, 13.4% in the midrange and 48.1% in the paint. If any of those three are not puncturing the teeth of the defense, snatching a win becomes much more difficult by playing more from the outside.

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Kelly Olynyk and Jazz take down the Heat

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After missing four games in a row with a calf strain, Jimmy Butler hurt his right foot in his return as the Heat dueled with the rebuilding Jazz in Utah, changing leads 25 times before defeat. No squad was ever ahead by more than eight points.

Productive nights from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro couldn’t save the squad from former Heatle Kelly Olynyk, who showed up the visitors in the second half with inside finishes and eight feeds for his teammates.

Nikola Jovic started at power forward, and RJ Hampton got his second consecutive start at point guard, but each played less than 10 minutes. Kyle Lowry (head contusion), Caleb Martin (ankle), and Josh Richardson (back) were absent.

Herro hit four of Miami’s first six baskets, attacking the low man in the zone and pulling up from midrange. The rest of his teammates converted six of 14 baskets in the interval, but the obvious missing ingredient to the offense was Butler, who didn’t have a field goal attempt.

In the second quarter, Butler logged nearly the last eight minutes but only made one basket- a catch-and-shoot jumper at the elbow- as the Heat made three of its final 10 buckets. The squad struggled to drain threes against the zone and in transition. If not for Adebayo’s sweet shooting in the lane, the evening would have turned ugly for the Heat earlier.

For the Jazz, Collin Sexton worked around screens, slicing into the paint like a freshly forged blade piercing flesh. Olynyk burned the Heat with a pump fake and drive to the basket, plus a deep jumper and a hook at close range.

At halftime, the visitors were down 53-54, having registered just four second chance and three fastbreak points. It had an edge in rebounding by four and free throw attempts by five, yet behind on field goals by 10. The reserve crew had 20 points, and Utah’s produced 26.

In the third quarter, Butler slipped a ghost screen for a three-foot layup assisted by Jovic and was fouled twice on a roll to the basket and transition attack. He then left with an injury to his right foot after almost six minutes and didn’t come back.

Still, in the third frame, the Heat supplied 35 points. Adebayo created contact by faking Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler into the air and driving through his man for free throw attempts. And Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, Herro and Jovic each recorded a trifecta.

On the other side, the unexpected Heat killer was Simone Fontecchio, breaking Jovic and Robinson down with his dribble for layups.

In the fourth quarter, rookie Jazz man Keyonte George scored a dozen, cutting back door and lighting up the Heat with three triples. John Collins also hit two bangers- both at the right corner with Robinson and Adebayo contesting. Olynyk added four points and five dimes as the Heat went to a zone late.

The Heat’s offense fell apart in the fourth, notching a third of its tries and none from deep. Jaime Jaquez Jr. missed a five-foot layup that’s fallen all year and had another shot spiked by Fontecchio at the cup. The only Miami player to make more than one bucket in the period was Jamal Cain (three).

The Jazz won 117-109, led by Olynyk’s 19 points on eight of 12 shots, with 10 assists and six rebounds. Sexton scored 22 points, and George contributed 21.

After the game, Love embraced his old Cavalier teammates, Sexton and Markkanen, while Adebayo, and Robinson caught up with Kelly Olynyk and Ömer Yurtseven.

George handled the on-court interview. When asked about his scorching fourth quarter, he said, “It’s about staying ready…staying locked in. The ball went in for me tonight.”

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Touring Heat trounce Warriors

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Searching for its fourth win in a row, the Miami Heat started RJ Hampton at point guard next to Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo, overpowering the Warriors at Chase Center. Jimmy Butler (calf), Kyle Lowry (soreness), Josh Richardson (back) and Caleb Martin (ankle) were all absent, but the group still supplied 60 points in the paint.

In the first six minutes, the Heat’s attack looked potent as Adebayo moved in the paint for multiple jumpers, and Herro plus Jaquez scored from inside and out. But then it bogged down, suffering a 5-16 run by Golden State to end the quarter as it made one of its last 13 attempts.

Subsequently, coach Erik Spoelstra subbed in Nikola Jovic all of frame two, and the Heat’s 2-3 zone held the Warriors to two of seven trays. The 2-2-1 press was also used to slow down the ball coming up court. In five minutes, Jamal Cain’s activity disrupted the hosts’ actions by playing like a free safety.

Offensively, the visitors erupted for 36 points as five Heatles recorded multiple baskets, yet comically, bucket-getting rookie Jaquez had no points but three dimes. Baseline cuts, transition dunks, corner triples and blow bys put the Heat ahead 57-51 at intermission.

Before quarter three, the Heat squeezed 12 points out of the Warriors’ nine turnovers and scored 30 in the box while making five of 14 triples. No turnovers, two fewer rebounds, and less trips to the line produced nine additional field goal attempts for the Heat. Herro and Adebayo combined for 25 points on 10 of 22 shots.

Then Jaquez put the guests in control. He bumped Brandin Podziemski away for a hook, spun past Jonathan Kuminga in the post, pump-faked Klay Thompson into the air and faded over him on the baseline, and pierced the Warriors’ zone for a four-foot layup.

And Cain, who had registered just 130 minutes for the season, added eight points, pivoting around Trayce Jackson-Davis for a layup, finishing on the break and scoring at the dunker spot.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter ahead 91-76. Defensively, the squad protected the 3-point line well, contesting all eight Warrior attempts, permitting one to fall. Cain checked Curry, forcing a failed long-two and was blown by and the next attempt, but Jovic, the help defender, influenced the miss at close range.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr kept Curry in less than seven minutes of the fourth.

The Heat’s offense logged 34.8% of its tries in the last interval, but it was just outscored by three.  It won on the road 114-102. The Heat scored 60 paint points on 30 of 51 ventures. Even with a quiet night from Duncan Robinson (five points), the reserves contributed 44 points in contrast to Golden State’s bench having 51.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said the team wanted to set the tone at the start of its five-game Western road trip. On the topic of Hampton, Cain and Jovic’s minutes, the coach was complimentary. “Without those three guys and their contributions tonight, we are not winning this game…”

In the locker room, Herro was asked about involving them, too. He said the guys have a “next man up mentality, being able to fufill [roles] for the guys who are out.”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat hold off 76ers on Christmas Day

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The NBA’s fourth-slotted XMAS day matchup of 76ers @ Miami was more eventful than anticipated considering the absences of MVP Joel Embiid- a no-go with a sprained ankle for the visitors- and Jimmy Butler- out for the hosts because of an illness and calf strain. It didn’t matter. The 76ers got within striking distance late. The Heat were carried by rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. And there was even an R.J. Hampton sighting.

Early, the Heat went down double digits because Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro were exploited off the dribble, Jaquez was backed down by Tobias Harris and Caleb Martin failed to recover to the corner in time on a kick out to, again, Harris. But Jaquez and Bam Adebayo unbuttoned the offense for the Heat with a storm of inside cuts through the middle, post-ups, transition attacks and a pull-up jumper.

But the first to go down was Martin, who had five rebounds nearly eight minutes in. He hurt his right ankle, tracking a loose ball out of bounds. He labored through subsequent possessions, but coach Erik Spoelstra subbed Jamal Cain in, ending Martin’s night.

To start the second quarter, Lowry caught and elevated for a layup in the lane but got tripped by Harris, getting him clipped in the back of the head by Adebayo’s knee.

Cain issued a take foul on the following play, and Lowry wobbled on the way up with the help of his teammates. He wasn’t medically examined after almost getting knocked out. Apparently, someone needs to have a seizure from excess contact to the head for concussion protocol to take effect at Kaseya Center.

As the interval progressed, Tyrese Maxey, who missed six tries in the first, misfired over Cain and Hampton’s tentacles. Yet, Philadelphia’s backup center, Mohamed Bamba, converted six of seven shots from inside and out. His issue was failing to stop Herro’s floater and Kevin Love’s deep jumper.

Before halftime, Herro also hit a fall-away shot in the corner plus another on the same side over Kelly Oubre and cut through the center for a left-handed layup. Adebayo scored seven more points. And JJJ spun past Oubre for a close-range finish and scored again in transition.

At halftime, the Heat were ahead 63-49, with two points scored off turnovers, eleven on the break, four from second chances and 26 in the paint. Herro, Adebayo and Jaquez combined for 44 points on 17 of 30 attempts. In that span, the hosts held Philadelphia to 35.8% shooting.

In the third quarter, the Heat fell apart defensively, conceding 37 points in a weak zone and man coverage. Maxey was still struggling, but Oubre, Melton and Harris battered the Heat with triples and drive-bys.

In this frame, Herro bricked five trays as Philly contested cleanly after the catch. But Jaquez was depended on, canning an open corner trifecta, seizing the baseline for a layup and pulling up from 17 feet away.

Both squads were tied at 86 entering the fourth quarter and, because they couldn’t defend without fouling, were in the bonus with under eight minutes to go. Philadelphia made seven of 13 freebies, and Miami logged 13 of 14. Aside from that, Jaquez cut again on the baseline, this time for a dunk, plus swished a floater over Harris in the paint. And Adebayo scored three more baskets in the lane.

The Heat won 119-113, finishing with a 20-point rebound advantage and 10 more free throw attempts. In the half court, Miami scored 103.2 points per 100 of those plays, good enough for the 66th percentile of all games this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

Jaquez, who had a career night of 31 points on 11 of 15 shots and 10 rebounds, handled the on-court interview. He said, “It was a great team effort all around.”

At the postgame presser, Adebayo was also pleased. He said, “We got the W and that’s most important because Spo is still undefeated (9-0) on Christmas.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson lead the Heat over the Hawks

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Jimmy Butler missed his second straight game (sixth total), but Jaime Jaquez Jr. got the start, and the Heat downed the visiting Hawks with 122 points on 43.6% shooting from long range. Tyler Herro scored from everywhere, and Duncan Robinson carried Miami toward the finish line.

Early, Herro erupted for 14 points, easily blowing by Trae Young and then Clint Capela as the help shot blocker for a deuce. He also torched drop coverage and swished jumpers at the top of the key and corner.

Yet the protection was feeble, allowing Dejounte Murray and Young to combine for seven of eight tries through 12 minutes, dusting point-of-attack defenders and hurting the Heat’s drop. Multiple looks were deployed to stop Young, but no one could stay in front of him when he dribbled to the hole.

In the second quarter, JJJ channeled Butler on a catch-and-shoot jumper, a post-spin past Bogdan Bogdanović, plus a turnaround hook and layup over Capela. Center Bam Adebayo supplied three paint scores and covered multiple Hawks on each possession.

Defensively, the Heat were dreadful, permitting the Hawks to log 50% from the field and 40% from deep through two periods. The latter could have been much worse because Miami was late to contest some corner shots that missed.

At intermission, the Heat led 62-60, with 26 points scored in the box, eight off turnovers, seven via second chances and two on the break. Herro and Jaquez were in charge of Miami with 31 combined points on 12 of 18 ventures.

Next, the turd quarter returned as the hosts converted a meager six shots and committed six turnovers. Here, Herro and Adebayo made 25% of their shots. The only success the Heat had on offense was slowing down the match by getting to the line for 12 freebies. On defense, it shut down the scorching Bogdanović, who had 20 points in the first half, to a single make in six bids by sending the low man at his drive and contesting his jumpers.

In the fourth, Adebayo failed four more attempts, and Young had a flurry late, but Robinson took over. He feasted, canning two trifectas, a lane floater, a putback on the break after JJJ’s miss and a cut through the middle for a layup. Herro added nine points on 60% shooting.

The Heat won 122-113, recovering 52.4% of rebounds and allowing only 40 points in the paint. Herro and Robinson combined their scorecards for 57 points on 19 of 32 made baskets. Notably, the halfcourt offense scored 118 points per 100 plays in the set, good enough for the 93rd percentile of all games this season. In the last two quarters, Miami contained Atlanta to prosperity on 38.5% of its field goal efforts.

Herro assisted with Bally Sports’ on-court interview, saying his “twin,” Robinson, opened up the offense with precision and movement. “He made it easy on me. [Robinson] is the man.”

At the press conference, Young referenced Butler’s absence. “It really doesn’t matter who is in for [the Heat]” because the players move off the ball.

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Spoelstra’s Spoilers upset the Mystical Ones

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Up in central Florida in the palace of the Mystical Ones without Jimmy Butler, the touring Miami Heat crushed its hosts with 15 3-pointers on 51.7% shooting and severed Orlando’s long-range attack. The strongest push came in interval two as Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Co. gorged the Magic’s defenses for 43 points on a dazing 16 of 22 tries.

“They came out and got after us early,” said coach Jamal Mosley postgame. “In that second quarter mainly, they hit a bunch of shots; we missed a ton that led to leak outs…”

Before the match, Orlando’s defense had held rivals to 47% of field goal attempts and 36.9% from deep.

Initially, the Magic logged eight of 13 attempts inside the arc in the first quarter on back door cuts plus pick and pop. Yet, for Miami, Herro unleashed the offense with a pair of triples and a left-side drive.

In the second quarter, he followed up with an unsoiled four attempts, getting into the lane for a floater, canning a tray on the break and swished two middies. Duncan Robinson contributed 10 points on three of four shots. And Haywood Highsmith supplied a dozen, too.

Defensively, the Heat contained the Magic’s 3-point shooting to two of eight makes in frame two, but in spurts it went to the zone, it was exposed on the offensive glass for a second chance.

Orlando’s Cole Anthony and Jonathan Isaac were Miami’s largest issues before intermission. The former blew by defenders for a baseline jumper, a top-of-the-key triple and three inside finishes. The latter recorded two layups, a dunk and a deep shot. Both combined for nine of 12 attempts through 24 minutes.

At halftime, Miami led 68-50, with 20 points in the paint, eight on the break, seven on second tries and six off turnovers. The visitors were behind on the glass by five, but the hosts turned the rock over five extra times, giving the Heat a handful of spare attempts.

In Herro’s second game back since busting his right ankle in November, he had 19 points with five assists and four rebounds. The rest of the club converted 19 of 37 ventures.

In the third quarter, the Heat locked up Paolo Banchero, forcing him to one of six makes on mainly shots outside of the lane while defended by Herro, Caleb Martin, Jaime Jaquez Jr, and doubled by Josh Richardson and Highsmith. Orlando still couldn’t buy anything from outside but used its size and speed to overwhelm the paint.

But in this period, Miami’s offense also stagnated to eight of 19 baskets, four turnovers and just four free throw attempts.

In the fourth quarter, the Heat coasted to a 23-point lead with five minutes left and were above 18 with three to go. But Orlando upped its RPMs, attacking the paint and offensive glass to cut the deficit to seven with 30 seconds left. Miami misfiring three jumpers, a freebie, and committing a late turnover didn’t help its cause, but it was too little too late for the Magic.

Miami won 115-106, escaping the new KIA Center with its ninth road victory of the season. Herro finished with 28 points on 59% shooting, seven dimes and eight rebounds. Adebayo had 18 on his scorecard with seven boards and two assists.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said his group had a fruitful two days after reviewing the loss at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves. “We just went to work yesterday. [We] watched the film, watched some of the painful moments, watched some of the good moments and then got to work in practice and had a good productive morning.

“And there was a lot of respect for Orlando and what they’ve done early in the season. They [are] fourth in the East, [and] they have built a very good, disruptive defense and they’ve been great here at home. Our guys are well aware of that. We knew we’d have to play really well…”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Hungry ‘Wolves takeover in second half

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The Minnesota Timberwolves upstaged Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro’s return from two and five-week-long absences. In the second half, the Heat was shut down and couldn’t restrain Anthony Edwards from slicing the lane and spraying jumpers over defenders. It was a disappointing development for the hosts, who at one point led by 17 in the first half* against the West’s top team.

Yet, early, Herro converted four consecutive floaters attacking Gobert in drop coverage, showing zero signs of rust. Adebayo logged six points with his stroke and seizure of the lane. Jimmy Butler hoisted from deep and midrange, plus blew by Michael Conley on the baseline and powered past Nickeil Alexander-Walker into the square for a sweeping hook.

The Kaseya Center was electrified by the Heat’s 66 first-half points on 58.1% shooting. Jaime Jaquez Jr. only had three tries but made two with one bulldozing past Edwards for a bank shot. But the l precision had overshadowed poor ball protection as Miami lost it nine times in 24 minutes. Additionally, Minnesota scored freely against man and zone coverage.

At intermission, Miami was ahead by a dozen with 19 points scored off turnovers. Herro was its leading scorer with 17 on seven of nine shots, followed by Butler with 12 points and Adebayo’s 11.

In the third, the Timberwolves contested cleanly against Herro’s trays and stuck close to him for misses in the open court. The Heat were neutralized outside of the paint and held to 17 points, making 36.8% of attempts.

For Minnesota, Edwards pulled up on the left wing for a triple in Butler’s eye, accelerated past Herro in transition and hit a fader over Haywood Highsmith at the nail.

The fourth began with Miami up six, but then it had its worst defensive sequence of the evening, again late. Miami surrendered the corners twice, failed to stop dribble penetration, was beat on the break and caught on screens + mismatches. Also, coach Erik Spoelstra subbed Butler back in late, with under five minutes left in regulation. He had played the entire third frame, but in a close match, he was needed sooner.

With over a minute left and Miami down one, Karl-Anthony Towns soared over Butler on the baseline for Edwards’ missed triple, took a dribble, and flicked the rock to the uncovered Gobert for a lob.

Edwards took over in Butler’s house as Donovan Mitchell did on Dec. 8 when the Cavaliers stunned the Heat. Ant-Man supplied five of seven baskets and, in the crucible, canned a fadeaway over Josh Richardson in the post to give the ‘Wolves a three-point cushion with 25.6 seconds left.

Out of a sideline inbound, Adebayo fed Butler, who got loose to the right wing but was met by Anderson after the catch. With 22 seconds on the timer, Butler foolishly misfired into the hands of Gobert. The free throw formality followed, but Miami was done.

The Timberwolves won 112-108. Edwards finished with 32 points on 13 of 25 shots. Towns had 18 on his scorecard with eight boards.

For Miami, Herro logged 25 points on 55% field goal efficiency. Adebayo had 22 on 45% accuracy.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said postgame that Minnesota buckled down in the last two periods and that Rudy Gobert was a major deterrent for any actions run in the fourth quarter. As he continued, he mentioned how Edwards was unstoppable.

“[Edwards] was terrific,” Spoelstra said. “He did it in a lot of different ways, so it wasn’t as if we could send a second defender in every single situation…”

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Jimmy Butler sinks game-winner, and the Heat survive the Bulls’ fourth-quarter flurry

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What a surprise! The Heat are a sharp team when Jimmy Butler attacks from the jump.

In the first half, the Heat cruised to a 15-point lead over the Bulls behind Kevin Love’s five triples, Jimmy Butler’s assault of the rim, and Duncan Robinson setting up his teammates four times. Yet at the half, the hosts were ahead only by one as Chicago registered second opportunities + fastbreak scorers while Miami kept launching inefficiently in frame two.

Following Butler’s early storm, he was quiet in nearly six second-quarter minutes as Miami was getting lit up from deep because it abandoned the corners and right wing. Chicago’s Patrick Williams splashed three of four trifectas but, more notably, had a vicious jam over Jaime Jaquez Jr.

A promising start had fizzled into a laboring match due to a faltering offense, frustrating fans as the Heat closed the half on a 2-8 run in the last three minutes. At intermission, Miami led 58-57, with 10 points off turnovers. Its biggest weakness was protecting the defensive glass, permitting Chicago 43.5% of available offensive rebounds.

In the third quarter, the offense was powerless halfway through the period. Butler then recorded four of five field goals, curling around a pick for a jumper and attacking Cobi White twice and a fastbreak layup with the full-court assist by Love. White Hot’s next scoring leader of the quarter was Duncan Robinson, with triples behind a handoff at the top of the key and a pop after the screen on the right wing.

But for the Bulls, Williams continued his Kawhi Leonard impersonation. DeMar DeRozan maneuvered into the lane using high PNR and a double pick to pull up behind the line over JJJ. Yet, its spark plug, White, who was one out of seven from the court, wouldn’t activate until the last interval.

The Heat began the fourth quarter ahead by 11. Subsequently, it had its worst defensive sequence of the evening. White shredded the protections at the top from Highsmith and Butler, getting into the lane for layups and hoisting over openings for 18 points on six of eight attempts. DeRozan was outplaying Butler late, with an extra 11 on his scorecard, cutting through the zone, posting up on the block and driving past his Miami counterpart for a scoop layup plus the foul. The latter gave the Bulls its first lead of the quarter.

On the next possession, Kyle Lowry missed a left-wing 3-pointer, giving Miami its fourth-straight brick, but Caleb Martin bolted from the right side, elevating for a putback over Ayo Dosunmu and White. The Heat was now down 110-111.

Following Dosunmu’s missed layup over Lowry, Miami’s lead guard tried his runner through the middle. Nevertheless, Butler was there to clean up his miss, recapturing the lead with a putback. Twelve seconds later, White buried a tray on the left side when Butler over-helped in the center.

The Heat responded with Jaquez recovering Butler’s failed triple and cutting back through the lane for a dunk when the ball swung back to him. The visitors had a final answer: White speeding into the paint for a two-foot bank shot, claiming Chicago’s 116-114 lead.

Both teams went scoreless for the next minute. DeRozan, with possession, had his back turned at the left wing, then Butler swooped in, looting the ball and getting it to Lowry for a break lay-in. The Heat got the ball back for a last attempt after Nikola Vucevic failed to score past Love from the top to the cup.

After Butler picked up the defensive rebound, he dribbled up the court as the game clock ticked away by itself. First, DeRozan covered him, but he used a double screen to hunt White, broke him down, stepped back, and pulled up 20 feet away for the win against his old team as the horn buzzed through Kaseya Center.

The Heat won 118-116. Forty-four of Miami’s points came in the interior, 15 were on the break and 10 on second chances. Butler had 28 points on 50% shooting with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

He walked to the locker room, unconcerned with his doing the on-court postgame interview. Love, who crossed the 15K threshold in scoring during the night (15,006-regular season), handled it for him. He said it was a “beautiful” experience with both teams giving each other life and coming down to Butler late. “Best closer in the game. It was an unbelievable shot…those are the type of games we need to win, especially on our home floor.”

At the press conference, coach Erik Spoelstra said it was a no-brainer to not call a timeout on the last possession. “I think the entire area code felt fine with [Butler] making that decision… that was a heck of a play from [Butler].