Tag Archive for: Miami Heat

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Pacers

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat headed up to Indiana for a single road game detour on Friday night, before they have a plethora of home games ahead.

It was far from a pretty basketball showing in this one. Trust me.

Anyway, the Heat fell short, so here are my immediate takeaways…

#1: First half offense: oh, let’s talk 3 point shooting.

The Heat shot 5 of 24 from deep in the first half tonight. Buddy Hield on the opposing side knocked down 4 threes alone in that span. Yeah, I’d say that tells a lot of the story of a game. Miami was generating pretty good looks throughout that period, but it just wasn’t dropping for most of the Heat’s role guys. They were looking their best through strong drives for fouls or post splits for Bam Adebayo to hit cutters, as he did on back to back plays to Gabe Vincent in the second quarter. Yet it’s clear that the blueprint when playing without Jimmy Butler, would be to hit perimeter shots with heavier offensive lineups. To add onto this, Indiana’s defense is one that allows pretty high percentage looks from deep, which is why this was a bit surprising.

#2: The bench looking thin…

No Jimmy Butler. No Victor Oladipo still. No Omer Yurtseven still. Nikola Jovic didn’t make the trip. So the bench was going to look pretty similar to the last game against the Kings. But after explaining that last section of shooting, this grouping had a big part in that. Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, and Dewayne Dedmon formed the 8 man rotation early, and all three of them didn’t look like their best selves early. Robinson was missing open looks, Dedmon had a rough time with the Pacers’ quick guards in drop, and while Vincent struggled a bit early, still gave them enough on both ends in that back-up PG spot. Shortly after, the Heat’s “9th man” on the night Haywood Highsmith entered. At this point, many of us are looking for those minutes to go to Jamal Cain, but we’re just not there yet. Soon…

#3: The Bam Adebayo foul trouble conversation.

As I mentioned before, this team has no Yurtseven and a shaky Dedmon to make up the backline for Bam Adebayo. That leaves the team needing one thing: for Bam to stay on the floor as much as possible. Yet we’ve seen an uptick in fouls to begin this season, which could be for a few different reasons. The main one is that he’s being more aggressive as a rim attacker and roller, which is racking him up some offensive fouls. And I can live with that trade off. On the other end, he’s getting some fouls in the paint on contests, since he’s playing the “cover-up” game at all times, which he’s pretty accustomed to. The process of toning this down is awkward, since you don’t want to backtrack his aggressiveness on either end. But it gets to a point where they need to be mindful, since the trade-off of two points or keeping Bam on the floor, is an easy answer.

#4: Max Strus’ growth continues to shine.

When looking at this team to begin the year, there’s no doubt that Max Strus has been the one guy that’s growth has shined the most. For starters, he has saved this team’s offense time and time again when coming off the bench. His consistent shooting gives this team a different look and flow, but that’s just the beginning of his improvements. The defense has been serviceable, but more importantly, his overall movement and cutting to be a threat inside the arc has shifted his shot profile. We saw that again tonight on his third quarter run, where he scored 7 straight. A three off a DHO, followed by a steal and bucket in transition, then capped off by a perfectly timed cut when he noticed Haliburton ball-watching. Been clear that his bag has broadened.

#5: Bam Adebayo uplifting Miami offensively in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough.

As the Heat look like they have stalled out in their second half run, Bam Adebayo took the keys on a night without Jimmy Butler. He got into the middle of the floor for a good looking pull-up middy halfway through the 4th, giving Miami some offensive hope. Shortly after, on an ugly possession with the shot clock trickling down, he faked a handoff, sprinted at the rim, and got the and-1 to really catapult this group. It’s one thing to call plays for him late, but it’s another when he’s asserting himself at this time of a game. The only issue with all of that: nobody could find a flow from that point on. The ball was sticking, shots weren’t dropping consistently, and well, they still had a chance at the very end. Some back and forth with controversial calls led to the last minute feeling like an eternity. Eventually, down 2 with 10 seconds left, Herro attempted a fadeaway three for the win, that came up short…

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Kings

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat won a close one against the Sacramento Kings on the second night of a back to back.

Lets hop right into it.

Here are my takeaways…

#1: Kyle Lowry comes out in a different offensive version.

As the Heat walked onto the court without Jimmy Butler on Wednesday, it was clear they shouldn’t take this scrappy group lightly. They still needed some type of veteran presence to settle this group’s offensive structure, and Kyle Lowry was just that. In the first 15 minutes of basketball, Lowry tied his season high with 17. But the key there was that he looked kind of springy. He was engaged, was getting paint touches consistently, and hitting the necessary pull-ups out of both pick ad rolls, and off some curls. This Kings defense showed early that the middle of the floor would be open, as Lowry read that pretty quickly. Building this type of rhythm is a crucial aspect of this team when Butler returns.

#2: Competent back-up big minutes from Dewayne Dedmon?

The back-up 5 position has been a hot topic when evaluating Heat basketball, and the first name that has generally come up has been Dewayne Dedmon. His minutes haven’t looked great to begin the season on both ends, yet he was looking pretty good early in this one. He kept picking up the phone in that first half, as he celebrated a pair of above the break triples. He also had some strong boards on the interior, made some very nice passes in that mid to high post, and was generally in the right spot. Now, the shot selection is still extremely questionable. You just never seem to know the next shot to come from him on a given possession, but once he finds himself a bit like he did in this one, it’s the perfect innings eater before Bam Adebayo re-enters.

#3: Some extra perspective into Miami’s 2-3 zone.

I’ve talked a lot lately about the Heat’s reliance on the 2-3 zone defensively. It allows them to play two negative defenders at the same time, without having the worry about them being picked on in isolation. It also alters opposing teams’ shot profiles, since they can’t run the same actions that they normally do. But I do have one other thing to add when watching it in the first half against the Kings: when dealing with guard play with quick bursts off the attack, they can muck it up in an instant. As Malik Monk spaced on the right wing, he would attack off the catch and get to the middle of the floor pretty effortlessly. And well, that’s the exact thing you don’t want to happen when in zone. Now it’s a scramble, unnecessary help comes, and an open bucket on a spray. It’s a minor aspect, since the zone has been fantastic for them, but it’s the tweak they will be eyeing.

#4: The Heat’s third quarter offense: the high post/back-cut game-plan.

With the Heat searching for an offensive hub, it seemed like an easy choice for that to be Bam Adebayo consistently in the second half. His mid-range jumper started dropping, which basically forces his defender to stay away from the rim once he enters play-making mode. Well once that occurred, we saw Miami find something that works: it wasn’t a specific set or action, instead it was reading the one-on-one overplays. As Strus inserted the ball into Bam in that high post, his defender was already shedding over on the potential hand-off. Strus reading that, instinctively cut back door with Bam hitting him. Shortly after as Dedmon entered, we saw the same thing yet this time with Herro. High post entry pass, Herro’s defender was playing ahead, and boom another wide open back-cut. That’s how you create the anti-gravity of this Heat offense, so it’s just something to monitor.

#5: Another late-game walk-through.

As it seemed like the Heat stalled mid-way through the fourth quarter, the building got a little bit of energy. A wild Herro tip-in followed by an Adebayo tip-in himself cut the lead to 2 with the team gaining some flow. Speaking of that flow, Herro was the main element of a rhythm finder. Got into his mid-range pull up two possessions in a row for some much needed buckets, tying the game up at 96. Shortly after, the Heat were late on a rotation giving Kevin Huerter a decent look from three, giving the Kings back a 3 point lead. Coming out of the timeout, the Heat had a play in mind: quick DHO to get Bam the ball back in space. He got an easy bucket out of it. Next play, Bam hits Vincent out of the mid-post on a back door cut, like I discussed before. Then to capitalize a run, Lowry gets two feet in the paint, kicks to Herro, who swings to Strus for three. 4 point lead. The Kings came back the next two possessions with a lay-in and a foul on the bonus, tying the game back up at 103 with 50 seconds left. The Heat came back with a Herro-Bam PnR which led to a Herro lay-in, while Mitchell immediately answered back with a lay-in of his own. 32 seconds left, Lowry flows into his favorite turnaround jumper to give Miami a 2 point lead again. Yes, I know. A lot. Now that Kings have the ball, it somehow ends up in the hands of Sabonis at the rim, who gets fouled. 2 for 2. Final possession, ball in the hands of Herro. He gets it in isolation, pump-fakes, leans, game-time. Heat walk away with the win off the clutch bucket.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Warriors

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat faced off against the Golden State Warriors yet again, and well, we saw a different process for the Heat in general.

A better process.

With some great late game execution, they pulled out the win.

So here are some takeaways…

#1: Max Strus and Duncan Robinson coming up big early on.

As Max Strus walked to the scorers table of a messy Heat offensive structure, I sent out a tweet. Can Strus save this offense yet again like he has recently? Somehow, the answer was yes yet again. With 9 minutes left in the second quarter, he was up to 11 points, giving this group some life. But he wasn’t the only one. Duncan Robinson joined the party as well, and he shined in many spots. Spot-up shots, movement (which I’ll get to next), passing, and even some paint touches that generated a lob to Bam. When you are getting this type of production from your two shooters, it’s a perfect formula for this team’s best two players. But let’s just keep an eye on sustainability, since they can’t be reliant on this.

#2: The bench group differences.

Strus and Robinson tie into this a good bit, but the Heat’s bench grouping turned things around for Miami early. What started out as a stagnant offensive bunch, the bench came in for a nonstop function of dribble hand-offs. Here comes Vincent, then Robinson, then Strus. Oh there’s Martin open on a back cut. Everything just operates so much smoother with movement. They provided a necessary spark, but it felt like they also provided a blueprint I’ve been focusing on for a bit. Motion, motion, motion. Once that’s done consistently, specifically in the first unit, we are having totally different conversations about this group.

#3: Side track: a look into the Jimmy Butler three.

To stray away from game specifics a bit, a couple Jimmy Butler 3’s in the second quarter made me think a bit. Watching the Instagram stories of Butler in the off-season were always funny, since you always had these thoughts of “are these really things he will be doing in game speed?” The slow launching three without much lift or movement was basically the headliner of this. Yet when watching him play, it always seems as if he’s better in that spot. Not rushed, not forcing, just pulling up slowly with a sagging defender in his view. Fast forward to the third quarter, Butler ended up taking 3 semi-rushed wing threes. From the same exact spot. All seemed to come up short, which just weirdly shows that his long pause on the face-up is his way of gathering rhythm. But I guess focusing on the stuff inside the arc mainly would be a decent point to make as well.

#4: Dealing with the Warriors offensive structure.

When keeping an eye on the numbers throughout the game, everything was pretty close. Turnovers, rebounds, shot distribution. The only main difference following the third quarter was that the Warriors offense went into Warriors offense mode. Miami’s three point shooting began to dip, while the Warriors shooting shot up a bit. Simply, while I’ve been harping on the lazy rotations from Miami as of late, I thought they were quite good. Mixing from switching to drop to zone, they handled it decently well. There were definitely some miscues on some unnecessary doubles, since that’s when the Warriors offense will get you. Motion, back-screen, skip pass, screen, paint touch, three. It’s just the nature of that offense, and I don’t believe Miami did a bad job through and through.

#5: Late-game walkthrough…

Halfway through the fourth of a tie game, the Heat found a certain offensive opening. Robinson pindown or handoff, two fly to him, Bam with a lane for the bucket. It was there to spam, and they did just that. After a timeout, the Warriors adjusted, yet Miami embraced it. Now that they weren’t two out at Robinson, the shot was there, and he knocked it down to tie the game back up, after Curry went Curry mode the play prior. 2 minutes to go, Bam made a great play as the weakside defender to poke it away and get Miami in transition. They pulled it out, ended up in a Lowry force, but he actually forced something good. Came off the screen, got by Thompson, got the lay-in. Wiggins responds with a mid-range bucket. Back the other way, we get a look at a Butler iso. A nasty move and spin gets him to the cup for the and-1, as Curry goes back in the other direction for a 3 point answer. Went from a foul call to a coaches challenge to a call reversal. After some empty possessions on both ends with the Heat holding a 3 point lead, the ball ends up in Jimmy Butler’s hands with 30 seconds to go. Inverted PnR, gets into pull-up range, pump fakes, bucket. That’s game.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Kings

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat faced off against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, and man did they feel like two separate games.

Horrible offensive execution in the first half, while being way too slow on rotations defensively.

Then a major pick-up in second half led by Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro, yet they couldn’t get over the hump late to get a stop.

So Miami falls to 2-5, with the Warriors up next at home. Here are some takeaways from this one, though:

#1: First half evaluation: Where’s the energy? The intention? The purpose?

As the Heat slowly walked onto the court for tip-off, the first thing to evaluate is always the vibes. Is energy high? Do they know the importance of this final game of the road trip? And well, the answer to that first question at least was no. The offense for the first few minutes looked as bad as you could possibly project. The actions were not looking fluid at all, and the guys just didn’t seem in it to be completely honest. Yes the Kings were 0-4 coming in, but they have a pretty talented roster full of some hungry young guys who are ready to compete. When the Heat sleep walk into a building like this, bad things will continue to come. They began to dig themselves out of that hole to kick off the second half, but these are still developments to monitor.

#2: Points in the paint.

If you looked at the stat sheet at halftime, there was only one number that stood out more than the 71 first half points: 36 points in the paint. This has been a bit of a trend this season, and the first thing many will point to is Miami’s defensive scheme. It’s still an effective one to run when you have the correct back-side help, which if we’re going to be frank, PJ Tucker was just that. Bam Adebayo switches onto a guard, and Domantas Sabonis has Max Strus or Kyle Lowry on his back in the paint. But I wouldn’t say that was the main issue. If you went back to those buckets, many of the time it’s the point of attack defense to blame. Guys being blown by off the catch, Adebayo having to rotate over, and now the Kings are one quick dump-off for an easy lay-up. Going back to the last section, the intention was the issue here. The reason for that: well, you watched the second half. When the intention and rotations improve, everything else begins to follow suit.

#3: Well Bam Adebayo showed up offensively early on.

Bringing up that halftime stat-line again, I have to be straight up with you guys. I had no clue how Miami scored 49 points up to that point. When eyeing the process, that felt like more than you would expect. But a main reason for that ended up being Bam Adebayo. While everyone struggled generating any space or good looks in general, Adebayo would bail them out in many ways. Hitting his favorite push shot, getting to the basket, and well, that early aggression flipped into some rhythm in his all-around game. The pull-up got into the mix to finish that first half. Yet the other thing to keep an eye on: Bam foul trouble. With the big man room at the moment, they need him on the floor as much as possible. Some have been offensive fouls which means he’s being aggressive, but they have to find a way to tone it down.

#4: A third quarter shift for the Heat.

As I just portrayed the theories of the first half, the Heat could clearly sense it at the half as well. They came into that third quarter with a purpose, and a gameplan. The Kings defense is known for chasing teams off the three. So the Heat basically took that straight on and attacked the rim a ton in that third quarter, leading to Sabonis grabbing his 5th foul. Shortly after, you noticed Miami’s defensive intensity and rotations tune up a bit. And so did the offense, which Kyle Lowry deserves the majority of the credit for. He led by example and got Miami back into their usual ball movement, plus stepped up on the defensive end. They put together a 33 point quarter to open up the second half. If only for consistency…

#5: Well there’s Tyler Herro.

Tyler Herro has been the player of blame after the last game in Golden State, and I wouldn’t just sit here and say he came out firing. As I said previously, the offense in the first half was a whole lot of stagnant play, and a little bit of Bam Adebayo. Yet as I described the job Lowry did in that third quarter, there was one name I wanted to save: Tyler Herro. He changed the scoring outlook for this team in the second half. Attacking the rim in the third to get Sabonis his 5th foul, getting his pull-up to fall out of the high pick and roll, then hitting tough bucket after tough bucket throughout the 4th quarter. The team’s run in general came a bit late, but the silent but deadly Herro scoring run provides a bit more necessary clarity following his past struggles. Now it’s just about finding the correct flow in the half-court around all of these guys.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Warriors

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat played a back and forth game against the defending champs, Golden State Warriors, yet fell short on the second night of a back to back.

They got a very good version of Jimmy Butler, and a below average version of Tyler Herro.

That seesaw just couldn’t do it for them.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: A pulse check on some new rotation patterns.

With Dewayne Dedmon being ruled out tonight, and essentially out of the rotation for the time being, Nikola Jovic got some more run at the back-up 5 spot. What does that mean for rotations? Well, the first part of that begins with the Heat’s focus to place him next to Jimmy Butler when he is on the floor. As I said last night, they’re trying to lean into the Butler + 4 shooters method. With that said, we saw Butler basically play the entire first quarter, and I’m not sure that’s the long term plan of the regular season. The other change we’ve seen involves Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Spo has been trying to mirror their minutes as much as possible, but things have changed in the search for Jovic’s placing. Just something to monitor…

#2: Jimmy Butler showing up at a familiar level.

Over these last two games, Jimmy Butler has looked like…a Jimmy Butler many Heat fans are used to. The way to clarify the version of Butler you are getting begins and ends on the defensive end. If he’s shooting passing lanes at a high level and rotating with a purpose, he’s hitting those strides. And for a better example of that, he had 4 steals in the first quarter alone. Something else that’s intriguing to keep an eye on is the three-point shooting. He shot 3-for-3 from deep to begin the night, mostly since his shot profile out there always looks the same: stand-still triple with a slow wind up since defenses will dip off of him when he isn’t on the ball. But simply, he clearly recognizes this team’s need for energy.

#3: The Heat’s 2-3 zone/2-2-1 press.

When facing an offense as dynamic as the Golden State Warriors, defensive adjustments on the fly are necessary. And well, that just so happens to be Erik Spoelstra’s specialty.We saw a good amount of zone early on, and that wasn’t just to make up for defensive deficiencies, since they were running it with Bam on that low side plenty of the time. They definitely stayed with it for a bit, and the Warriors’ shooters began figuring it out and finding a rhythm, but the point was that they weren’t just staying with the same soft switch game-plan all night long. The other side of things was the 2-2-1 press, which always has my attention. Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin pressuring up top, while the goal isn’t to generate a steal. Of course that would be nice, but it’s to make the offense play against the clock. Variety will be needed on that end this season.

#4: Tyler Herro not finding any rhythm.

In a game that included the Heat’s offense pretty much flowing throughout, Tyler Herro was the one true sore thumb on the floor for the Heat. His shot wasn’t falling from deep, which hasn’t been a great start to the year from that range in general, and that bled into the other parts of his game. Golden State did a good job of keeping him out of the paint, while also hedging hard to initiate that pass on his part. But simply, Miami can’t survive many games against teams like the Warriors when Herro looks like *this.* The main issue with it is that this type of stuff then blends into the defensive end, plus leaves him reluctant with good looks on following possessions. It was just a tough night, as everybody on this Heat roster has had to this point, but pretty obvious to say they need just an average offensive Herro and they would be fine on nights like this.

#5: Max Strus and Gabe Vincent deserve some words.

When talking about “true takeaways,” this would have to be at the top of my list on not only this game, but this season. The previous two-ways Max Strus and Gabe Vincent are obviously playing big roles this season for Miami off the bench, but the bigger point is that they just keep coming up big. Same thing occurred a night ago against Portland, but everybody was playing good against Portland (lol). Yet in this one against Golden State, it’s not as much the amount of shots they’re hitting, but instead when they are hitting them. The Warriors begin to punch them in the mouth a bit, and well there’s Gabe Vincent with a tough left wing step back with his back against the shot clock. Butler can’t get anything going on a possession half-way through the 4th, and there’s Max Strus to shoot over the top as a bail out three. I must say that I was a bit surprised to see Tyler Herro entering for Vincent late in this one to close. Kind of thought Herro’s struggles and Vincent’s play earned him the closing spot for the night. Especially considering the way he was hunted by Steph Curry late.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Blazers

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat played their first road game of the season Thursday night in Portland, and they seemed to find their identity a bit.

The defense stepped up, and individual players such as Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, and others really made a major impact for this group.

So here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Max Strus: the revival of the Heat’s offense.

As the same topics loomed for this Heat offense early in the game, it was clear they were going to need somebody or something to spark them. More movement? Better transition play? Or the answer could just be Max Strus. It isn’t the first time I’ve brought up the fact that Strus was the one keeping Miami’s half-court offense afloat. Staying set, pulling with no reluctance, and providing the necessary gravity from beyond the arc. Plus he’s been better defensively. rebounded well, and played better inside the arc with some increased paint touches. But frankly I don’t care about the extracurricular stuff right now. His role is to shoot, and he’s doing that at an extremely high level at the moment.

#2: Nikola Jovic minutes.

Something I stated before the game: if there was a night to play Nikola Jovic, it was this one. The reasons included the poor play from Dewayne Dedmon, not wanting Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons to torch them in drop every minute Bam isn’t on the floor, and the Trail Blazers also play a bit smaller off the bench. Well, we got a look at it. He did get a quick tip-in for his first points at the NBA level, but the energy pretty much shifted at that point in time. The lineup included Jimmy Butler and 4 shooters, which is a complete formula for success. Jovic ended up racking up 4 first half fouls, mostly since he needed to get his feet wet in defensive coverages at the 5. Simply, it isn’t easy playing in that center role on the defensive end when you aren’t accustomed to it. The only way to get him up to speed, though, is playing time and the ability to get these reps.

#3: Can Jimmy Butler get some space?

As I just hinted in the last section about Nikola Jovic, the lineup in the first half with Lowry-Herro-Strus-Butler-Jovic created an energy shift. On paper we would say, ‘well that’s not ideal defensively’ and you would be right. But I just truly believe they need to find an offensive flow by any means. Aside from that, it’s eye opening when evaluating the game of Jimmy Butler. When constantly playing next to Dedmon who plants on the weak-side box, every Butler drive down the right slot ends in two defenders flying at him around the rim. If you want to maximize Butler on that end for long periods of the regular season, the guy needs space around him. Allow him to go 1-on-1 to the basket any time you can. It feels like a clear equation to positive offense when needed, and yes, they clearly have been needing it.

#4: Kyle Lowry stepping up.

The focus of the Heat’s issues have been heavily looming over Kyle Lowry as of late. For good reason, the consistency and intention of his game hasn’t been up to the necessary standards. Yet we saw Miami lean into a much more comfortable role for Lowry in this one: off-ball dictating. If he can hit the spot-up triple consistently, it changes things. The ball can operate through Butler and Herro, consequently forcing weak-side help to peel over. And well, that’s exactly what happened tonight. The opportunities were there for him to take advantage of, and he did just that. Moving well, pulling up with confidence, and most of all, he was really engaged. When that’s the case, his impact is evident.

#5: The defense finding themselves a bit.

If the Heat scored 60 points in a game and lost, you would probably hear Erik Spoelstra after the game saying they could’ve played better defensively. It’s just the way they are wired. Yet they’ve had some issues on that end to begin the year. Is some of it the size deficiency? Yes. Is some the constant soft switching no matter the screen? Also yes. But they just need to be active and rotations must be crisp for this defense to get back to similar levels. That happened in the third quarter tonight. Jimmy Butler steam rolling for double teams, Caleb Martin being pesky on-ball, and Miami’s role players staying in the correct spots for help. When they’re gelled and connected like this, they can still be disruptive on that end of the floor.

The 5 Best NBA Games Of Last Decade

/0 Comments/in , /by

Watching historical games in the NBA is always inspirational and thrilling. However, some of them are left in our minds forever while others are forgotten at once. Which of the NBA games are worth re-watching over again and which of them are better to forget? Below, we have created a selection of the best matches of last decade that you’d better watch if you still haven’t. If you have though, they are definitely worth watching them multiple times. 

Unfortunately, not all of those games are available for your geo-location. This is the biggest problem for many fans. No worries, thanks to VPN servers, you can forget about it and enjoy your favorite competitions no matter where you are or where you go. A reliable VeePN extension will unlock any streaming platform and allow you to enjoy whatever you wish. Use a free trial to unlock the best matches of the decade, as well as to access all coming shows. 

A VPN hides your IP address and connects you to the necessary server. You can use a  VPN in Singapore or any other location you need. A free trial will help you not only connect to the required server and enjoy the content that is blocked in your country but also protect your privacy by not letting any third parties track your IP address and access your personal data. If you are going to watch some of the following best games of the decade, using a VPN in Singapore is a must. Enjoy your favorite games and players to the fullest!

  • Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, 2013

The sixth NBA Finals have seen everything in 2013. This was one of the most incredible finals in the history of basketball. The game is one of the worthiest ever. Plenty of historical moments accompanied that game. Gregg Popovich decided to pull Tim Duncan off the floor. Ray Allen and Chris Bosh changed history forever with their shot behind the three-point line. This was a pure masterpiece that could never be outperformed by any other player. 

  • Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 7, 2016 NBA Finals

The game entered history as one of the best NBA games ever. The Warriors finished the regular season with 73-9 which became the best season record in NBA history. In the finals, they were leading 3:1 before the fifth game started. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving made their team come back remarkably at 3-3. 

With 1:52 left in the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 89 points, and Andre Iguodala had a chance to give the Warriors a two-point lead with a seemingly easy shot. LeBron James came out of the blue to block the shot and give the Cavs the required possession. Kyrie Irving hit a crucial three-pointer, giving the Cavs a three-point lead.

  • San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, 2013

The game was really history-changing. The Spurs won the game and the series – Manu forever! – but it was the Warriors’ starting point, an adrenaline rush in double overtime that turned Curry and Clay Thompson’s expectations upside down. 

  • Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Game 2, 2011 NBA Finals

The Miami Heat hardly expected to win the championship in 2011, as LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined the team early in the season to play with Dwyane Wade. Despite a slow start to the season, they eventually got used to each other’s style of play and reached the NBA Finals in their first season together. 

With 7:14 left in the fourth quarter, the Heat won 88-73, 15 points into the second game, and it looked like it would be a blowout win. After that, the determined Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry took charge and led the Mavericks to an incredible comeback, and they ended up winning the game 95-93.

  • Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, 2019

A few days before Game 4, the Nuggets’ must-win, which was the peak of Jamal Murray’s career, was Game 3. Nikola Jokic (33 points, 18 rebounds, and 14 assists in 65 minutes!), Murray (34 points in 55 minutes!), C.J. McCollum (41 points in 60 minutes!) and, last but not least, Rodney Hood, who had ice water running all over his body during the final overtime. The crazy thing about this game is that it probably would have gone to five overtime if Jokic hadn’t missed free throws with 5.6 seconds to go. Either way, it’s a classic.

Conclusion

History has seen plenty of the greatest basketball matches. The last decade was especially rich for masterpieces. On the list above, you can enjoy the most incredible matches that turned basketball upside down. Even the biggest fans have not expected such an outcome. Remember that to enjoy your most anticipated games, it is necessary to use a good VPN extension or app. Then, regardless of your location, you can watch all streaming platforms and your favorite teams and players. 

 

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Raptors

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat fall to the Toronto Raptors this time around, after some back and forth late.

Heat now 1-3.

Some takeaways from this one…

#1: A look into an interchangeable defensive system for Miami.

As the Miami Heat trailed 48-43 at half, it always gives you a moment of reflection as to what the primary issue is. Both ends of the floor had problems in prior games, but the defensive end seemed to be cleaned up generally early in this one. From a positive perspective, I thought we finally got the defensive mix that you would be looking for with this Heat group. The first few possessions included some Bam Adebayo in drop, which I’ve been asking for. It then altered back to the soft switching, while shading help over for double teams more often than not. Following those sequences, Miami leaned into the 2-2-1 press and 2-3 zone when Gabe Vincent and Haywood Highsmith were at the top of it. The point is that Miami’s defense was problematic when it was one dimensional. Being creative and unpredictable is all you can ask for.

#2: The Dewayne Dedmon element.

While we imagined Bam Adebayo would be gunning for the DPOY award this year, I didn’t think Dewayne Dedmon would be given any credit for that. But when you open up the on/off numbers, or simply the plus/minus, the Dedmon stuff jumps off the page. But even more-so, it jumps off the game-tape when watching. He can’t truly move at this stage, which creates problems for this team on both ends. He doesn’t have the back-pedaling quickness to fully contain in drop, while his offensive role is just to simply “float” after a screen. Not much intention, not many positive outcomes. Simply, the minutes have looked bad to begin this season, and the status of Omer Yurtseven on the injury report becomes more and more intriguing.

#3: The Heat aren’t being quiet about the offensive combo that works best.

Something I’ve been discussing all off-season for Miami, when projecting the starting lineup on the season, was the Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo pick and roll connection. And well, it’s lived up to the hype early in the season. Herro has recorded 1.47 points per possession on 61% shooting as the PnR ball handler, which only ranks behind Luka Doncic and Jaylen Brown. Adebayo has recorded 1.25 PPP on 68% shooting as the PnR roll man, only ranking behind John Collins. But the bigger headliner is that they aren’t afraid to lean into it. Heavily. The entire offense seems to be operating around that two-man action, and we’re seeing minor layers added to it and it’s only game 4. One of the more fun X’s and O’s story-lines to follow for this team.

#4: A very great Jimmy Butler approach.

As the Heat made a solid third quarter push, it required us to zoom out a bit. Bam Adebayo with some highlight-type strong attacks. Tyler Herro continues to be the shining piece. Yet Jimmy Butler was just quietly coasting to having a pretty great game. Trips to the line, a couple triples, mismatch hunting, solid facilitating, and great efficiency. We know what the role of Butler in the regular season looks like compared to the playoffs, but this is a great example of him not having to do *too* much while still putting up numbers. Combining my last takeaway with this one, a specific Herro-Bam PnR stood out late in the first half. Butler set-up at dunker spot for interior gravity, while he roams from box to box. Herro hit Butler who knocked down the floater. The shot profile mix is a healthy one.

#5: Late-game execution.

Jimmy Butler walks to the scorer’s table of a close game with 5 minutes left in the 4th. A bit of a back and forth pursued with some forced offense from Miami. A perfectly executed Spain PnR turned South late as Bam took off too early and it clanked off the rim. Raptors started to get some easy buckets down low, seemingly putting Miami in an awkward position with Butler entering with 3 mins left in the quarter. Fast forwarding a minute of a 6 point game, the Heat force a miss and run into transition. Tyler Herro, in Herro fashion, pulls up for three on the break to cut the lead to 3. All of a sudden the ball ends up back in their hands with a little over a minute to go, and we get another Spain PnR siting. Perfect result with VanVleet switching onto Bam, yet Herro shoots a tough shot that just misses. On the other end, Vincent did his best to contain, but Siakam got to his sweet spot for the mid-range bucket. 5 point game. Good play-call out of the timeout for Butler to drive on a curl screen for the easy lay-in. Yet as good of defense they played on Toronto following that play, Gary Trent just hits an insanely tough shot in the deep corner. Ends in a loss for Miami.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Raptors

/0 Comments/in , /by

So the Heat bounced back on the second night of a back to back against the Toronto Raptors, getting a much needed win to begin the season.

This game wasn’t a very normal or consistent one, since while they were clicking on all cylinders in the first half, it tailed off and ended up being a close game.

Either way, here are some takeaways of both the good and the bad…

#1: The return of the offensive movement.

A question I posed exactly 24 hours ago was a rather simple one: where is the movement? Two-man actions were being run for this Heat offense against Boston, but not many more layers added on. Tonight, though, they showcased a total flip in that nature through the first 24 minutes of basketball. The first element of movement simply involves the ball. When things got stale, it was because isolations were most of the time the end result. This time around we saw a good amount of extra passes and necessary swings to keep the defense honest. The second element of Miami’s movement regards just bodies roaming. Off-ball screening, simple back-cuts, and perimeter hand-off searching is the engine to positive half-court offense. It was obviously the primary intention heading in, and they responded with a 71 point first half.

#2: Max Strus: doing the *other* things more consistently.

We know what Max Strus is at this stage. He’s a guy who fits next to anybody, and can shoot the heck out of the ball no matter the contest. But while watching this game tonight, I’m sure some other stuff caught your eye. Step 1 included his weak-side defense and timing. I’m not going to sit here and act like the Heat’s defensive rotations were where they want them to be, but Strus showcased incredible help timing to muck up straight line drives and account for some charges. The other main part of his performance ties back to my previous takeaway of movement and cutting. He’s just hard to continually account for. Guys find him around the rim a ton since he’s not a standstill threat. Keys to staying on the floor late in games.

#3: Kyle Lowry the off-ball threat/Tyler Herro the rim threat.

When zooming out career wise, we know Tyler Herro as a high level outside shooter or developed into an elite off the dribble scoring threat. We also know Kyle Lowry as a consistent creator both for himself and others, while always mixing in elite efficiency numbers as a spot-up threat. But sometimes the simple and original read of a player finds it’s way more consistently again. That was one of my primary takeaways tonight, as Herro pretty much continues to soar as a true rim pressure threat. He’s slashing on the ball in ways that make it so much tougher to guard within that two-man action. Lowry, on the other hand, was definitely going to be getting extra off-ball reps with the amount of creators on this roster. But 3 for 3 in the first half on spot-up triples proves this theory to be correct. Catch and shoot Lowry combined with relentless attacking Herro is a formula for very good offense.

#4: Caleb Martin with an ejection…and a lifetime Heat contract?

So things picked up a bit in the third quarter as Miami possessed a pretty comfortable lead. Some emotions were rising as Tyler Herro and Paschal Siakam got tied up a bit after the play. A few minutes later, *the* play happened. What seemed like a usual foul down low turned into a linebacker shooting the gap of the o-line. Caleb Martin stood over the top of Christian Koloko, leading into a body slam takedown into the courtside seats on the baseline. Both players ended up being ejected, but it was an interesting twist to this game. Martin may have gotten thrown out of this one, but he simultaneously may have been thrown a lifetime Heat contract after that display of emotion and toughness. Well, for the moment. It ended up being pivotal in terms of the Raptors storming back in the second half, but Miami pulled it out.

#5: I’m still watching the turnovers.

A consistent theme across all 3 games of Heat basketball this season has been turnovers. They actually forced Boston into double their number last night, but they’re still putting up a pretty uncomfortable number. Some of that is fine if it’s occurring through an offensive process of risk taking in the half court, but I don’t truly feel that’s been the case. Many of them are just playing at a different speed than the next guy, or forcing stuff that is so clearly not there for them. If this team ends up in the bottom 10 in pace again, which will be the case, a high turnover outcome can’t be the result on a nightly basis.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Celtics

/0 Comments/in , /by

So we got an Eastern Conference Finals rematch on Friday night, immediately following a tough opening night performance for the Miami Heat.

Consistency felt like one of the main issues in this one, since even though the offense or defense was there at times, they just couldn’t sustain it long enough.

Even after making a late push, it wasn’t enough to steal a win against this gritty and skilled Celtics team. So here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Tyler Herro: flattened offense to rim attempts to a fully open shot diet.

For scorers like Tyler Herro, the start of games hold high importance. It may sound wild, but he’s a rhythm player who needs to find his way a bit before truly popping. But that wasn’t the case early in this game. The Celtics were really flattening out the expected pick and rolls to come with Bam Adebayo, leaving Herro in a weird spot offensively. Then a few minutes into the second quarter, he found his way. Herro began getting to the rim a bunch, which is the true cursor to fully opening up his entire shot menu. That led into the free throw line floater opening up. Then the three-point shooting. Then the play-making. It’s a domino effect for Herro, but the ability to get out of the mud a bit at the start of games is a good sign.

#2: Bam Adebayo comes out aggressive…again. Just with different result.

After Bam Adebayo struggled on opening night against the Chicago Bulls, the topic about his scoring ability wasn’t the usual headliner: aggression. He was definitely getting shots up, they just weren’t dropping, which tends to happen. But the process was there. That stayed strong early in this game against Boston, as he wasn’t afraid to dive into the shots that Boston was giving him, which pretty much began and finished with the mid-range pull-up. Those jumpers led him to a 12 point first half stat line on 6 of 7 shooting. My point the other night was that inefficient nights for him will be fine throughout the season, as long as there’s a similar process along the way. Even though tonight had a bit of a different process with some early foul trouble.

#3: Where’s the movement?

In terms of the downside of Miami’s X’s and O’s, I must say I was expecting Miami to lean much more into their motion offense this year. They have multiple movement shooters on the floor together at times, a decent amount of on-ball creators, and a couple athletes. That roster construction screams nonstop movement, especially when linking that player grouping to the Miami Heat. But we’ve seen a lot of stagnant two-man actions early in this season, while the weak-side spacers are simply spotting up. Of course that can be the case depending on the action you’re running, but this team won’t be a successful scoring team off a bunch of isolations. I think they will find their identity here soon, but something to keep an eye on.

#4: The importance of the Kyle Lowry pull-up 3.

After talking about some of the minor negatives of the offense so far, it’s also important to talk some positives. And after a bad opening night for Kyle Lowry, he bounced back with some crucial buckets throughout. More specifically, it’s pretty clear that his pull-up triple changes the game for this team’s half-court offense. When he doesn’t take it, the defense goes under to flatten it, and it usually just ends up in a congested pass to the roller or resetting swing pass. Yet when he’s taking it, it puts more pressure on not only the on-ball defender, but the off-ball helpers. That’s the way to bend a good Celtics defense, and it’s with one single shot. It’ll be intriguing to monitor the efficiency and volume of it, but that’ what’ll make Lowry’s presence extremely helpful.

#5: A much needed defensive pick-up.

As I talked about the other night, Miami’s defensive rotations just weren’t there. This time around, it wasn’t as much the rotations. Instead it had many of us glued to their defensive layout. The Celtics are a heavy shot creation team, especially considering their molded around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. With that said, they enjoying picking their isolation matchup at any given moment. They were able to do that pretty easily at times with Miami’s switching, while yes it may have it’s perks with the randomized helps and doubles, just needs some type of mix-up against a team like Boston. The thing I’ve been advocating for is a mix of drop once in a while with Bam Adebayo on the floor. Maybe that says something about the point of attack defense in that first unit, but some defensive creativity and unpredictability is needed for this group with 80 games to go.