Entries by Mateo Mayorga

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: T.J. McConnell and Bruce Brown extinguish the Heat

Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a rookie night, the infamous turd quarter returned, two players went down, and defense was an afterthought in the Heat’s loss at home to the up-and-coming Pacers. In Bam Adebayo’s absence, Orlando Robinson and Kevin Love contributed 30 points and six rebounds, and the Heat’s frontcourt still got outworked. Miami’s record […]

The Pat Riley series, part 3: No end in sight

The Knicks were furious and wanted three first-round draft picks plus $3 million in compensation for Pat Riley abandoning his post. But it settled on one FRP and a million in restitution, letting him and the Heat off easy. For context, in 2000 (five years later), the Minnesota Timberwolves tampered and were reprimanded by the […]

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Black Wednesday in the NBA

On Thanksgiving, commissioner Adam Silver and head of basketball ops Joe Dumars are likely waking up to massive migraines because Steve Kerr has lost control of his team, and egomaniacal Gregg Popovich rebuked Spurs fans. “I didn’t think Chris [Paul] deserved to be ejected,” Kerr said. “The first tech, absolutely. But the second one was […]

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat bounce back in Chicago, going 1-1 in miniseries

Two nights after the Heat’s fourth-quarter meltdown in Chicago, Zach LaVine’s insouciance assisted the visitors in trouncing the Bulls. Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson carbonized opponents from the outside and in. And the bench mob thwacked the hosts, outscoring the rival reserves 42-21. The Heatles were on track to log 129.7 points per 100 possessions, […]

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Draymond Green hit with lite punishment

Must we witness more tackles, squeezed windpipes, gouged eyes, crushed testicles, stomped rib cages and assaulted teammates so the NBA’s chief disciplinarian, Joe Dumars, cracks down on Draymond Green? Affirmative. A five-game suspension for suspension no.5 was mandated for him after he rear-naked choked Rudy Gobert fewer than two minutes into Golden State’s bout with […]