At shootaround Monday morning, LeBron James spoke glowingly about his old club as a “top tier franchise” and one he has affection for. It didn’t stop the NBA’s senior citizen from punching in 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and serving the hosts another close match as his partner Anthony Davis watched from the sideline.

Early, AD and James broke past perimeter defenses for six close-range baskets on post-ups and drive-bys against man-to-man coverage. Miami countered with 33 points, equaling LA’s output, behind Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, logging eight of 15 shots from the starters in the first quarter. Off the bench, Duncan Robinson hit a pair of 3-pointers against lax coverage and cut inside for a layup off a bounce pass by #13.

In the second frame, the Heat didn’t miss any of its seven shots in the paint. LA’s Cam Reddish was lost defending Butler off-ball. Even Robinson beat Taurean Prince from the wing to the cup for two points and dusted Austin Reaves to supply Thomas Bryant with a layup.

For the Lakers, Reaves produced in pick and roll, transition and on a putback. James tallied two more field goals before intermission by bulldozing into the lane. Davis managed five minutes of action in quarter two, not looking right as he dealt with pain in his groin after a collision with Adebayo.

At halftime, the Heat was ahead 62-59, scoring 13 points off the Lakers’ turnovers but just four on second tries. Its guests had capitalized on 55.8% of its attempts and recorded 34 points in the paint.

In the third quarter, D’Angelo Russell got past Kyle Lowry, Haywood Highsmith and Josh Richardson for layups and a jumper. James scored two more buckets on the break. And Prince got loose into the lane using a dribble handoff and running behind a pindown. For the Heat, Adebayo and Butler combined for 20 of its 28 points.

Through 3 intervals, Miami had taken care of the ball, turning it over eight times. Then the fourth started with Adebayo and Butler getting a breather on the bench as the Heat made half its shots until both were back on the floor. The downside was that until that happened, the Heat coughed up four possessions in almost five minutes and would lose the ball four more times by game’s end.

In between, LA’s Russell was ejected for clapping in front of the refs and then using “vulgarity” toward one during a stoppage.

Jamie Jaquez Jr. logged consecutive field goals, pivoting through lane and racing on the break to give Miami a 10-point lead before he was subbed out for Butler. Comically, when JB tracked Reddish’s drive inside the box and cleanly contested it by going straight up, the refs blew a whistle.

Reddish was getting in position to take his free throws, but coach Erik Spoelstra angrily walked into the lane, demanding a review. Upon inspection, the officials decided that Butler did not foul but that Adebayo had as a helper when his hand quickly swiped at the ball. Reddish made one of two.

For the rest of the match, the Heat supplied just two of its last 10 tries as James and Christian Wood sizzled on rim rolls plus catch-and-shoot jumpers. The Lakers shrunk the deficit to one as James powered through Richardson, posting him for a bucket with a freebie.

En route to the finish line, Miami misfired its final five shots, and Adebayo committed a traveling violation with nine seconds left to give the Lakers one closing opportunity. Butler guarded James’ drive from the top of the key to the depths of the paint, forcing a pass to Reddish in the left corner that bounced off the iron. The Heat won 108-107, led by Adebayo’s triple-double with 22 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, the first in organization history with so many boards.

At the Lakers’ postgame presser, coach Darvin Ham praised his group’s effort despite the loss. He also was pleased with the look Reddish had on the final play. “We encourage him. He works on that shot every single day…it’s not that close of a game without [Reddish’s] contributions on the defensive end and some of the things he did offensively.”

In the Heat’s press conference room, Spoelstra said there were more positives than negatives in his club’s one-point win. “I’m not going to be a downer about this one. It’s a good win. Obviously, we have to clean up some things. More [of] the decision making…”

The Heat’s overall record improved to 3-4, and it will not practice on Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inaugural In-Season Tournament commenced for East Group B with the Miami Heat earning its second win of the year. Debuting its City Edition jerseys on a loud red court, featuring a large trophy at the center, in Haywood Highsmith’s first start of the season, the hosts burned the Wizards at the stake.

Group Play was all gas, no brakes in the first quarter as the visiting Wizards cast a spell on the Heat, preventing it from containing a cascade of bombs and inside blows. The defense was sagging off and unable to stop dribble penetration. Yet, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were in command of the offense, retaliating with four of nine 3-point makes and six buckets in the restricted area.

Butler scored 11 early points, posting up, running the break, firing from distance and at the line with two steals. For Washington, Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole shot over openings on the perimeter and raced down the floor for quick scores, totaling 17 points on nine attempts. At the end of the first, the game was tied at 34, yet Miami put opposing center Daniel Gafford in foul trouble with two penalties and tried four additional free throws.

In the second quarter, Washington’s pick-and-roll defense was powerless against Herro driving to the cup or feeding his big man when doubled. In a 90-second span midway through the frame, he was the architect of a 9-0 run, scoring or assisting on four straight baskets. Duncan Robinson recorded nine points, cutting to the hoop and connecting on a corner banger on his second attempt.

Defensively, Miami held Washington to 40.9% shooting and didn’t allow any of their starters multiple field goals in interval two.

In the last 35 seconds of the first half, Highsmith’s knee collided with Washington’s Deni Avdija, covering a dribble drive. Next, coach Erik Spoelstra subbed in Josh Richardson and got Highsmith checked out in the locker room. Fortunately for Miami, he was able to play almost 10 minutes in the following quarter.

At halftime, the Heat was up 60-54 with eight points scored off turnovers and seven on second opportunities. Herro was more than halfway to a triple-double, accumulating 12 on his scorecard, eight rebounds and seven helpings.

In the third period, Miami logged 41 points for the second time this season in a 12-minute span, on this occasion mainly behind Adebayo finishing on jump shots and at close range. Butler made all three of his attempts on cuts and a pick-6. Herro contributed two trays as well.

Entering the final quarter, the Heat was ahead 101-81, but the Wizards deployed full-court press, trapped Herro at midcourt, plus forced seven turnovers to cut Miami’s lead to 10 with four minutes left. It was as if the Wizards heard Miami’s play-by-play broadcaster Eric Reid say during the third quarter, “Some empathy for Wizard’s head coach Wes Unseld Jr. It looks like they have a long year ahead of them in the nation’s capital…”

Washington beat Miami in transition, delivered the entry pass to the middle and burned the perimeter protection, outproducing the hosts 33-20. Yet, Herro put them down, sizing up rookie Bilal Coulibaly and hitting a baseline jumper over him. He finished an assist shy of a triple-double with 24 points.

The Heat won 121-114 and had a seven point advantage in the rebounding department.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said he hated changing the starting rotation after losing four in a row because outsiders look at it as an indictment of a member. “This is just a move for now. [Kevin] Love is going to have a role with us. Everything that we wanted last year, I just feel like we are going to need that kind of decorated veteran experience…”

The win was Miami’s second of the year. The regular season record is 1-4 and its mark in Tournament competition is 1-0.

The Heat will not practice on Saturday.

Tyler Herro’s homecoming soured despite his efforts to prove a point after breaking his hand at Fiserv Forum 19 minutes into the Playoffs. This time, the Heat got Bucked, with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the stampede. Bam Adebayo was absent with a hip injury and unable to shield the paint plus switch outside. Haywood Highsmith was still out with a left knee sprain. For three quarters, Orlando Robinson auditioned for a new squad – the Beijing Royal Fighters. And still, the Heat clawed back to within six points during the last 30 seconds.

Even with the missing contributors, Herro was the singular Heatle who came prepared until his colleagues picked it up late. A night earlier, the Atlanta Hawks thumped the Bucks by 17 points and, at one moment, had them down 31. Monday, there was no chance of that, given how Miami pantsed Milwaukee in the Postseason and was hurt going in. Cream City’s unit was sloppy in the first half but still in control.

In the opening quarter, the Heat used the 2-2-1 press to slow the Bucks, not allowing any fastbreak buckets. Herro exploited Milwaukee’s drop coverage, hitting consecutive high-difficulty floaters over Bobby Portis. Thomas Bryant scored eight points by cutting and posting. Jimmy Butler recorded nine early points before taking his foot off the gas.

The Heat was tied at 28 after a quarter, but the Bucks charged to a 7-0 run before coach Erik Spoelstra called timeout. He’d seen enough after Herro was blitzed and ripped on two possessions by Portis, and Butler looked disinterested not playing with Lillard. Rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr. then missed four shots in a row before the close of the half.

O. Robinson was BBQ and picked up two fouls in three minutes. One of his penalties was so obvious that when Spo instinctually cried flop on Cameron Payne, referee Tony Brothers walked past him, rolling his eyes. Josh Richardson left 3-point shooters open, but Herro kept the group on life support with the squad’s three final baskets of the quarter, pushing his output to 18 points.

At intermission, the Heat was down 52-62 following a last-second top of the key trifecta, swished by Jae Crowder when Herro over-helped on the wing. The Bucks scored 28 points in the paint and 11 were off Miami’s turnovers. Antetokounmpo and Portis repeatedly mauled the backline.

Next came the infamous turd quarter as the Bucks went on an 11-4 run before Spo called another break that failed to stop the bleeding. For the period, Herro was the team’s offense, but the Heat conceded 14 of 22 baskets to eight different Bucks, digging a 25-point ditch.

Milwaukee then committed the cardinal sin of not extinguishing the Heat’s embers. In the fourth, Spoelstra benched Butler, and the visitors chopped away with a bevy of 3-pointers and paint attacks. O. Robinson nailed a bomb from the corner, beat Portis off the dribble from the top to the cup, scored at close range off a roll, and had five rebounds and five assists. Duncan Robinson canned three triples.

With under two minutes left, D. Robinson cut the deficit to six as he maneuvered to the square for a transition floater. His leaning 3-pointer in front of two defenders on the right wing was the last retaliatory blow the Heat landed.

Milwaukee won 122-114.

After his third match with the Bucks, Lillard said as the team goes on, it will continue to get better. “We [have] a great starting group, but I think one of our greatest strengths is our bench, our depth. When we [have] guys coming in, moving the ball, playing with energy, getting deflections… we’ll be a hard team to beat.”

At the postgame presser for the losing side, Spoelstra said his group earned its 25-point deficit, but then the young crew battled back. “I’m sure Milwaukee was just trying to play it out, hoping we were going to go away, but our guys did some good things out there…we just need to move the needle this week.”

The Heat’s record is now 1-3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Green Machine waited 151 nights for revenge and, in the meantime, reloaded with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis while it licked its wounds. Game 7’s home loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals was just the fifth experience for the NBA’s third-oldest club. It was also the first time the Heat took one of those, known as the “greatest two words in sports” on the road.

 

Friday’s contentious affair started with the Celtics exploiting the Heat’s weak corner protection. Yet the Heat raced to an 11-point lead six minutes in as Kevin Love’s outlet passing pushed the pace, Adebayo assaulted the square, putting Porziņģis in foul trouble, while Tyler Herro bombarded over breakdowns. Then Boston went on a 12-4 run on a flurry of rim attacks.

 

In the second quarter, Jayson Tatum scored seven of nine points with Jaime Jaquez as his cover, splashing a left-wing triple, dusting and powering past him on the baseline. Jaylen Brown also had seven in frame two, intercepting an inbound for a dunk on Miami’s turf with a corner triple and layup against drop coverage.

 

For the Heat, Adebayo punched in eight more points, Duncan Robinson splashed back-to-back triples and Dru Smith canned a pair of trays as Jimmy Butler was invisible. With fewer than three minutes left in the half, the Celtics seized its first lead since early in the first quarter.

 

At intermission, the Heat was down 55-60, having permitted Boston 10 offensive rebounds that turned into 14 second-chance points. Equally concerning was that the hosts had scored 32 points in the paint and had recovered 57.6% of the rebounds, giving them four extra shots.

 

In the third quarter, Herro hit consecutive trifectas at the top and blew past Holiday on a drive. Adebayo charged at the cup multiple times and hit another faceup, midrange jumper over Porziņģis. For the stretch, the Heat converted 59.1% of its tries and were up a point entering the fourth quarter.

 

Then the Derrick White show began, with a 3-pointer at the key and a drive against drop coverage to extend Boston’s lead to three. He recorded nine more on his scorecard for the frame, plus Brown had a dozen. The visitors never claimed control again, despite Porziņģis fouling out with three minutes left with his team up seven. 

 

As the leprechauns’ fireworks display was ensuing, only four field goals dropped for the Heat- out of 19. Miami was forced to play mainly from the outside in the fourth and only scored one two-pointer– four minutes after making a singular shot in six attempts.

 

But the Heat had a chance, down three points with under a minute remaining.  Butler and Herro trapped White and the ball came loose. White saved it before dribbling over the halfcourt line, yet Butler was flagged for a penalty. Coach Erik Spoelstra challenged the ruling, but it was unsuccessful. He then screamed at referee Kevin Scott that he missed the call.

 

The Celtics were the nastier team, leading by four in loose ball recovered and offensive rebounds collected by five and won 119-111.

 

At the postgame presser, Spo said, “My view is one thing, and the explanation is another thing… that call didn’t go our way, but we had plenty of opportunities, particularly on the glass. I think if we just [cleaned] up those areas, we probably are playing from a position of control a little bit more often in the second half.”

 

In the winning side press room, Tatum was pleased not to carry the load late.  He said, “It shows the depth of our team… it felt good to win this way.”

Despite the Miami Heat striking out on Damian Lillard and folding on Bradley Beal, the next best alternative is not seeking the services of the man who has had a problem almost everywhere he’s been.

James Harden’s behavior perpetually plummets his attractiveness to any organization. At this point, it apparently means little that he is number three all-time in three-point makes, a former MVP, and a seven-time All-NBAer. Could it be, this time, that not even one team out there has convinced themselves that the Beard’s disruptions and shrinking in big moments are exactly what they need?

Yes.

President of basketball ops Daryl Morey has scared away suitors, demanding an exuberant return relative to his disgruntled employee’s talents. But Harden likely did more damage to his cause, engaging in a futile scorched earth tactic that only works when you’re still at the top. Last time I checked, he’s not as fast or impactful through residence at the free throw line as he used to be. If anyone brings it up to him, he’ll lean on old faithful: “Next question.”

The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly don’t want to part with Terance Mann, a quality role player, in an exchange. This should say enough about others not wanting to put up with an aging headache in spite of him being a slight upgrade on the court. Even with Caleb Martin being eligible for an opt-out in a year, including him with other assets/players is not worth it for the Miami Heat because Harden can’t switch and contain multiple positions. Tyler Herro? Get real. Nobody is trading a nice player on the come-up for a lease.

Additionally, Harden’s catch and shoot frequency (12.8%) is nearly half of Tyler Herro’s (25.4), on a marginally higher percentage.

But Heat Culture can change him…

Oh yea? Did this culture, when it was the mystique for the Purple and Gold, change Maurice Lucas on the ‘86 Lakers? Nope. He was all about himself and believed he was so much better than he was at the time. Like Harden today.

If Pat Riley got upset at Byron Scott’s marriage during All-Star weekend, fearing it was a distraction to his team (per Jeff Pearlman, author of Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s), it’s beyond reasoning that he’d be elated to bring in the peep show enthusiast when everybody today has a portable camera. Harden should have been born 40 years sooner to play on Pat‘s teams.

Has anyone forgotten what Kevin McHale, his former coach, said fairly recently about Harden’s interest level after getting benched in a Playoff win against the Clippers in 2015? “The next year he came to camp, he was fat and didn’t feel like playing, and I got fired [11] games into the season.”

I’ll admit, Harden used to be damned good. In the three seasons he logged over 30 a night, he was playing a shockingly high amount of iso ball and embarrassing defenders. It’s an impossible style to win with because the offense becomes painfully predictable with a lack of ball and player movement. But for those few years, he was as good as a solo act got in the league.

Buyer beware: that guy is never coming back unless he gets traded to NBA Siberia and hijacks the operation.

Last season, Harden led all players in assists (10.7) at age 33. It’s pretty impressive, regardless of playing with the MVP Joel Embiid. But then the 76ers met up with the Boston Celtics, and he played scared in Game 7. He passed up open looks from close-to-mid range and sparsely contributed nine points on three of 11 shots, with seven assists and five turnovers. For the year, his effective field goal percentage was 53.6. In the Playoffs, it dropped to 47.8%.

This man badly wants to escape from the team with the MVP and a new championship coach. It’s unreasonable to think he is serious about winning.