Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat outlast Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champions

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The Heat withstood the Thunder in Miami behind their strong rebounding and 3-point shooting.  Bam Adebayo struggled from the inside but lit up the perimeter, and the bench had big-time contributions.

 

Norman Powell said, “The thing about this team [is that] we can beat anybody or we can lose to anybody. It’s all about our mentality and our approach and being collective…”

 

They weren’t deterred by a 12-point first-half deficit, and closed the distance with raised intensity on defense, Pelle Larsson scoring thrice at close range, and Myron Gardner, who is on a two-way contract, swishing three treys. They were only down five points at intermission despite shooting below average at 0-3 feet and in the paint non-restricted area.

 

The Heat subsequently took the lead, but it didn’t last long as Chet Holmgren erupted, making three shots in the square, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the third quarter on jumpers and drive-bys. 

 

Then they went colder than an ice box in the fourth quarter, as eight lead changes followed. Larsson was their source of inside pressure, tallying three more baskets in the paint on cuts and catch-and-go moves, Adebayo rediscovered his touch from short and long distance, and Andrew Wiggins drilled a right-side 3-pointer to give the crew the final lead.

 

The Heat won 122-120, setting a new season high in second-chance points (33).

 

Takeaways:

 

  • The Heat were missing Davion Mitchell, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro. They were most affected in the half-court, scoring only 83.2 points per 100 plays, which is good enough for the 13th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. They still made 20 triples for the fourth time this year, remaining undefeated on those nights. Norman Powell’s drive-and-kick set up Wiggins’ go-ahead triple.

 

  • SGA scored 39 points on 63.2% shooting, and his biggest outbursts came in the first and third quarters.  He picked up the slack for Jalen Williams, who didn’t play after suffering a hamstring injury late in the first half, by scoring 21 points the rest of the way.

 

  • While the Heat led by two with 31 seconds left, Holmgren curled to the right behind SGA’s back screen on a sideline inbound and missed the lob. Alex Caruso also missed a makeable 3-pointer after the Heat doubled SGA on the final inbound.

 

 

  • Adebayo scored the team’s first nine points and continued, nailing four extra 3-pointers, setting a new career high for makes in a game (6). He recovered 12 rebounds, including six offensive and was the best big man on the court. Additionally, Myron Gardner stepped up, scoring 11 of the team’s 42 bench points.

 

  • The Thunder being the champs had a lot to do with the Heat’s vigor, but it was the first game of the second half of the season, and they played like they were desperate to get back on track. Pushing the pace, the rebounding edge and superior ball protection allowed them to take 34 more shot attempts.

 

  • Kasparas Jakučionis got his second start of his career and fouled out after 26 minutes. He missed most of his shots except for a corner trey, yet had seven assists against zero turnovers.

 

  • Spoelstra accused Ware of playing for himself after Thursday’s loss against the Celtics, yet he was contrite before the Thunder game. He said he didn’t articulate his thoughts properly and that, “I’m fully invested about the opportunity to develop Kel’el…We’re going to give him everything we have to become the player he can become.”



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Assessing the Heat at the season’s halfway point

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The Heat are at the halfway point of the year (21-20), and they’ve been unable to sustain prosperity or recapture the vibes from the first 11 games. Securing home court has proven too challenging, and they aren’t any good on the road, either. It will take lots of work to turn the corner, as their three worst shooting fourth quarters have come in January versus top competition.

 

The offense has been 20th in the league over the last 10 outings, while logging the second-highest pace. There is an element of teams starting to figure them out, but they’ve had nights in which they didn’t show up to play, affecting those numbers as well. 

 

Norman Powell said their Achilles heel is adversity, and he’s right. They melt as soon as things get hard, and it was no different on Thursday in the washout at home against the Celtics.  They conceded a season-worst 31 second-chance points and were outscored by 15 in the fourth quarter.

 

Bam Adebayo said that they’ll keep being in the middle of the pack unless they all commit to “doing role player things.”

 

The problems 

 

  • Suspect defense

 

The team is logging a top-six defensive rating, but it could be smoke and mirrors. They surrender 36.5 open to wide-open 3-pointers per game because of over-help and reckless closeouts. In fairness, the rest of the league is not that much better at protecting the arc, but too many Heat games hang in the balance of the opposing shooter’s hands.  

 

  •  Too many players are worthy of starting 

 

The team was without Tyler Herro for 73% of their outings, and incorporating a piece like him is no easy task because he takes about 17 shots per game. Offensively, he has not missed a beat. But coach Erik Spoelstra still has to find the right combinations with him, since they are too vulnerable defensively when running a three-guard set next to Davion Mitchell and Powell. All options should be on the table, even with Herro and Powell scoring at an All-Star level, or with Mitchell being a strong point-of-attack pest who is critical to the transition attack. 

 

  • Adebayo has not been a max player

 

Adebayo is having his second-lowest scoring season since becoming a starter (17.0) and has not been a fluid offensive player for most of the year. He even had a stretch from Dec. 18 through Jan. 11, failing to score at least 20 points in 11 consecutive outings. He started the year in a funk, too, and he told Five Reasons Sports Network before the fifth game in San Antonio that it wasn’t because defenses were doing anything special; he was just missing shots. Thirty-six games later, and the problems have persisted.

 

He has been through a pair of injuries since (foot and back spasms), but it’s not the entire reason for his decline. Regardless, he needs to pick up his scoring and aggression because it’s impossible to be a good team when such a large percentage of the salary is going to a high-level role player. If adding more screen rolls into the offense is what’s needed to bring him back to form, so be it.  

 

  • The Ware dilemma. 

 

The most effective way to send a message to a player is by slicing their minutes. Spoelstra was left with no choice but to bench Ware for the second half of the meltdown against the Celtics because of waning vigor. Then he made the mistake of throwing his developing pupil under the bus for the second time since the Summer League. 

 

“He’s stacking days in the wrong direction now,” Spoelstra said. Yet he also included the accusation that Ware plays for himself: “I get it with young players. You sometimes subconsciously play poorly to say, ‘Hey, I’ll play poorly until you give me the minutes I think I deserve.’ That’s not how this works.”

 

If that assessment is correct, he snitched, and that team credo of only keeping issues in-house is a load of drivel, unless they want to send a message. So much for trust, eh. 

 

But what if he’s wrong, and there’s a misunderstanding between coach, management, and player on where or what Ware should be midway through year two?

 

Anytime a coach needs to send a message through the media, they’ve failed, and it’s possibly an indication that their word isn’t as strong as others believe it is. 

 

Adebayo was diplomatic, playing the good cop, offering sage advice to his teammate. As this storyline, which Spo revealed in July, continues, perhaps the coach should take a page from the captain’s leadership playbook.   

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fall apart in the fourth quarter against the Celtics, losing their seventh game at home

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The Heat failed to hold off the Celtics in Miami on account of getting wasted by Anfernee Simons in the fourth quarter and going colder than liquid helium. Miami’s top players, who were stepping up most of the night, shrank when adversity hit.

 

“Momentum really shifted probably when we were up 20 in the first half, and then they just started walking us down with the offensive rebounds and second chance points,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. 

 

Yet the Heat pushed the pace early, making six trifectas and seven paint baskets to close the first quarter with a 36-25 lead. The Celtics’ offensive rebounding and second-chance scoring did damage against the small unit, but Tyler Herro subsequently shot them out of a drought in the second quarter, with a pair of transition triples and a pick-6.

 

Bam Adebayo roamed everywhere and also added three extra baskets, plus Norman Powell sliced into the lane twice, keeping the club’s double-digit edge going into halftime (64-54). 

 

Jaylen Brown then torched them, getting inside the square when he pleased. Despite the Celtics not getting closer than six points in the frame, they were slowly unfastening the Heat’s defense like continuous body shots that lower the guard below the chin. 

 

The hosts surrendered their advantage after a flat start in the fourth, and their bench couldn’t keep up with Boston’s. Simons went on a heater that only a blizzard would extinguish, and at one point, went on an 11-0 run by himself, and totaled 18 in the fourth. They outscored the hosts by 15 in the period, which was Miami’s third-worst shooting fourth quarter of the season.

 

The Heat lost 119-114. 

 

Takeaways: 

 

The Celtics scored the most second-chance points this season by a Heat opponent (31). Nine first-half turnovers offset some of their impact, but they cleaned up their ball security after intermission and got stronger as the game went on. Additionally, Sam Houser’s left-side trey gave them the lead seven minutes into the fourth. Simons and Brown each seized it back before the final buzzer.  

 

It’s the halfway point of the season, and the Heat have a 21-20 record. They have dealt with tons of injuries, but they’ve had letdowns, like this game, and have been a bad team on the road. 

 

Adebayo was the best player on the floor in the first half. He had 17 points on 54.5% shooting and went on to miss nearly everything post-halftime. He’s a highly productive offensive player when he’s aggressive, using his athletic gifts on catch-and-go moves, but too often, he doesn’t keep it going for a whole game.  

 

The Heat were without two of their best playmakers- Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Davion Mitchell. The transition attack got weaker as the game went on, and their absence was mostly felt as the team ran out of gas late. 

 

Simons blasted the Heat, moving around screens and hunting weak defenders. He totaled 39 points, including seven 3-pointers. Spoelstra said, “There weren’t a ton of glaring breakdowns. He just went on an absolute roll, and we struggled to score…”

 

Kel’el Ware was benched for the second half. Spoelstra’s reasoning was “It was one matchup after the other. It was a tough matchup for him in Boston (Dec. 19) with all the coverages, and the same thing tonight.”



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat hold off the burning Suns in Miami

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The Heat snapped their three-game losing streak, prosperously commencing their homestand (3) with a quality win against the Suns. It was a grueling effort, as they nearly blew a significant lead, yet their half-court offense delivered in crunch time.

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra said, “Four quarters of playing like we did in the third quarter, that’s not going to win a lot of games.”

But early, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro were raining jumpers, and the Suns called a timeout after Jaime Jaquez Jr. slashed through the lane for a second-chance layup, putting the Heat ahead by 10 points late in the first quarter. The hosts continued pouring in trifectas, but Grayson Allen scored Phoenix’s last 11 points of the period to keep them from flatlining.

 

Phoenix’s open, long-range misses piled up, yet Dillon Brooks carried them as he kamikazed into the lane and blasted from the middle in the second frame. Still, the other side countered with relentless inside pressure and overwhelmed them on the glass, going into halftime up by 17.

 

Their 20-point lead was subsequently sliced to one in the third courtesy of Brooks’ encore, punching the gas in transition and giving Miami a taste of their own medicine with strong offensive rebounding. He even drew a technical foul, his 15th for the year, pushing Norman Powell, and kept it going after that with drive-bys. One of their only mishaps was that Devin Booker limped to the locker room after a collision with Pelle Larsson.

 

“I thought we had the right intentions, coming out and trying to play the right way, play with the right energy,” Powell said. “I think it’s in that third quarter. It came down to missing shots, and [the Suns] capitalizing on that.”

 

It took fewer than three minutes into the fourth for the Heat to lose the lead because they didn’t guard the corner and got boat-raced in transition, forcing Spoelstra to call a stoppage. They fell behind by as much as five points late, then the Suns started losing their composure with excessive physicality. On top of that, Jaquez turned into playmaker #1, and Adebayo dunked twice and downed three 3-pointers to bail them out.

 

The Heat won 127-121 and had five players score between 10 and 29 points.

 

Takeaways:

 

  • The Suns came into Miami on a three-game winning streak and had won eight of their last 10 outings. They had held opponents to 102.9 in their last seven wins, but they played like they had the South Beach flu for the first half, conceding 15 baskets in the restricted area and getting nothing on the fast break. Yet they were smacking the Heat around in the third quarter, outscoring them by 17.

 

  • The Heat scored at least 70 points in the first half for the ninth time this season (71), remaining undefeated on those nights. Part of the reason for their early success was that Adebayo had an excellent half, making jumpers and a few shots in the paint. He had a quiet third frame, but was the team’s source of offense when they needed it the most late. He finished with 29 points on 73.3% shooting, with nine rebounds and four assists.

 

  • The Heat couldn’t contain them on the offensive glass, permitting 18 extra opportunities that turned into 20 second-chance points. They were also clueless on how to guard the 3-point line, getting burned by six deep baskets. Keep in mind that Phoenix only had 14 treys for the game.

 

  • The Heat started their small-ball lineup of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Adebayo. They played the best they ever have together, yet Mitchell didn’t return because of a left shoulder contusion, and the defense suffered late at the point of attack. Spoelstra gave no update on him at the presser. 

 

  • Jaquez was a force, finishing at close range seven times on dribble moves and cuts. He also set up others through the drive and kick, including three of Adebayo’s big-time threes in the fourth, and Powell’s late shot in the corner. Jaquez had eight assists and zero turnovers, to go along with 16 points, 43.8% shooting. 

 

  • Spoelstra said after the game that they “are going to conquer the third quarter,” and that the team has a positive teaching point from the win. 



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fall apart in the fourth quarter, visiting the defending champions

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The Heat valiantly challenged the Thunder on the second night back-to-back, but OKC’s horsepower and stellar shot-making broke them down.

 

Teams typically raise their intensity by 100° in the game after they humiliate themselves, and it was the Heat’s turn this time following the Indiana catastrophe. They ended the first quarter ahead 34-32 thanks to big contributions from Andrew Wiggins, nailing three treys, and Tyler Herro making four shots in the lane. 

 

Still, they were sloppy with five early turnovers, and they coughed it up five more times in the second quarter. The inside action cooled off for a while, and OKC’s advantage in second-chance scoring extended to 15-0. On top of that, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ripped up schemes from inside and out, but the Heat maintained a five-point lead at intermission in large part because the Thunder couldn’t drain makeable deep shots.

 

SGA and Williams followed up torching the lane, and the Heat countered in their interior while they could. It resembled two fighters swinging wildly for the body in a boxing ring, but the Thunder were like a heavyweight who eventually overwhelmed a cruiserweight with their power, and eventually created an eight-point lead with the help of three treys to close the quarter.

 

Turnovers remained a problem, and Jaime Jaquez Jr., on cue, lost the ball twice more at the start of the fourth because of OKC’s ball pressure, pushing the total to 17. The team even gave up consecutive baseline cuts before coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout. It didn’t do much as the Thunder continued to present an unsolvable problem for the defense.

 

The Heat lost 124-112. They were also outscored in second-chance scoring, 25-0. They went winless on the road trip (0-3) and will not be practicing on Monday. They didn’t play the Chicago game on Thursday because of a condensation issue at the United Center. The Heat will play the Thunder again on Jan. 17 in Miami. 

 

Takeaways:

 

  • The Heat’s transition attack was derailed to 80 points per 100 transition plays, good enough for the eighth percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. They also did as much as they could to match the Thunder’s intensity for three quarters, but great teams can separate themselves when they decide they want to. 

 

 

  • Coach Erik Spoelstra said the turnovers diffused any momentum the Heat had. He also said the team needs to be mentally tougher the next time they see the Thunder. “They forced us into a lot of mistakes.” 

 

  • Bam Adebayo was most affected by the pressure, misfiring seven of his 10 shots. He got schooled a couple of times, but guarded well and was a big factor on the glass, recovering seven of his 14 rebounds in the first half.  The next player bothered by OKC’s defense the most was Jaquez, finishing with five points and five of the team’s 23 turnovers. All of those giveaways helped push the Thunder in transition and they were miles better than the Heat in the open court.

 

 

  • Without Norman Powell, the team’s top player this season, they lacked the extra scoring on and off the dribble. But defense was what the Heat needed more of, as they had shot well through three periods while still within striking distance before the fourth began. 

 

 

  • SGA is an unreal weapon, who drains jumpers on the move. Half his shots connect at 3-10 feet and an astonishing 59.1% fall at 10-16 feet from the cup. The Heat’s strategy was to double him so others would have to beat them, but that couldn’t happen every time. To give a better idea of his shooting prowess, consider how he isolated Adebayo on the right side, burying a long two in his eye.

 

 

  • The Heat made five 3-pointers in the first quarter, surpassing the four logged in Indiana on Saturday. They totaled 17, and Wiggins made the most (7) and was the team’s leading scorer with 23 points on 50% shooting.

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat embarrassed themselves with their effort, getting blasted by the struggling Pacers

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The Heat got waxed by the Pacers in Indiana so severely that they quit before the fourth quarter started. Perhaps they were thinking of their next outing on Sunday at OKC, but it showed the unit’s extreme variance: defeating the best team in the East, the Detroit Pistons, nine days earlier, and looking as hopeless as the bottom feeders on Saturday.

 

The Pacers were using their league-leading 23rd starting lineup, which had more chemistry than Miami’s, and they led by eight points before the first substitution. Despite a prosperous sequence in the second and third quarters, it didn’t matter what the Heat tried; there was too much dead weight, and the Pacers broke their spirit with an abundance of 3-pointers and open-court strikes.

 

Andrew Nembhard smoked them in the first half with six baskets at short, middle and long range. He then continued pouring in 3-pointers, plus four of his teammates piled on in the third quarter, each logging two baskets apiece.

 

The Heat started the fourth quarter down 27 points and it was already garbage time because Tyler Herro was their only starter who played significant minutes in the period. 

 

They lost 123-99. It was their fourth game logging below 100 points (0-4) this year.

 

Takeaways:

 

  • Another game, another disappointing night from Bam Adebayo. He isn’t imposing his presence offensively because of lost confidence, and at some points, is invisible. He finished with 13 points on 41.7% shooting, with nine rebounds and two assists. It was the fifth straight game he has shot below 50% and the 18th this season.

 

  • The closest they got within the second was half was down seven points, but the avalanche came immediately and they failed to respond. They had poor execution, turning the ball over six times in the third. T.J. McConnell was one of the players who destroyed them, pushing the pace unbothered, and exposing openings with the pass.

 

  • The Heat have been the fastest team all season, but they were steps behind the Pacers, who went small with Pascal Siakam at center. The visitors only scored 100 points per 100 transition plays, good enough for the 19th percentile per Cleaning the Glass. Sure, teams eventually come out like gangbusters when they get sick and tired of the taste of constant defeat. The Pacers were going to come out like that eventually, but the concerning part for the Heat was their inability to match intensity.

 

  • If this were a boxing fight, the Heat would have been on the ropes, eating bombs from all angles. They only made 39% of attempts, and it’s surprising their accuracy even got that high. Consider that they only had one trifecta in the first half (8.3%), which is the lowest they’ve recorded this season before intermission, and finished with four, the lowest total this year.

 

  • Herro replaced Kel’el Ware in the starting lineup and was the team’s best player. His baskets kept them on life support before the Pacers disconnected them.



 

The Mike McDaniel Firing Points to a Dolphins Head Coach Decision

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After another losing season, Mike McDaniel has been fired by the Miami Dolphins, ending a Dolphins era filled with what ifs, and what could have beens.

Stephen Ross and Mike McDaniel released the following statements:

Statement from Dolphins Chairman and Owner Stephen M. Ross:

“After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change. I informed Mike McDaniel this morning that he has been relieved of his duties as head coach. I love Mike and want to thank him for his hard work, commitment, and the energy he brought to our organization. Mike is an incredibly creative football mind whose passion for the game and his players was evident every day. I wish him and his family the best moving forward.”

Statement from Mike McDaniel:

“Coaching this team and being a part of this great franchise has been the honor of a lifetime. When I took this job, I had a vision of a team that was bonded together and played with passion and energy on the path to winning championships. I gave everything I had for that goal. I am disappointed, especially for the fans, that we did not have better results on the field, but I am grateful for every coach, player, and staff member who poured themselves into that vision alongside me.

I’m grateful to Stephen Ross for the opportunity he gave me, a little known coach at the time when he hired me. Most of all I’m thankful to my wife Katie and daughter Ayla for their unending love and support. I love this game, the people and relationships that are a part of it, and I will forever cherish my time in Miami.”

So why fire McDaniel, well, there are some high value, proven head coaches on the market now.

I had called for McDaniel’s firing in a recent article, here Mike McDaniel Should Not Return as the Dolphins Head Coach – Five Reasons Sports Network. Discussing the late season fallouts, no more half measures, the inability to win without Tua, and many other reasons. But I understood a world where you kept McDaniel for another year, to prove himself, rather than turning to a rookie head coach.

Well now the story is different, with two high profile head coaching candidates available; John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski.

Stefanski is a two time coach of the year, and a culture builder, while Harbaugh is a coach of the year, and Super Bowl Champion.

McDaniel’s job appeared safe, at least a few days ago when McDaniel stated he would be back in 2026:

“My understanding is I’m the coach of the Miami Dolphins until told otherwise… the job itself is enough to worry about, so worrying about whether it’s yours, that’s not part of the formula. I think all of us in the Miami Dolphins organization, especially with ownership, are not happy with the results. They’re not up to the standard. So my sole focus each hour you can reach me in the foreseeable mini hours is correcting and improving something that’s not good enough right now.”

But now that’s not the case, and Stephen Ross must go all in on one of these two candidates, to build a new culture in Miami, to put Miami back on the map.

I expect a coaching decision to potentially be made a little later –most importantly after a General Manger is hired– as there are potentially other jobs that could open, including Miami’s Division rival Buffalo Bills.

Harbaugh is my choice in Miami, and I don’t think Ross would have fired McDaniel if the Dolphins weren’t at least going after a top coaching candidate.

Nonetheless, an era is closed in Miami, and it’s time to bring in a coach to end this playoff –and Super Bowl– win drought.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Herro returned, but the Heat got torn apart by the Timberwolves in Minnesota

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A humiliation on prime time programming starts the four-game road trip. 

 

The season series with the Timberwolves is over and they lost both outings over a three-day stretch. Tyler Herro’s return was spoiled as the Timberwolves forced their submission, and Rudy Gobert was the most dominant big man on the floor, amassing 13 digits and 17 rebounds.

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game that Gobert is one of the most underrated players in the league and that Kel’el Ware “was introduced to someone who brought a physical presence.”

 

Bam Adebayo played well below standard. He’s been through a toe injury and back spasm this year, but it was the ninth straight night scoring below 20 (7) and the 12th time this season he has shot below 40%. Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell disappeared, too. The trio combined for 21 points on 25% shooting. 

 

Norman Powell carried the crew before it got ugly, and Herro played as if he hadn’t missed a beat, scoring from inside and out, plus setting up two teammates for 3-pointers. They went to halftime down seven, then started getting smacked around, getting outrebounded by 13 and getting lit up by eight trifectas in the second half. The outcome was obvious after they missed six shots in a row to start the fourth quarter.

 

The final marker highlighted a 28-point loss, and the team could only score 38 in the lane. It was also the Heat’s third time this year tallying below 100 points (94). Minnesota had six scorers in double figures, totaling between 12 and 26 points.  

 

These are the losses that can’t be flushed, especially since they lost to the same team by 10 earlier. Despite being the fourth game in six nights, they went soft when they saw Minnesota’s avalanche coming. The autopsy, being the worst since the Toronto Raptors massacred them in Miami on Dec. 23, shows how exposed the Heat are against versatile size.

 

The smart teams are getting better at denying the Heat success in transition, as was the case Tuesday with the Wolves holding them to the second percentile in points per 100 plays. The half-court offense, lacking enough juice, and barely being able to get to the line, compounded the issue.

 

Spoelstra said, “We showed less of a spirit on this one. The one on Saturday, we had a spirit to fight until the end. That’s what is most disappointing to me as the head coach. The last six minutes, it felt like we let it go.”



Special Teams, Special History: Jake Bailey and Riley Patterson Rewrite Dolphins Records

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After Jake Bailey disappointed in his first season and Jason Sanders went down, it appeared the Dolphins special team’s unit had taken a hit, but it actually ended in historical fashion for the Miami Dolphins. Although the Dolphins season didn’t go the way they wanted, their special teams’ leaders Jake Bailey and Riley Patterson made the most of their opportunities.

Riley Patterson’s Success and Next Years Question

Riley Patterson finished 2025 with a mark of 27/29, good for 93.1 percent, the most accurate field goal kicking season in Dolphin’s history. Patterson was signed early in the year when Jason Sanders went down and filled the All-Pro kickers shoes quite nicely.

Patterson missed only two kicks, and tops Dolphin’s kickers Dan Carpenter, Olindo Mare, and Pete Stoyanovich for the best kicking season in Dolphin’s history.

So, after a great year, who do the Dolphins bring back for 2026, their All-Pro kicker, or Riley Patterson who had the best year of his career and in Dolphin’s history. Patterson has his range issues — career long of 54 and struggles from distance– but his accuracy can’t be debated.

The Dolphins should bring back whoever is the cheaper contract and certainly has a good problem on their hands in the kicking department.

Jake Bailey Sets Another Record

Jake Bailey finished the Dolphins season with a net punting average of 42.6 yards, the best punting season in Dolphin’s history. Bailey was a former All-Pro and found his footing after an average first year in Miami. Bailey broke the Miami Dolphins record for net punting average, surpassing Brandon Fields. Bailey only had three touchbacks and certainly should be considered as the teams 2026 punter.

Both are unrestricted free agents this season and have forever marked themselves in Dolphins’ history. If the Dolphins move on from Sanders, Patterson should certainly be the first option, and Miami should no doubt bring Jake Bailey, the former All-Pro back.

 

Miami had a lot of problems this season; Bailey and Patterson being the furthest from them.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat crush Pelicans on a career night from Norman Powell

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The Heat caught a break in the schedule with a successful tune-up against the Pelicans, who came into Miami on a six-game skid. They went 1-1 in the weekend back-to-back, yet not much can be taken away from these outings, aside from giving reps to the youngsters, and allowing others to bolster their numbers. 

 

Yet it took a while to soften NOLA up. 

 

The Heat drained 12 first-half trifectas, falling one short of tying their average makes for a game, but were only eight points ahead going into intermission. That’s also with the Pelicans coughing up 17 turnovers, the most by an opponent in that span, yet the defense declined to guard the 3-point line, including getting torched by Trey Murphy III five times and allowing 32 points in the lane, six baskets belonging to Zion Williamson.

 

They subsequently rendered Williamson invisible and held the Pelicans to 15 points on 24% shooting in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Norman Powell ripped three more 3-pointers, and the rest of the crew poured in five more shots in the lane.

 

The Heat started the fourth quarter with a 16-point edge and never permitted the Pelicans to get within reaching distance as Kel’el Ware kept his foot on the gas, assaulting the lane on five immaculate attempts.

 

The Heat won 125-106, bumping their record up to 20-16. They’ll now begin a four-game road trip on Tuesday in Minnesota, followed by at Chicago on Thursday, at Indiana on Saturday and at Oklahoma City on Jan. 11.

 

 

Takeaways:

 

  • The Heat didn’t see much open-court resistance, scoring 154.5 points per 100 transition plays, which is good enough for the 80th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.  

 

  • The Heat scored 70 in the first half. The last time they had at least that much by intermission was on Dec. 1 versus the Clippers. They are undefeated (8-0) on nights it happens. 

 

  • Bam Adebayo guarded well because that’s just who he is, but it’s clear he’s nowhere near 100% healthy. He’s not moving as fluidly on offense and has been out of sync for a significant part of the season. It was the third straight night, and the 11th time this year he has logged below 40% of his shots.

 

  • Myron Gardner, who is on a two-way contract, played 12 impactful minutes of defense, following only four in the Heat’s loss at home to the Timberwolves on Saturday. Additionally, Pelle Larsson keeps blossoming and did a little bit of everything: 16 points on 46.7% shooting, with three rebounds and six assists.

 

 

  • Powell scored 34 points, including a career high of nine 3-pointers on 75% shooting. He’s leading the team in average makes per game and in total long-range baskets (96). Coach Erik Spoelstra said he should have had 18 attempts. Additionally, Powell was asked if he thinks he’s made a good case for his first All-Star campaign. He believes he has and wants to make it. “I learned last year not to get caught up in whether I make it or not.”

 

  • Nikola Jović has been playing confidently lately, and he had one of his best games of the season. He had four baskets in transition, where he is best, and broke into the half-court for some nice baskets. Him playing at this level adds another dimension that would give the Heat big-time help.