Vergil Ortiz Jr. makes emphatic statement, destroying Erickson Lubin

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It only took two rounds for Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s pressure and explosive power to wound Erickson Lubin badly enough for the referee to jump in between them. It was supposed to be a bout that challenged Ortiz, but he made it look as easy as a stroll through the park on Golden Boy’s fight card.

 

The challenger landed five shots in round one, but Ortiz probably didn’t feel more than a tingle. Lubin’s southpaw stance also did nothing to confuse or bother, and his misfiring jab couldn’t create separation, getting himself backed down around the ring, to the ropes and corner early. 

 

Before round two started, Ortiz’s trainer, Robert Garcia, instructed him to go to the body and not to get too confident. But he went for the kill, first connecting with the jab and a straight right hand, putting Lubin back on the ropes. From there, Ortiz unleashed as if he was facing someone who stole from him, hooking to the head and body with both hands to soften him up. One hammering right hand was so devastating that Lubin’s guard caught some of it, but his hands fell, and Ortiz launched a cannonball to his face, hurting him, and the ref instantly reacted.

 

Ortiz (24-0) kept his interim WBC junior middleweight belt, and then called out Jaron “Boots” Ennis, the WBA interim champ who was ringside and later entered for a face-off. They disputed the origins of their trash talk over previous failed fight discussions between them, but both said they wanted a piece of each other.

 

Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya subsequently said, “It was a phenomenal performance by Vergil Ortiz, and I’m actually surprised that Eddie Hearn (chairman of Matchroom Sport) and Boots Ennis [are] here. After watching Vergil Ortiz knock out Lubin, it’s going to be very difficult making this fight, but Vergil Ortiz wants it. So, let’s go, let’s do it.”

 

Ennis last fought on Oct. 11, wiping Uisima Lima, a lesser known and respected opponent, in a tune-up for his debut at 154 pounds in nearly two minutes. A fight between him and Ortiz would be a super showdown. 



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Nikola Jović has career night as the Heat beat the Trail Blazers

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Despite 19 lead changes and 11 ties, the undermanned Heat took out the Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back, improving to 6-4. Seven Heatles scored in double figures, and Nikola Jović had his best showing in a Heat uniform, setting a new career high of 29 points.

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra elaborated on some of the strategy post-game, saying,  “I’m managing the heck out of the spacing, to create those drives. But I’m not putting the brakes on anyone who is attacking.”

 

Portland’s length gave Miami trouble early, not permitting easy access into the lane and they forced Spoelstra to call the first timeout after taking a 15-3 lead. The Heat didn’t recalibrate until Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the bench crew came in, and they prevented the team from early embarrassment with multiple drive-bys and five steals, including a pick-6 in opposing territory, cutting the deficit to three going into the second quarter.

 

Rebounding out of the zone against bigger rivals was a struggle, and high-enough pick-up points weren’t set on shooters, but they made up for it, forcing six extra turnovers. The Heat also converted 77% of attempts in the period with near-immaculate shooting in the lane from punching the accelerator in transition and ripping up the half-court.

 

The Heatles went to intermission ahead 72-65 after making only one shot in their first 15 attempts. Nikola Jović led them in assists (6), and their double-digit scorers were Dru Smith (10), Andrew Wiggins (12) and Pelle Larsson (10).

 

Subsequently, Deni Avdija plus Jrue Holiday’s rim attacks sullied schemes, but Toumani Camara walking into triple forced the first stoppage of the half. Jaquez checked in, and the Heat regained control just like in the first half off transition strikes and setting up teammates, including a lob to Kel’el Ware.

 

The fourth quarter started with the Heat ahead 100-97, and 10 lead changes followed. Shaedon Sharpe sliced into lane thrice, and Avdija buried a trey. But Jović stepped up for the Heat, making two 3-pointers and two close-range baskets on the move. Jaquez joked in the locker room that Jović should have dropped 30.

 

In the latter stages of the fourth, Jerami Grant fouled out, and Clingan checked in, and the Heat’s strategy was briefly using Wiggins at the five before switching back to Jović at the next substitution. The Heat were then up five points with under a minute left, and got bailed out by Holiday missing a triple after Jaquez bit on his pump fake and they doubled at the arc. The final nail in Portland’s coffin was Avdija taking a shot at the rim instead of pulling up from deep.

 

The Heat won 136-131. They had an advantage in paint points (72-68) and were able to slow down the Trail Blazers in the half-court to 77.5 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the Cleaning the Glass.

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat defeat the Hornets in the first Emirates Cup game of the season after a franchise-best 53-point first quarter

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The undermanned Heat’s 3-point shooting went cold after a team record 53-point first quarter, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. plus Simone Fontecchio had to bail them out against the Hornets in their first Emirates Cup game of the year. The defensive communication at first was abysmal without Bam Adebayo as they lost track of drive-bys, 3-pointers, and offensive rebounders, yet they found enough combinations in transition.

 

It was the first game since coach Erik Spoelstra’s home tragically burned. He said, “I had to be the buzzkill after the first quarter, saying they gave up 33 [points]. I’m sure they were rolling their eyes, but we thought it would be easy and then they started to go on a roll… we never established our defensive game to start. We just caught fire in that first quarter.” 

 

The Heat nailed 10 treys in the opening frame on 66.7% shooting and went up 22 points. Yet the script flipped instantly. It was as if the Heat had broken their own legs defensively after playing fast, and the Hornets then rattled off 18 points in a row deep in the second, causing a Spoelstra conniption. The Heat only went on a 6-5 run to close the half ahead by three.

 

The Heat subsequently were able to create some separation as they binged in the lane in the last six minutes of the third quarter. Jaquez took over the fourth, breaking down schemes with hard dribbles for four baskets at close range. His most consequential sequence was dropping Sion James and gashing the middle to take a 10-point lead with five minutes left. Spoelstra gave him props after the game because Charlotte was putting their best defenders on him. “He just continues to be an in-control, downhill, relentless guy. Now that he understands where his outlets are, he can be aggressive…”

 

The Heat won 126-108 and had an edge in two key areas: paint points (70-54) and fastbreak points (20-18). Their biggest weakness was allowing Charlotte to have a 16-point advantage in second-chance scoring. 

 

Despite only making two 3-pointers after the first quarter and suffering the second quarter drop off, the Heat’s half-court attack still logged 108.9 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 85th percentile per Cleaning the Glass. 

 

Pelle Larsson also scored a career-high 20 points on 72.7% shooting, which included an inaccurate four shots in the paint. After the game, he said, “We’re just glad Spo is still able to come spend time with us and that everyone is healthy and no one got hurt. We wanted to get a win for our coach today.”

 

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Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The wounded Heat came up short in Denver

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The Heat’s road trip through four cities concluded in Denver with a loss, and their losing streak against them climbed to 11 in a row. They stayed longer in the zone because Bam Adebayo left early with a left foot injury, resulting in the defense being unable to hang in the second half without its anchor, and they were massacred on the glass.

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra said that even without Adebayo, the team had a chance to win, but Denver’s cutting, rebounding and relief points were the difference.

 

The Heat’s horsepower had the Nuggets on a treadmill early, and Norman Powell kept getting to the line and splashing treys, but they trailed by three going into the second quarter. The Nuggets traded inside baskets on screen rolls and hard drives, plus loosened up Miami’s defense with five offensive rebounds that resulted in five second-chance points. The hosts also went to a zone multiple times, and the Heat broke out their own when Jonas Valančiūnas checked in. 

 

Bam Adebayo hurt himself, stepping on Cam Johnson’s foot on a handoff play, so Ware and Nikola Jović got extra time at the five. They were most vulnerable when the latter was the center, so Keshad Johnson guarded Jokić, but it looked like someone checking their overgrown brother. Jokić was able to get loose on tip-ins and close-range attacks in the half-court plus transition. Aaron Gordon also overpowered and maneuvered around his matchup on multiple rim strikes and nailed a trifecta for 17 points.

 

The Nuggets’ 3-point attack wasn’t a factor, yet their transition defense slowed down the Heat’s open-court attack, and their assault on the glass created a 40-19 advantage in the first half. 

 

The Heat were down 68-60 at halftime following eight ties and 11 lead changes. Jaime Jaquez Jr. gave them a shot in the arm with his drive-bys into the lane, but he was their only threat off the bench.

 

Even with Andrew Wiggins making five of his nine field goals in the second half, the Heat subsequently didn’t have enough firepower and had trouble guarding without their defensive anchor and the communication suffered as well, giving up multiple back door cuts. They fell behind by 12 and got as close as seven before going down another 14 points. Much of the sequence looked like a Camry trying to catch up to a Jaguar. 

 

Jokić broke through the schemes twice more and exposed openings with his passing. “Jokić manages every aspect of the game… he knows intuitively when those swing moments are when there’s an opportunity to take a six [to] eight point lead and push it to 12 and 14,” Spoelstra said.

 

Despite the Heat making three up-top triples and four shots in the restricted area in the fourth quarter, Denver kept them at arm’s length by getting what they wanted in the interior.

 

The Heat lost 122-112, while getting stomped in two key areas: paint points (62-42) and second chance points (22-8).  Regarding the challenge of guarding Jokić, Powell said, “It’s all about communication and limiting those relief point, like we call them. But it’s tough because we take away the cuts, and those guys cutting end up being offensive rebounders.”

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The Heat’s next four games are at home against the Charlotte Hornets (Friday), Portland Trail Blazers (Saturday) and twice against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a miniseries (Nov. 10, Nov. 12).

 

South Florida Basketball Reloads: Transfer Talent Shines in Miami, FAU and FIU Openers

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The men’s college basketball season tipped off in South Florida on Monday, with all three Division I programs hosting their season openers to various degrees. 

The region is only two seasons removed from seeing both the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Atlantic Owls in the Final Four, but both teams look so far away from returning to the sport’s biggest stage. 

Miami, FAU, and FIU all won their season openers on Monday, and each win told a different story about how a fan can feel about their individual season prospects. The top takeaway from Monday is how many players on all three teams were playing their first game in their new uniforms. 

Teams change more dramatically from season to season in modern-day college basketball. Everything you thought about these squads the season prior is unvalid today. 

Miami downs Jacksonville 

After three seasons at Indiana, senior guard Malik Reneau made his Miami debut with 20 points, all of which were from mid-range shots and attacking the rim. 

The Hurricanes defeated Jacksonville, a solid squad from the Atlantic Sun, 86-69, by attacking the paint and using their strength and size to their advantage. Senior Ernest Udeh Jr., who transferred from TCU, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds in his Hurricane debut. 

Jacksonville saw three-point shooting as its route to victory. The Dolphins made four three-pointers to take an early 12-8 lead. However, they shot 4-of-28 from behind the arc the rest of the game and couldn’t keep up with the Hurricanes. 

All five Miami starters registered double-digit points, and all five of them were making their Hurricane debut. Jai Lucas is not only a new head coach, but he also brought in a brand new team with him to Miami. 

The Hurricanes’ three-point shooting is still to be desired, but they’ll have home matchups against Bethune-Cookman on Thursday and Stetson on Nov. 10 to prove that. They should be 3-0 entering their matchup against Florida on Nov. 16 and BYU on Nov. 27, both of which are in neutral sites. 

Florida Atlantic wins overtime thriller

Florida Atlantic’s road back to March Madness began with a bang on Monday, as the Owls beat Boston College 83-78 in overtime for the program’s first win over a power conference team since upsetting Miami in 2002. 

The Owls finished John Jakus’ first season as head coach in the NIT. But a win over an ACC team, even one as mediocre as Boston College, in a packed fieldhouse sets the stage for a promising season. 

Junior guard Kanaan Carlyle established himself as a go-to scorer for the Owls. Carlyle started his career as a reserve role player at Stanford, with 11.5 points per game in 23 games as a freshman. He transferred to Indiana the next season but saw less time on the court as a sophomore with the Hoosiers. He scored 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from the three-point line. 

The Owls also have some fresh faces from overseas. Freshman Yohann Sissoko from France scored 15 points with a perfect 3-for-3 outside shooting. Junior Xander Pintelon from Belgium dropped 14 points, with 12 coming from beyond the arc. 

FAU travels to take on Charleston and Liberty over the weekend in the Field of 68 showcase. 

FIU conquers the Conquistadors

Unlike Miami and FAU, FIU started the season with a game against a NAIA opponent. The Panthers are searching for their first winning season since 2019-20, so any win is not one to scoff at. 

The Panthers’ 101-49 win over the Florida National Conquistadors was a display of what they may be capable of. Larry Olayinka made his FIU debut with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds. Olayinka previously played for Utah Tech and Samford, mainly as a reserve player searching for more opportunity on the court. 

Zawdie Jackson is another Panther to keep an eye on. Jackson, who averaged 10.5 PPG at New Mexico State last season, scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting and 3-of-3 from the three-point line in his Panther debut. 

Corey Stephenson spent the past two seasons at Cal State Bakersfield and averaged 11.4 points per game last year. He scored 16 points for the Panthers against FNU. Brit Harris has a similar resume from USC-Upstate and added 10 points for the Panthers. 

FIU’s new lineup will truly be tested against Nebraska and LSU in the coming week. 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat escape Intuit Dome with a close win against the Clippers

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The Heatles triple-teamed Kawhi Leonard’s last-second shot, taking out the Clippers late in the fourth quarter and narrowly escaping with a one-point win. 

 

Norman Powell returned from his three-game absence (groin strain) and mowed down coverages like he never left. Bam Adebayo dropped an efficient 25 points and 10 boards, outplaying Ivica Zubac. And Andrew Wiggins led the crew in fourth-quarter scoring. 

 

The start was the opposite of the previous night against the Lakers: Miami racked up a 10-point lead over LAC two minutes in and quickly were on the other end of the gun, courtesy of Kawhi Leonard’s pull-up shooting and an open-court gash by former Heatle Derrick Jones Jr..

 

The Heat went to a zone, and a stimulus by the bench- Simone Fontecchio, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Davion Mitchell and Kel’el Ware, who redeemed himself from the previous night- delivered a four-point edge to the starters after going up by seven. 

 

The Clippers’ main unit outplayed the Heat’s for the rest of the half, but despite a five-point deficit, the Heat had four double-digit scorers and devoured the restricted area, making 15 shots in 18 tries. 

 

The visitors subsequently sprayed schemes in the third quarter on 70% shooting on drive and kicks, slot cutting and pick-6s, which included seven shots without a miss. They entered the fourth quarter ahead by eight, but the Clippers erased that and four ties and two lead changes followed. 

 

The offense fell apart, but Adebayo’s pull-up jumper at the nail over Zubac with 91 seconds to go gave them the final lead.

 

The Heat won 120-119. They scored 111.7 points per 100 half-court plays, good enough for the 86th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. They also led in two key areas: paint points (58-48) and points off turnovers (37-25).

 

After the game, coach Erik Spoelstra praised Ware. He said Kel’el gave us great minutes, really great minutes. It was great to see him respond like that.”

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fall to Lakers in Los Angeles after poor start

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The Miami Heat folded in the last six minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers after nearly climbing out of a first-half 18-point hole, falling to 3-3. Pat Riley watched from his lower bowl seats likely annoyed that Spoelstra’s spoilers couldn’t stick it to the team that canned him one more time before he’s honored with a statue in February.

 

A disaster start for the Heat- allowing Jaxson Hayes to go berserk on three cuts- ensured Kel’el Ware got his minutes sliced to 11. On top of that, the Lakers told the Heat what they thought of them by going to a 2-3 zone in the first quarter. And Andrew Wiggins’ pick-6 resulting in a Bronny James lob was an omen.

 

The Heat have been the fastest team in the league early on, but the Lakers were superior at it, especially before intermission. Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves ate up coverages, maneuvering inside and out for nine baskets, while combining for 12 assists, too.

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra summed up the first-half abomination as mistakes and boiling down to “a lack of effort on plays that we’re accustomed to doing and making, and/or mindless plays.” He insisted his team is better than what they showed. 

 

Jaime Jaquez Jr., the team’s top reserve and third-leading scorer, was their biggest threat. He gashed the open court and coverages for 31 points on 68.8% shooting, including nine digits in the third quarter, when the Heat recovered the most ground. Pelle Larsson was the Heat’s second-leading scorer in the second half as well. 

 

But Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Jake LaRavia made three field goals apiece in the fourth quarter, while the Heat converted 11.1% of the 3-point attempts and missed five critical late freebies, totaling 11 misfires at the stripe for the night. 

 

The Heat lost 130-120, despite having Ian edge in three key areas: paint points (66-60), fastbreak points (20-19) and second chance points (16-14). The half-court offense was held to 94.2 points per 100 plays, good enough for the 40th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. Even with Miami scoring more in the lane, they couldn’t match LAL’s accuracy in the restricted area of 79.3%, which is 12.3% above the league average. Furthermore, the Lakers were the nastier team defensively, racking a 25-15 advantage in deflections, the most belonging to Dončić (5) and Marcus Smart (5).

 

Bam Adebayo was diplomatic about Ware in the locker room after game, saying, “That’s a part of his development. We’re not going to give up on him. We know how great he can be. He moves the needle for this team.”

 

The Heart’s next game is in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Monday.

 

Dolphins fans show their displeasure with their team's latest failure in a 28-6 loss to the Ravens.

Pressure Point: Dolphins’ season goes from bad to ugly; Grier first to take fall

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The Miami Dolphins are nothing if not exasperating.

They set you up just to let you down.

Every. Damn. Time.

It’s the constant in the flood of squandered opportunities amid a generation of failed seasons.

Four days after a surprising rout of the Falcons in Atlanta, the Dolphins confirmed the hint of a turnaround was a mirage in an embarrassing 28-6 flop at home in prime time Thursday against the Ravens.

Might we add, as expected?

There can be no doubt now, this latest regime under coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier and, yes, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, is over. Done. Kaput.

Grier was the first domino to fall with team owner Steve Ross announcing a “mutual” parting Friday morning. McDaniel will remain until the end of the season, but he’s the lamest of ducks.

Change was inevitable after to a national television audience witnessed utter disgust on the faces of Dolphins fans Thursday night. That is, except for the ones expressing their displeasure by sporting bags over their heads.

Dolphins squander many opportunities in loss to Ravens

Don’t say the Dolphins can’t beat anyone. They are masters at beating themselves.

It happened early and often Thursday night. The reaction went from gnashing of teeth to throwing hands up in despair to an increasing chorus of boos.

A lot of boos. And finally, storming for the exits early in the fourth quarter.

The maddening part was that the Dolphins, who fell to 2-7, were the better team on the field through the first half.

Miami outgained the Ravens 225 to 109 and held the ball for 19 of the opening 30 minutes — but trailed 14-6.

For the second game in a row, they showed positive signs on offense, defense and the return game. But they couldn’t get out of their own way.

Any hope that even the most optimistic Dolfans retained was swept away in a catastrophe of errors.

Here a blunder, there a stupid penalty, everywhere a mystifying mistake.

Coach Mike McDaniel summed it up in a sideline interview before the second half, saying, “You can’t play against two teams, we’ve got to play against one.”

It started with receiver Tahj Washington making his first NFL catch for first-down yardage, only to have the ball stripped from his grasp and the Ravens recover at the Miami 7. They cashed in with Lamar Jackson throwing his first of four touchdown passes, one of two to tight end Mark Andrews in the opening half.

Dolphins fail to finish scoring chances

Jackson and the Ravens offense were relatively quiet in the first half, recording only four first downs. They didn’t have to do a lot because the Dolphins were so busy sabotaging themselves.

Miami had three drives deep into Baltimore territory — reaching the 25, 17 and 13 — that netted only three points.

On one of those, McDaniel elected to go for it on fourth-and-1, only to have tackle Larry Borom false start. McDaniel was livid. He then sent in the field goal unit and Riley Patterson missed the 35-yard attempt.

Andrews was wide open for his second TD reception because two Dolphins defenders had a head-on collision while he ran past them on a crossing route.

Soon after, the Dolphins had a 36-yard completion to Jaylen Waddle called back because of a personal foul for tripping on rookie running back Ollie Gordon II. Gordon appeared to lose his footing and the pass rusher fell over him.

Bad call? Even the officiating expert said so on the broadcast.

But it paled in comparison to what the Dolphins were doing to themselves.

Late in the half, with third-and-2 at the Baltimore 13, the Dolphins elected to run with the Ravens defense stacked against the run. No gain for De’Von Achane.

On fourth down, Tagovailoa tried to throw a fade in the endzone to Achane, who was matched against much taller Kyle Hamilton, a Pro Bowl safety. Achane broke off the route and the pass sailed harmlessly away.

McDaniel explained it as “miscommunication, so to speak.”

Dolphins fans turn against team

All hope imploded imploded in the second half as Jackson took over with back-to-back touchdown passes in the third quarter.

Those were sandwiched around a Dolphins three-and-out which began with a sack of Tagaovailoa, followed by Achane thrown for a loss of 1 and Tua throwing incomplete behind Achane in the flat.

The fitting bookend to a self destructive performance came early in the fourth quarter when the Dolphins’ other receiver named Washington — Malik — had the ball stripped from his hands at the Baltimore 10.

All that remained was for the bagheads to render their verdict on the game, the season and the latest fruitless chapter in the history of a franchise that once achieved the only undefeated run to a Super Bowl championship.

By the end, fans on social media were punking Tua’s attempt to inspire his teammates in the tunnel.

“That sucks. All of that sucks,” McDaniel said afterward. “Fans enjoy winning. We have to go back to work to give them something to cheer about.”

Alas, that is somewhere over the rainbow with no yellow brick road leading there. The Dolphins’ future calls for painful rebuilding yet again.

It only gets worse next week with Josh Allen and the Big Bad Bills coming to town.

It remains to be seen who will make the trip to Spain the following week to face the Commodores. And whether they will bother to come back.

The first order of business for interim general manager Champ Kelly will be the trade deadline coming Tuesday. Whether or not wholesale housecleaning begins immediately, the remainder of the season must be used to assess who is worth retaining for the future. That should feature more playing time to young players like defensive lineman Jordan Phillips, cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., and yes, rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Whoever Ross chooses to lead this next rebuilding effort will need to know what they have to work with and what they need to address. Here’s hoping the owner makes better decisions on coach and front office than he has so far in his stewardship of the franchise. He owes it to long-suffering fans.

There is no quick fix for these Dolphins. And no coming back from what transpired Thursday night.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for more than four decades. Follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @CraigDavisRuns.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fail to complete fourth-quarter comeback in San Antonio, falling to 3-2

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After 12 lead changes and four ties, the Miami Heat fell to the Spurs in their visit to San Antonio. For the first time in franchise history, the latter starts a season 5-0.

“We were kind of uneven all night long, but there were two key possessions there, going down the stretch where they got offensive rebounds, and both of those possessions ended up in open threes.”

Being without their starting backcourt of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell left the offense without the necessary penetrators. They compensated, draining 15 3-pointers, but they didn’t get into as many transition actions as they usually have this year. Plus, this third-leading scorer, Jaime Jaquez Jr., was locked up.

Bam Adebayo was the best big on the floor until halftime, destroying actions and somehow, he wasn’t rewarded with free throw attempts when going through contact in the lane. And Victor Wembanyama was held below his standards until intermission because the Heat tried to get the ball out of his hands early in the half-court, showing him bigs and smalls (to go at his dribble),

The Heat were neck and neck in the first quarter and didn’t let seven turnovers cripple their offense thanks to Adebayo and Davion Mitchell combining for seven baskets at short and long range.

Then their second-quarter shooting exposed coverages and nauseated Spurs’ coach Mitch Johnson. The Heat made five threes and four shots in the lane, yet San Antonio prevented them from making it ugly, as they raised the intensity by 50° and punched the accelerator in transition. Notably, the Spurs, being the third-slowest team in the NBA, played faster in the first half.

The Heat were down 59-58 at intermission, but had a 21-13 edge in assists and three players (Adebayo, Wiggins, and Fontecchio) in double-figure scoring.

Subsequently, the Heat went colder than a corpse in the third quarter, scoring one point through four minutes and falling behind by nine in that span. They also fell apart defensively, giving up the corners thrice and the non-Wembanyama minutes were a failure, too, because they couldn’t make up any ground.

The Heat deployed a zone and full-court press, erasing their 15-point deficit and taking a single-digit lead with seven minutes to go. Spoelstra said, “Did I want to go to the zone? No…that group was flying around,” giving credit to Wiggins, Jaquez, and Dru Smith for getting back in the game. They were on the verge of a signature win, but they followed up with three turnovers and allowed late triples, closing their own coffins.

The Heat lost 107-101 and were beaten in three key areas: fastbreak points (18-9), second chance points (16-14) and points off turnovers (19-14). On top of that, the Heat were held to 13.6% below the league average in the paint non-restricted area, and their half-court offense was neutralized to 85.7 points per 100 plays, good enough for the 25th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. Part of the reason the offense stagnated is because Wembanyama had all five blocks in the second half.

After the game, Herro was in the locker room with his jeans rolled up to his knee, soaking his left foot in ice, and Adebayo was icing his knees.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Jaime Jaquez Jr. went nuclear off the bench, and the Heat destroyed the Hornets

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The Heat were without their starting backcourt and flattened the touring Hornets, improving to 3-1 before leaving on their four-game road trip. They played fast, and seven members contributed double-figure scoring, but the story of the night was Jaime Jaquez Jr., who had one of his best games as a pro. He’s following up on his strong start to the season, which could make him a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year honors and the Most Improved Player crown.  

 

The Heat won 144-117 and outscored the Hornets in three key areas: paint points (58-44), fastbreak points (14-9) and points off turnovers (26-7). 

 

After the game, Jaquez said he was happy he drained two trifectas, but mostly because he went eight-for-eight from the line. He added, “You just keep the game simple, and the game will reward you.” 

 

Jaquez dropped 28 points on 64.2% shooting off the bench in 27 minutes, piercing the lane and making a pair of 3-pointers. His signature moment of the night came as he beat Tidjane Salaüan off the dribble and fiercely jammed the rock with both hands so powerfully that his body kept going and he landed on his back. He was OK, and his output lifted him to the second-highest scorer off the bench in the NBA behind Jermaine Grant. 

 

Furthermore, Bam Adebayo had 26 points and notably swished three trifectas in five attempts. Davion Mitchell had another strong showing in Tyler Herro’s place, racking up nine assists against one turnover. Pelle Larsson filled in nicely for Norm Powell, too, dropping 17 points on 60% shooting. 

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra was pleased with the bench for changing the dynamic of the game. He said, “Jaime [Jaquez] was terrific tonight and that’s an understatement…” His best compliment was that all of Jaquez’s production came within the flow of the offense.

 

The Heat’s next four are at San Antonio (Thursday), Los Angeles (Sunday v. Lakers), Los Angeles (Monday v. Clippers) and Denver (Nov.5).