Sebastian Fundora stops Keith Thurman in round six, retaining his WBC junior middleweight title

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Sebastian Fundora’s advantages in height (nine inches) and reach (11 inches) over Keith Thurman were too difficult a code to crack. The latter couldn’t get close enough, and referee Thomas Tyler stopped it before his face turned from bruised and cut to disfigured.

 

The challenger ate a straight left hand in the opening 10 seconds of the fight and that was a microcosm of how it would go. All he could do was try to tire out Fundora by moving around him, and then he suffered another left-handed laser that buckled his knees, almost causing a knockdown in round two.

 

The champion opened up his attack as the fight continued and his left uppercut landed to the head and body. Thurman subsequently connected on a combination up and downstairs to start the fifth round, but his slender and taller opponent remained disciplined, frustrating him further with pressure. 

 

According to CompuBox, Fundora landed 36 of 80 punches in round five, which is the most Thurman has been tagged in a three-minute burst in his career. A ringside doctor quickly inspected him at the start of the sixth and allowed the fight to continue, but he had no answers anyway. 

 

A right hook opened a cut on his left cheek, and then Taylor stepped in between them after getting sick of watching one man retreat while getting stung with cleaving shots from both sides. Thurman protested the stoppage, and left the ring while Fundora was giving a post-fight interview, but made sure to embrace him first. The former later said at the press conference not to hire Taylor for main events again. “He just jumped in like a white rabbit, man.” The only other loss Thurman had on his résumé was a split decision to Manny Pacquiao in July of 2019. 

 

Fundora said that he had watched tape on Thurman, and knew the overhand left would be a weapon. Additionally, when asked about unifying, he said, “I’m the best. They all have to come to me.”

 

The other champions at 154 pounds are Xander Zayas (WBO, WBA) and Josh Kelly (IBF).

 

Former undisputed junior middleweight champ Jermell Charlo attended the fight and after, said in an interview that he wanted to fight Fundora. 

 

Stock rises for junior middleweight contender

 

Yoenis Tellez had to take minutes of rest in the third round because of a nasty head butt that broke his nose, leaking a lake of blood on the canvas. He said the pain was a 10 out of 10, but that he is a warrior, and proceeded to take control with his jab, combinations and power shots. 

 

He couldn’t breathe through his nose, yet he recovered his confidence with the big straight right hands in the fourth round. 

 

Brian Mendoza was the bigger man, and he kept many rounds close, yet Tellez was more active and effective with his aggression. The former was also cut next to the left eye by a head clash, affecting his vision in round eight. 

 

The judges scored the co-main event 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 after 10 rounds. 

 

The first thing Tellez did in the post-fight interview was give his support to his country (Cuba), which is facing tough times because of an oil blockade, and that has worsened the energy problems, and he thanked his team. He was asked how he survived the head butt and credited his team for that, too.

 

Marlins Opening Day the start of a crucial season for Sandy Alcantara

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No Miami Marlins pitcher has started on Opening Day as often as Sandy Alcantara.

The first prized prospect netted in the Bruce Sherman ownership era, Alcantara made his big league debut in 2018 and he has been the ace of the Fighting Fish ever since, with two playoff appearances and a Cy Young award to his name.

Alcantara started the all-so crucial 2026 season with a strikeout. He finished his sixth Opening Day start with a seven-inning gem allowing no earned runs on four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts in a Marlins 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.

“We know this is a long season,” Alcantara said, “and it’s better when you start winning.”

It was the type of performance that had first baseman Connor Norby proclaiming it as “vintage Sandy” during his postgame interview.

“Everything was working today,” Alcantara said. “Put a lot of sweeper in today and we’ve got to see the result.”

That sweeper is what has the Marlins confident in the 30-year-old’s chances of returning to his peak form. After returning from Tommy John surgery and struggling through the first half of 2025, Alcantara went 7-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 starts, signaling a potential return to greatness this year.

“He’s building on that this year by adding a new pitch, adding a sweeper,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “His changeup is even better than before. It’s really the version of Sandy from a few years ago.”

Alcantara is in the final year of a five-year, $56M extension he signed in 2022, just before he won the 2022 Cy Young (2.28 ERA, 8.0 WAR, 228.2 IP, 207K). His contract also contains a team option for 2027, which has given the ace a lot of trade value.

However, Alcantara is more valuable to a Marlins team that is gearing up for a potential playoff push.

“Sandy’s really important to this organization,” Bendix said, “the things that he’s accomplished here, what he means to this organization. We know that and I think he’s proud of that. We’re proud of that.

Miami won 79 games last year with ascending talent and when the Marlins were at their best, so was Sandy. Should he and Eury Perez, who starts on Saturday, reach their potential this year, this young Marlins team could be positioned to compete for the postseason.

“I think this year could be maybe the best year yet for Sandy,” Bendix said.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat overwhelmed the short-handed Cavaliers

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The five-game losing streak ended in Cleveland in game one of the miniseries. The defense derailed one of the top attacks in the league, and they prevented the Cavaliers from having success on second opportunities.

 

The Heat’s seven three-pointers and a few slips into the lane sustained them in the first quarter, as they climbed to a nine-point lead, while the Cavaliers’ offense was stuck in the mud. Things kept going right for the Heat in the next frame as they slowed down James Harden’s shot creation plus Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. combined for five baskets at short and long range.

 

They went into intermission ahead by 17, but the Cavs subsequently got within reaching distance in the third quarter thanks to Donovan Mitchell turning into supernova, scoring 13 points in the period. Yet, they wasted fuel in their reserves trying to catch up, and the Heat had a second wind as they targeted the lane.  

 

The Heat won 120-103. It was their first road victory since March 6 in Charlotte.

 

Takeaways:

 

  • The Cavaliers were without Jarrett Allen and four other rotation players on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Orlando Magic at home on Tuesday. They are a contender and are going all in after trading their young two-time All-Star (Darius Garland) for 36-year-old James Harden. The Heat were able to hold Harden to 40% shooting and five turnovers.

 

  • The Heat’s bench outscored Cleveland’s by 28 points, and the defense held the Cavs to 9.9 points below the league average in the restricted area. Furthermore, the Heat’s run-and-stun offense and sharp deep shooting had 11 fastbreak points, and 13 triples by halftime. They only had six more points on the break and had five extra triples the rest of the game. The team had eight double-figure scores, and the offense logged 125.3 per 100 possessions, good enough for the 78th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. 

 

  • Mitchell was the top player in the game through three quarters, scoring 26 points in that span, but the fourth belonged to Jaquez, Kel’el Ware, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro. 

 

  • Bam Adebayo shot poorly (31.6), but he was a factor on the glass, picking up 10 boards and dishing seven assists against one turnover.



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat never stood a chance against the Spurs

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The quest to avoid the Play-In Tournament took its fifth-straight setback as the San Antonio Spurs sullied Kaseya Center. The visitors were too big, strong and fast for the Miami Heat at full force on primetime TV.

 

Both offenses were firing like machine guns and it took more than half of the first quarter for the coverages to tighten up. They combined for 11 3-pointers, yet the Spurs had the edge on the glass, and the Heat went into the next frame down seven. 

 

Victor Wembanyama proceeded to blow up actions in the lane, plus Stephon Castle sparkled from inside and out. The Spurs’ lead climbed to 18 going into halftime and they subsequently made it ugly in the third quarter as they outmatched schemes and pummeled the Heat on the glass.

 

The rest was all academic, and the Heat lost 136-111. Bam Adebayo then mentioned Myron Gardner for his tenacity, saying, “We need to play with that type of energy. All of us.”

 

Takeaways:

 

  • These teams hadn’t seen each other since Oct. 30 in San Antonio, which the Spurs won. The Heat naturally play fast, and it was their best bet for stretches, considering how Wembanyama is so potent as a deterrent in the half-court. Herro was effective dribbling into the lane for layups and drawing fouls; Andrew Wiggins experienced no rust early in his first game back from a toe injury; plus Norman Powell was on target with his jumper. Yet there wasn’t too much else working, and the offense scored 103.7 per 100 possessions, good enough for the 16th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. 

 

  • The Spurs are a contender, having won 22 of their last 24 outings, and they’ve won six in a row. It’s a collection of high-end talent around Wembanyama, who looked like he was dominating high schoolers, shooting 81.8% in the restricted area. He also had five blocks, which caused a significant intimidation factor as players rushed shots and didn’t attack with the same force. 

 

  • Castle’s head got clipped by Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s knee after falling. His brief absence didn’t affect the Spurs too much since they have a surplus of dependable bodies. Castle finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. 

 

  • The Heat allowed 76 first-half points off dribble penetration and permitting the Spurs to feast on second opportunities. Additionally, 136 is the third-most points they’ve given up this season, and they finished with four second-chance points, which is their third-lowest mark in that department.

 

  • Adebayo and Spoelstra had a disagreement over minutes. Spoelstra said he didn’t want to play him 24 straight minutes, and Adebayo said, “I get he’s trying to protect me from myself. But also, I don’t want to be in the [expletive] Play-In.”

 

  • Spurs coach Mitch Johnson spoke on Wemby’s MVP candidacy: “I think he’s close. All those guys you named are deserving. Couple of them obviously already have that award and I’m very biased. I get to see one of those guys every night, I get to see him on the practice court, I see what he does before the games.”

   



Carlos Adames cruises to a unanimous decision against Austin “Ammo” Williams

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The WBC’s middleweight belt didn’t change hands. Carlos Adames’ trunks had “destroy” and “demolish” written on the front plus backside, and he lived up to that, being too strong for his challenger, who looked like he’d gone through oblivion inside Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. 

 

The strongest Austin “Ammo” Williams looked was in the first round as he opened up, but the champion was waiting like a cobra in the sand. Adames then dropped him with a thunderous, double right hand in the second round, yet he failed to close early. 

 

The challenger went from hunter to prey, getting stung with shots upstairs and below. His lips were busted as he retaliated and at moments, landed decent shots that would make many think twice. 

 

Adames is a different beast who took all of it, giving it back thrice to prove his manhood and that he was correct about the quality of fighter between him and Williams before the fight. His corner wanted a more disciplined attack, but he kept pursuing aggressively.

 

The sixth round was a brawl, and Williams walked back to his corner as the battered man, despite bravely standing up to Adames, the older man by two years. 

 

The straight right hand was a spear piercing armor that was so effective that Williams was only a threat early in rounds before tiring and shifting to survival. Adames later said in Spanish that he was a sniper who knew he could connect with the right hand when he wanted to. Additionally, Williams’ corner pleaded for him to press forward, and his failure was not for lack of trying. 

 

Adames subsequently knocked out his mouthpiece twice in the 11th and 12th rounds, cruising to the finish line, but it wasn’t all pretty. He was deducted a point in the 12th for another low blow; it gave Williams a brief spurt of energy with both of them trading venom until there was no more pop on the challenger’s punches.

 

The Dominican champ won unanimously on the cards 118-108, 117-109 and 117-109. He hadn’t fought since Feb. 22, 2025, which came to a draw against Hamzah Sheeraz in Riyadh. (Sheeraz has now moved up to super middleweight.)

 

He said in Spanish in his post-fight interview that, “I told him it would be easy work for me and it was easy work. I’m the best 160 (pounder) there will be in history.”

 

Other notable middleweights include Marvelous Marvin Hagler (63-3-2), who successfully made 12 defenses of his crown; Gennady Golovkin (42-2-1) was the unified champ of the WBA, WBC and IBF from 2015-18; Bernard Hopkins (55-8-2) who successfully defended his title 20 times.

 

Adames was also asked about Sheeraz, and he said he “took him apart in his own house” and that he’s ready for whoever is his next opponent, whether it be at 154, 160 or 168 pounds. For clarification: Sheeraz is an Englishman with Pakistani and Indian descent. 

 

Williams said, “It was certain shots I was trying to find, he was able to negate them. So, I mean, it was just a good performance from him. I can’t really say I was too shocked or surprised…”

 

The other titleists at 160 pounds are Erislandy Lara (WBA) and Janibek Alimkhanuly (WBO), who is suspended by the sanctioning body. The IBF belt is vacant after stripping Alimkhanuly for failure to complete a title defense requirement and a failed performance enhancing drug test.

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Don Luka tattooed 60 points on Pat Riley Court as the Lakers handed the Heat their third loss in a row

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The Heat didn’t have enough horsepower to hang with Luka Dončić and LeBron James despite the close result. The former had the highest scoring game against the Miami Heat in history by an opponent, and the hosts were also significantly smaller, being unable to contain dribble penetration.

 

Dončić bent the defense to his liking with drive-by and pull-up 3-pointers. He didn’t slow down in the first quarter even after tripping hard on Austin Reaves’ foot coming down the court. Meanwhile, the Heat were scorching from short and long range and got a good chunk of their production from Davion Mitchell, Simone Fontecchio and Kel’el Ware combining for nine first-quarter baskets.. 

 

Then the Lakers soon turned the tables as LeBron James was immaculate, shooting at the nail and at close range, and Dončić caused damage in the same areas.   

 

Bam Adebayo subsequently got blasted by Dončić’s artillery strikes, plus the crew soon gave up the lead, being slow to recover and were down double digits. Miami’s offense was also ineffective from the outside, but Adebayo and Kel’el Ware got loose in the lane to buy them some time. 

 

Yet Donićić kept his foot on the accelerator, scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter. The team managed to stay within single digits for the period thanks to Norman Powell and Tyler Herro’s seven combined baskets, but they couldn’t protect the arc or avoid late fouls. 

 

The Heat lost after five lead changes and two ties, 134-126. Despite scoring 70 in the lane, they couldn’t keep up with the Lakers’ shooting 43.8% from deep. 

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra gave Dončić props. “To start the half, he had three straight threes and that just ignited him,” Spoelstra said, snapping his fingers for emphasis. “From there, it became an incredible display of shot-making and drawing fouls, you know, etcetera.”

Takeaways:

 

  • The Lakers were on the second night of a back-to-back. The Lakers were a step slow to start, going behind by double digits within a few minutes. Their flight got into Miami at 3:59 AM, per the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds. Nonetheless, they get stronger as the game went on, and James tied Robert Parrish for the most games played in NBA history. He was also a beast off-ball, and logged his second triple-double of the season (19 points, 10 assists and 15 rebounds).

 

  • The Heat deployed their 25th starting lineup and they were without their best bench scorer, Jaime Jaquez Jr., among their absences. The reserves still outscored LA’s by 25, and the team got what they wanted in the lane, even going a perfect 11-for-11 in the restricted area during the second half. The team went on to score 124.8 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 78th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. Yet even with scoring 42 points in the first quarter and 38 in the fourth, that wasn’t enough to outweigh getting outscored by 22 points in the second and third.

 

  • The team has lost three in a row after being at a season best 10 games over .500. They are a half-game outside of the sixth seed, which is claimed by the Atlanta Hawks, who are on an 11-game win streak.

 

  • Dončić heard MVP chants at Kaseya Center, finishing with 60 points on 60% shooting, with seven rebounds, three assists and five steals. Adebayo said, “He hit some tough shots out there. Like it is what it is. I know what it’s like to be in that mode.” Furthermore, Dončić and James’ played a part in slowing down the Heat in transition by making them check the ball in so often.

 

  • Adebayo finished with 28 points on 47.4% shooting, with 10 rebounds and two assists. After him, the team had five double-figure scorers log between 11 and 21 points.


Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat’s hunt for the sixth seed intensifies and more NBA notes

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Call it luck, or the Orlando Magic being an unserious team, but the Miami Heat’s quest for a postseason spot to avoid the Play-In Tournament is not over. Both Southeast division rivals have lost two in a row, and they have to be careful since the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets want the same thing, too. 

 

The worst thing the Heat could do is fall into the mental trap of believing they are world-class, like they did in mid-November. They recently put a target on their backs after winning seven in a row and it will last until the regular season is over. 

 

Fortunately for them, Bam Adebayo is having the most productive offensive stretch of his career. He’s played in 31 games since Jan. 10 (37.8% of the year), averaging 23 points on a 49.8 effective field goal percentage. The team can live with a dip in efficiency because he puts pressure on the defense by going to the line for seven shots a night (77.9%) during this stretch. 

 

Keeping it up is vital when he returns from his brief layoff caused by calf tightness. The next thing is making sure Tyler Herro and Norman Powell get into a groove while staggering them. Coach Erik Spoelstra started them when the team was slaughtered in Charlotte on Tuesday, and they are not a dependable defensive combination, but Adebayo’s absence was a big factor in the lack of synchronicity.

 

Powell had been the team‘s best player until the All-Star break. It’s not his fault he got injured and missed the entire seven-game win streak, but circumstances change things, and the Heat should keep rolling with Herro as a starter because of his advantage as a playmaker for others. It also gives the offense more versatility if he is next to Davion Mitchell, who is the team’s leader in assists (6.6).

 

Leadership is also measured with sacrifice. The only way this team will be able to do anything memorable is with some outside-the-box thinking.

 

Moreover, the biggest defensive adjustment they have to make is to stop giving up open 3-pointers. It can happen if they don’t get stuck in no man’s land too often. 

 

The Heat are the seventh seed and a half-game behind the Magic. Keep in mind that the Magic own the tiebreaker after beating them five times this year. Additionally, the Toronto Raptors are the fifth seed, being only 1.5 games ahead of the Heat. The team will see them twice more, but the Raptors have won the first two outings.

The Heat’s next game is at home against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are on a seven-game win streak, on Thursday.

 

Quick Hits:

 

  • Last year’s Most Improved Player race was an example of the voters getting it wrong by choosing Dyson Daniels over Christian Braun. It’s too early to tell how the votes will go for the Coach of the Year award, but the Boston Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla is the most deserving. The Celtics were the second seed before Jayson Tatum returned from an Achilles tear suffered in last year‘s second round, and they replaced two starters. The team is currently on a 54-win pace.

 

  • Adebayo’s historic 83-points, which is now the second-highest scoring output in NBA history, scrambled the brains of many observers and exposed some haters. Gordon Hayward preposterously said it’s bad for the league that someone who isn’t regarded as a natural scorer did it. Adebayo not having that reputation is actually the best part about the story since it made it totally unexpected. 

 

  • Spoelstra is seven wins away from tying Cotton Fitzsimmons (832) for 16th in all-time NBA regular-season coaching wins. The only head coaches ahead of him are Rick Carlisle (11th, 1,008) and Doc Rivers (5th, 1,190).

 

  • LeBron James has said in the past that NBA ownership is the next frontier, but he appears to have changed his mind when asked about it after the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Rockets in Houston on Wednesday. 



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat got crushed by the Hornets, staying in Play-in Tournament territory

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The Heat got obliterated in the second half in Charlotte against the Hornets. It’s their second loss in a row, and the captain, Bam Adebayo, was out with calf tightness, which affected their rebounding and coverages. 

 

The Hornets were playing with extra synchronicity and force, causing coach Erik Spoelstra to summon his troops. They were mostly off target, and it turned into a track meet, while they got contributions from their background players.

 

The Heat started the second quarter down two points and struggled to contain Charlotte’s inside-out attack. Davion Mitchell was called for a flagrant foul one after hitting LaMelo Ball’s nether region when curling around a screen. Yet, the Heat’s saving grace was repeated trips to the charity line, and more hustle from Keshad Johnson.

 

They subsequently were stunned by Charlotte’s inside pressure to start the third quarter, and got some relief when Pelle Larsson drew Kon Knueppel’s fourth foul early in the third quarter, forcing him to sit next to Brandon Miller, who also had four. The Heat’s first substitution of the period came after six minutes with Jaime Jaquez Jr. coming in for Norman Powell, and Johnson came back soon to work the back of the zone. 

 

Eventually, Coby White erupted with strikes from short and long range, and the game got testy as Tyler Herro and Josh Green tangled up, causing both herds to be separated. 

 

Ball then got out in the fast lane, setting up others plus himself. Miller also got in on the action, nailing two 3-pointers, and Knueppel erupted, causing the Heat to fall apart. The visitors were down 21 by the time Herro checked back in and got uglier quickly. 

 

The Heat lost 136-106.

 

Spoelstra said the floodgates were opened. “It was disappointing to see. There were parts of the game where it was just highly competitive…We’ll learn what we can, but we have to move on and get on to the next fight, and make sure we are ready and do what we need to do for Thursday night.”

 

Takeaways:

 

  • No team in the NBA is getting surprised by the Charlotte Hornets since they’ve been playing well for two months. Their high-level offense shredded the Heat to pieces, and they scored 37 points in the third and 40 in the fourth quarter. Keep in mind that the Heat were down six with over a minute into the fourth. The Hornets have a collection of young, talented players who play unselfishly, and White had his best game since being traded to the Hornets on Feb. 4.

 

  • The Heat’s biggest bright spot was Johnson, who hustled for loose balls, made timely cuts, downed multiple treys and even threw down the reverse dunk from the baseline. He got minutes over Nikola Jović, who was cleared after 11 absences (back injury). Spoelstra said, “The majority of our young guys have gotten their opportunities. [Johnson] didn’t get his opportunity frequently yet because of all the young guys [who] were playing, but we felt all season long that he had been getting a lot better and his minutes in the G League had been very good.”

 

  • The defense was compromised without Adebayo. Additionally, Herro and Powell started together and it leaves the team vulnerable since they are not great at stopping the ball. The Heat allowed the Hornets to score 128.3 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 90th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.

 

  • Herro and Powell were inefficient as the team’s highest scorers, logging 20 and 17 points. Ball was the player of the game, logging 30 points 0n 50% shooting, with 13 assists and six rebounds. The Hornets had four more double-figure scorers log between 14 and 24 points.

 

  • The Heat have 13 games left and are the seventh seed, being only a half-game behind the Orlando Magic. The Magic have the tiebreaker because they beat the Heat five times this season.



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fall to the Magic at Kaseya Center as they fail to complete second-half comeback

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The final matchup between the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic ended with the latter getting away at Kaseya Center. They are 5-0 against the Heat this season, and it wasn’t about the hosts matching their urgency as their rivals were bigger, stronger and faster. But the Magic make the constant mistake of getting satisfied with their work. 

 

The defense was on ice in the first few minutes, committing four fouls, getting mauled inside and on the break plus they were unable to slow down Jalen Suggs. Tyler Herro nailed multiple treys, but their attack was in shambles, falling behind by 14 points.

 

“Forty-one points in the first, was not our defense,” Adebayo said.”

 

Suggs’ pull-up shooting continued, and former Heatle Jamal Cain’s inside and outside pressure were like the shots that shatter a fighter’s ribs. The Heat went on a run at the end of the quarter, but the Magic diluted it with the last two baskets going into halftime.

 

At that point, the Heat were down 16 digits and powerless to stop the Magic from extending their bombardment to 32 points in the lane. They subsequently struggled to guard Desmond Bane’s paint attacks in the third quarter and couldn’t stop Banchero from going to the line. Powell made a few baskets at short and long range, but cutting the deficit to nine was short-lived as Orlando extended it back to 16 going into the fourth. 

 

The Magic, sensing they already had it in the bag, slowed down in the fourth quarter, and allowed the Heat to get within two points in the last 19 seconds. Then Banchero made the critical freebies after Jaime Jaquez Jr. intentionally fouled. 

 

The Heat won 121-117. They allowed 54 paint points, yet were superior on the break and on second chances.

Takeaways:

 

  • Both teams entered the matchup nine games over .500. The Magic logged 41 points on 69.6% shooting in the first quarter, setting the mood. Additionally, the Magic give up the lowest number of wide-open 3-pointers this year (16.2), and the Heat only made 31.6% on Saturday. The Heat should get some credit for trying to seize the opportunity when it presented itself, but it’s no different than a fighter who makes the scorecards closer because his superior opponent foolishly did not step on the gas in the championship rounds.

 

  • Herro and Powell returned after missing two and seven consecutive games. The former started and never got it going offensively, and the latter came off the bench, being a step behind on defense while adding 20 points. Additionally, Bam Adebayo was a pest with four steals, and he scored 10 points in the second quarter on rim attacks, finishing with 20. 

 

  • Pelle Larrson had a career high of 28 points on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks. On Saturday, he picked up two early fouls, yet was still second in minutes (16) in the first half and went on to have a decent game. He finished with 35 minutes, scoring 15 points and doing a little bit of everything.

 

  • The team’s offense was derailed to 112.5 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 41st percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Pelle Larsson has career night as the Heat hold off the Bucks

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The Bucks’ stampede through Kaseya Center made them sweat, but the Heat pulled away in crunch time, claiming their seventh-straight win. They have Pelle Larsson much to thank for it as he totaled seven baskets in the lane in the best game of his career.

 

In spite of Giannis Antetokounmpo slicing and spinning his way to the cup for 10 early points, the Heat led by as much at the end of the period because of their 3-point shooting and limited success in the paint.

 

The Greek Freak even broke through the zone and outran transition defenses in the second quarter. The Heat’s 3-point protection also fell apart, allowing four treys and their 14-point lead was briefly cut to zero before they sped off with the last eight points going into halftime. 

 

 The Bucks subsequently went on an 11-2 run with Antetokounmpo resting to get within two possessions as Bobby Portis and Ryan Rollins’ jumpers reinvigorated them. The Heat went back to the zone in the fourth quarter and it had mixed results, yet the Bucks kept having success going to the body and got closer as the boiling point approached.

 

The Heat sent the wall to stop Antetokounmpo as he rushed downhill, but five other Bucks still scored in the lane, and they were hurt by two corner treys. The game hung in the balance, and they were bailed out by Pelle Larsson burning Jericho Sims in the half-court for a layup going left and making a trifecta with 28 seconds left.

 

Larsson said in his walk-off interview that “This was a big win for us. We had to get some payback, and yeah, obviously Bam [Adebayo] can’t score all the points,” referencing the loss in Milwaukee on Feb. 24 and how his teammate had the second-highest scoring output in NBA history (83) on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards. 

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra praised Larsson and Kasparas Jakučionis at the press conference. He said, “Pelle [Larsson] was relentless. He was not to be denied at all in this game. He was so rugged and physical. He drove it with aggression when he needed to… Kas [Jakučionis) continues to get better, gains more confidence with each week. He stepped up, gave us some punch with his scoring. ”

 

Takeaways:

 

  • The Bucks came into this game having lost six of their last seven outings. The Heat were still without Tyler Herro, Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins, and offensively were much affected, scoring 112.1 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 40th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. Some of the things the Bucks did were put big man Jericho Sims on Jaime Jaquez Jr. and pressured the lane, making the Heat inefficient at close range and in the in-between areas (3-10 feet).

 

  • Larsson had a career high of 28 points on 64.3% shooting and added six rebounds plus six dimes against one turnover. He’s shown a little bit of everything this season, and one of the most beneficial for the team is that he is capable of being on-ball. He also strained the defense with trips to the line, and he went eight-for-eight there. Milwaukee‘s coach, Doc Rivers, said after the game that he was the key player.

 

  • The team’s rebounding was a major factor. The double big lineup started, and they combined for 21 of their 53 rebounds. On top of that, they had an edge in second- chance points (18-4).

 

  • A seven-game win streak is their longest of the season, and they couldn’t afford to drop this game since the Orlando Magic, who are separated by 0.02 percentage points with Miami in the standings, played the lowly Washington Wizards and won in overtime on Thursday. Additionally, this is the first time this season the team is nine games above .500 (38-29).

 

  • Jakučionis is turning into a dependable release valve with good defensive skills. He drained five 3-pointers on 45.5% accuracy, which raises his total to 52 for the year. 

 

  • Bam’s aggressiveness continued following his epic 83-point performance, but he wasn’t accurate. The team can live with him missing if he is getting to the line for 13 attempts, making nine, and guarding at a high level. He had two consecutive second-chance baskets at close range in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 points on 30% shooting, with eight rebounds and two assists.  

 

  • Antetokounmpo, whom the Heat have coveted, was relentless and finished with 31 points on 50% shooting, with six rebounds and three assists.