Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat blow kisses to TJ Warren on social media

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The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers aren’t exactly the best of friends.

This has been the case for years. Remember Udonis Haslem and Lance Stephenson? And LeBron James and Lance Stephenson? And Ray Allen and Lance Stephenson? And Juwan Howard and Lance Stephenson?

OK, you get it. There was some stuff with David West and Danny Granger too.

Things got a little chippy between the two teams again on Wednesday night, with Jimmy Butler and T.J. Warren had an exchanging of pleasantries during the Miami Heat’s 122-108 win over the Indiana Pacers. Butler had a great night, scoring 14 points on five-of-six shooting from the field. He also made all four free throws he attempted, and recorded six rebounds.

Warren had a rough night to say the least. He went one-of-five from the field and made one of two attempts from the free throw line. He had three points in 23 minutes of play. Warren was also a -25 while he was on the floor. When these two teams meet again on March 20, things should be interesting.

Miami leads the season series by a 2-0 margin. Prior to this game, they met on December 27 at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won narrowly, 113-112. The series is certainly trending in the right direction, particularly since the Pacers won the last three meetings prior to Miami winning the pair.

Friday, March 20 should be a whole lot of fun. That is the next time the Heat and Pacers will face off. Bankers Life FieldHouse will be the venue, and  it will set the stage for a Butler-Warren rematch.

If Warren shows up.

Maybe not if someone shows him social media from tonight.

It’s safe to say that Jimmy Butler is looking forward to this matchup. His post on Instagram said it all. Derrick Jones Jr., who played with Warren in Phoenix in 2017-18 also added his two cents on Twitter in regards to Wednesday night. Meyers Leonard did the same.  One thing is for certain: There is certainly no love lost between these two teams.

There is no doubt that his words with Warren ignited a competitive fire. That’s the type of Jimmy Butler we love to see. There is little doubt that he will be booed when Miami travels to Indiana. However, that will undoubtedly fuel the fire for him to play even harder. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out, and if the tensions increase in subsequent matchups.

Because all the Heat players appear to be firmly on Butler’s side, including the rookies:

And the veterans:

Handicapping the Miami Heat’s 3-Game Trip

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The Miami Heat are playing great basketball. It feels almost like a return to the days of old,  back when the Big 3 were in town, even if they don’t have the front line starpower.

 

Now, the Heat are healthier than they have been — with Jimmy Butler and possibly Justise Winslow returning — and are firmly entrenched in the top three, we a two-game lead on the No. 4 Toronto Raptors and a full three games on the Philadelphia 76ers, who had fallen into a terrible slump prior to beating Oklahoma City.

 

After a five-win stretch, which included sweeping their 4-game home stretch against the Knicks, Jazz, Indiana, and Sixers, the Heat have gone lose-win-lose-win over their last four. They have the Indiana Pacers coming up again on Wednesday in Indiana, and then a trip to New York brings aways games against the Nets on Friday and the Knicks on Sunday.

 

It’s funny because the Heat has beaten Utah, Indiana, Philadelphia, and Toronto since December 23rd, and still the power rating algorithms are a bunch of haters. Miami is No. 3 in the NBA standings and beat these teams, but still, the predictive power ratings have them rated back at No.11. Toronto is rated at No. 7, Philly is rated at No. 9, and Utah is rated at No. 10. Ok. So what gives?

 

I guess the Heat will just have to go and beat these teams – and other top teams – again and we’ll see if they get any love in the power rankings.

 

Heat vs. Pacers | Wednesday 7 PM ET @ Bankers Life Fieldhouse

 

The Indiana Pacers just lost to the Heat in Miami, but now the boys have to go and prove themselves up in Indiana. Both teams are good on defense. The Heat allows just 107.28 and the Pacers let 106.16 points by per game. On offense, Miami puts up 111.11 against Indiana’s 109.46. So, on any given night, these two teams are very evenly matched.

But the Heat’s road offense is scoring around five points fewer per game than their overall average. Out on the highway, they score 106.17, which is the No. 21 road offense. The Pacers put up 111.21 per game at home which is the No. 18 home offense. Home vs. Away defense shows the Pacers improving to 104.7 points per game allowed, and the Heat falling to 110.11.

 

So, we could see the Pacers coming in as significant home favorites on the NBA odds offered at sportsbookreview.com. If the point differential is any indicator, we could technically see a spread of around 10 points. However, I would expect the handicappers to go with straight-up averages and cap this game out to be around 105 for the Heat and 111 for the Pacers.

 

If this is the case, and the point spread is set with the Heat +6, hop on it because they very well could win this one outright.

 

Heat vs. Nets | Friday 7:30 PM @ Barclay’s Center

 

Since we have already gone over Miami’s road stats, we’ll just stick with Brooklyn here. The Nets put up 109.63 per game at home, which falls right in line with Miami’s defensive numbers. So, that is the score we should expect from the Nets; roughly 107 to 109. However, they are not as good on the defensive front as the Pacers and allow 109 and change to go up on the visiting team’s scoreboard in Brooklyn. This one should come down to a pretty close game, but the personnel matchup favors Miami. Remember, we beat the Nets in Brooklyn last time around, 109-106. I predict a similar outcome in for this meeting.

 

 

Heat vs. Knicks | Sunday, 3:30 PM @ Madison Square Garden

 

The Heat have beaten the Knicks in seven of the last 10 meetings in the three most recent, the Heat have smoked the Knicks 3-0 by an average score of 111.67 to 101. The last time these two played was on December 20th when Miami smashed New York 129 to 114.

 

The Heat might not get the road sweep. But they very well might. I think they at least go two of three for the remainder of the week. They’ll keep their win ratio rolling and stay at the top of the Eastern Conference.

 

Winslow, Butler Practice for Miami Heat, Will Travel

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For all their success this year, the Miami Heat have yet to accomplish one important goal . . . fielding a healthy roster.  The Heat came into the season missing their newly signed superstar, Jimmy Butler, due to the birth of his first child.  And there were the self-inflicted setbacks, most notably from high-paid reserves Dion Waiters and James Johnson.

But most concerning has been the rash of injuries that has plagued the Heat’s back court rotation of Justise Winslow and Goran Dragic.  The injuries to both of Miami’s point guards has led to an increased burden on Butler and a “playoff-style” rotation of 8 or 9 players that has seemingly shown in weary legs at the end of road games and back to back scenarios.  Even with Dragic’s recent return and stellar play, the shortened rotation has still been in place thanks to the uneven play of forwards Kelly Olynyk and Chris Silva.

Reinforcements, however, look to be on the way with a breakout game from Johnson Sunday night against the Blazers.  Johnson’s size, playmaking ability and defense were on display for the first time in months as he finally received the nod from Coach Erik Spoelstra with Butler taking the night off.  “We stay ready around here,” replied Johnson when asked how he was able to shake off the rust of weeks on the bench to impact the game in such a fashion.

And it would seem that the return of Winslow may be on the horizon as he was upgraded to questionable on Sunday night, even though he didn’t play.  Monday Winslow was seen swimming with dolphins and teammate Bam Adebayo and Tuesday Spoelstra told media that he practiced with the team and was travelling to Indiana for Wednesday’s game against the Pacers, a positive sign.

Butler practiced with the team as well, which is a good signal that he will be available as well on Wednesday night.  So a fully healthy Heat squad is finally a real possibility in the coming days which should be a welcome sign to Spoelstra and his staff, as well as present new rotation challenges.  But after weeks of riding an 8-man rotation, those are great challenges to have.

Alabama Athletics

Tua Tagovailoa announces he will enter 2020 NFL Draft

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Tua Tagovailoa is headed the to National Football League.

It was decision day for Tua Tagovailoa on Monday. Would he stay at Alabama, or declare for the NFL Draft? The good news for Miami Dolphins fans is, he is heading to the professional ranks.

Tagovailoa passed for 2,840 yards, 33 touchdowns and three interceptions. The three interceptions were tied for third-least in college football. The 33 touchdowns were tied for eighth-most.

For his Alabama career, Tagovailoa threw for 7,442 yards, 87 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. His best season for the Crimson Tide came in 2018. As a sophomore, he threw for 3,966 yards, 43 touchdowns and six interceptions. The 206.9 quarterback rating he recorded in 2019 was the best number of his Alabama career.

He had a very impressive resume while at Alabama. Winning the national championship, being named MVP of the 2018 Orange Bowl, and All-American honors were just some of the things he won in 2018 alone.

Miami Dolphins were able to get successful bridge year Tua Tagovailoa

His decision to declare for the NFL Draft is a very interesting one as it relates to the Miami Dolphins quarterback position. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a great year for Miami, throwing for 3,529 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. If the goal was for Fitzpatrick to simply be a bridge to a future quarterback, he did a great job of holding down the fort.

The Miami Dolphins have the fifth overall pick in next year’s draft. There is speculation that Tua will be there for the Dolphins to select with the fourth overall pick. They would be wise to draft him. Even with the injury he suffered last year, he has unquestionable potential to be the quarterback of the future. He has tremendous arm strength, and the mobility needed to be a quarterback in today’s National Football League.

The motto adopted by many Miami Dolphins fans was “Tank for Tua.” At the end of the day, it appears the Miami Dolphins were able to win a bit and have their shot at the quarterback anyway. This is setting up to be a fun offseason for the Miami Dolphins. Now, the waiting game begins for the NFL Draft.

Down goes New England, social media credits Miami with assist

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The divisional round of the NFL playoffs are looking different this year. The Titans defeated the New England Patriots 20-13.

Social media has given Miami credit for an assist in taking down the evil empire.

It didn’t take long for the internet to take it a step farther with photoshop.

The Dolphins defeated the Patriots 27-24 in Week 17 of the regular season, which dropped New England to the third seed in the AFC playoff picture. The Patriots also lost a bye and was forced to play a feisty Titans team that has the running game and defense to win on the road.

Even coaches praised the Dolphins for the Week 17 win.

The Dolphins spent the year transitioning from the worst team in the NFL to a competitive bunch that won five of its last nine games. Miami also defeated two division champions in the month of December (New England and Philadelphia).

However, this is far from the end of New England. Tom Brady has said that he isn’t going to retire and will likely be back next season, but it remains up in the air if the Patriots will give him the contract he is searching for.

It is also up to the Miami Dolphins to carry the current momentum into 2020.  If the Dolphins can hit on most of their war chest of draft picks and make some strong decisions in free agency, Brian Flores will have the opportunity to fight for an AFC East crown that looks like it may be up for grabs.

Florida Panthers Poised for Second Half Run

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The Florida Panthers are in a position for a strong second half of the NHL season.

As the calendar moves into the new year, the Panthers for once are not looking up from the bottom.

After a 4-1 loss at Columbus to open a four game trip, the Panthers bounced right back against Ottawa Thursday.

 

With a new system in place under Joel Quenneville, the Cats are playing exciting and fundamental hockey.

Florida has three shootout wins so far, tied for third most in the NHL.

The power play (23%) is once again a top-10 unit, while Florida is 5th in the NHL with 3.49 goals scored per game.

Those offensive numbers rank amongst the elite teams in the league, while the Panthers are finally getting some help on defense and in goal.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (14-11-4, 3.29GAA, .897SV%) has steadied after a rough start and has improved every month.

 

Bobrovsky’s save-percentage in December is .917, well better than his .897 for the entire season.

He has been especially effective at home with a 11-5-2 record, to go with a 2.95 GAA and .913 SV%.

Balancing the Scales

In recent seasons the Panthers have relied heavily on their offense, while being bludgeoned on the blue line and in net.

Jonathan Huberdeau is the superstar you didn’t even realize was right here all along.

 

Huby is fifth in the NHL with 37 assists through games played Jan. 1st, while his 53 points are eighth league wide.

The league is on notice as Huberdeau was finally selected to his first NHL All-Star game.

His partner in crime Sasha Barkov is once again having an All-Star caliber season after a slow start in terms of scoring.

Along with Evgenii Davodov and Mike Hoffman, the Panthers front lines are wrecking NHL goaltenders.

Florida has won six of eight entering Friday, and in five of those wins they have scored at least five goals.

The defense is a work in progress but Aaron Ekblad is having a career year on the blue line.

Ekblad already has 18 assists in 38 games, his career high was 27 in his rookie season. If he stays at his current pace he will certainly set a new career mark.

Quenneville a Stabilizing Presence

One encouraging trend for the Panthers is their ability to get out of extended losing streaks, while being able to stack short winning runs together.

The Panthers have only lost multiple games in a row on four occasions this year, while winning at least two consecutive games seven times.

Florida’s coaching staff led by Quenneville has given the team an identity and focus that was lacking in recent years.

It will be something to keep an eye on whether Coach Q can keep the team focused during an important stretch to close out January.

A coach that has won it all on multiple occasions is an important advantage for an unproven team, one that could help them get over the playoff hump.

Rest of January Sets Up Well

The Panthers have nine games remaining starting with Buffalo January 4th in the third game of this four game road trip.

Florida closes out the trek against Pittsburgh, both the Penguins and Sabres are right in the playoff race with the Panthers.

During the middle of the month the Panthers return to Sunrise for a four game home stand which will be a tough battle.

The Panthers will need to step up against high flying Western Conference opponents Arizona (50 points) and Vancouver (48 points).

Both sit near the top of the Pacific Division, Arizona is one of the top defensive teams (108 goals allowed, 5th) while Vancouver is eighth in the NHL with 136 goals scored.

After that to close out the home stand the lowly Los Angeles Kings (38 points) make their way East. The Kings are the fourth lowest scoring teams in the NHL at just 2.6 goals per game, a welcome respite for a Panthers defense allowing the fourth most goals per game (3.35).

To end the month the Cats embark on a six-game road trip which will run into February. Florida will kick off the trip against one of the worst teams in the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit has just 23 points this season and a league-worst -68 goal differential. The Cats close out January with winnable games at Minnesota and Chicago. Despite both teams being at least .500, they are also both allowing more goals than they score. Minnesota is -11 while Chicago is -16, both teams are also rank near the bottom of the league in goals allowed per game.

If the Panthers can improve their uneven play on home ice, particularly against the East, the rest of January sets up favorably.

Dwyane Wade to Have Jersey Retired by Miami Heat

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Dwayne Wade is coming home.

A Miami Heat legend will get his due in February. According to a report from the Orlando Sun Sentinel, Dwayne Wade will have his jersey retired on February 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be exactly two years and two weeks after Cleveland traded Wade back to Miami.

When you look at his resume, it’s truly impressive in regards to what Wade did throughout the course of his career. A three-time NBA champion, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP, and a 13-time NBA All-Star are just some of the things he has accomplished. Wade had success from the get-go,  making the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2004.

In addition to those accomplishments, he was named the MVP of the All-Star Game in 2010 and was the NBA scoring champion in 2009. That year, he scored 30.2 points per contest. It was the best season of his career, and a performance that is not going to be forgotten.

Although the years with Lebron James were some of the best in Miami Heat history, the 2006 NBA Finals was where Wade was able to make his most significant mark in the postseason.

2006 a major year in Miami Heat history

Wade played in 23 games in the 2006 postseason, starting all of them. He made 219-of-441 field goal attempts, scoring 653 points.  That was Dwayne Wade at his best, and it was fascinating to see him  play at that high a level. The way that Wade and Shaquille O’Neal held down the fort during that run was impressive. That was just one of the many highlights for Wade in what was a storied career.

Do you want tickets? You’re going to have to pay up. According to prices from StubHub, the lowest possible seat cost at the moment is $158.10. If you want to pay that, you’ll be sitting in Balcony Corner, seat 403.

For a night like this, it’s worth it. Wade embodied the Miami Heat from the time he arrived in the organization.  It will certainly be great to see him back home at American Airlines Arena.

Miami Dolphins

Dolphins ink eight to future contracts

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There’s been little to no days off for Chris Grier and the Dolphins front office since Brian Flores was named the franchise’s new head coach last year.

To break the 7-9 cycle the Dolphins tore down the roster.

As a result, Miami used 84 different players throughout the season as they searched for players who could become contributors for years to come.

Grier and Miami’s scouting department discovered players who can positively impact the team for many years. Nik Needham, Preston Williams, and Sam Eguavoen are some of the diamonds found in the rough.

The grind continues just days into the offseason as linebacker Jake Carlock, linebacker Terrill Hanks, wide receiver Andy Jones, tight end Chris Myarick, tackle Chidi Okeke, defensive tackle Durval Queiroz Neto, wide receiver T.J. Rahming, and wide receiver Terry Wright all signed future contracts with the Miami Dolphins.

Who are they?

Carlock spent the last two months of the regular season on Miami’s practice squad after signing with the Giants in May as an undrafted free agent.

Hanks, a Miami native, along with Myarick, both spent the entire season on Miami’s practice squad. Hanks was a four-year starter at New Mexico state and Myarick was a two-year starter at Temple.

Jones jumped around and has played eight games in the NFL with three starts as a member of the Lions.

Okeke was a two-year starter at Tennessee and earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 2018.

Queiroz Neto joined the Dolphins in 2019 as part of the International Player Pathway program. He was a judo champion before switching to football.

Rahming was a four-year starter at Duke and earned third-team All-ACC honors in 2018.

Wright scored five receiving and a rushing touchdown as a two-year starter at Purdue.

The Dolphins continue their due diligence in an attempt to rebuild the roster from the ground-up. Miami will have a busy offseason with over $100 million in cap space and a war-chest of draft picks.

 

Erik Spoelstra defines a max player: Butler (and not Whiteside?)

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It was a simple question about missed shots.

But it was natural for some to interpret part of the answer as an subtle shot.

OK, here’s how it started:

I’ve noticed a trend.

Jimmy Butler shoots poorly, as he did Thursday against the Toronto Raptors, making just 2-of-10 from the floor.

The Miami Heat win anyway, as they did, 82-74, to rise to 25-9 on the season.

And, according to the betting data here, they’re listed as significant favorites to win tonight’s game against Orlando so things continue to look good for them, even when Butler isn’t connecting consistently from anywhere but the foul line.

In fact, the Heat are now a ludicrous 11-2 when Butler makes five or fewer field goals in a game. So it’s not an especially small sample size. Butler has done everything well in his debut season with the Heat (defense, rebounding, passing, playmaking and especially leading). Especially except shoot well from beyond 10 feet. His percentages from every spot on the floor, past that distance, are his worst since his rookie season, when he was a benchwarmer for Chicago. He’s already had 12 games this season, including Thursday, when he shot under 37 percent. That happened only 14 times all of the 2018-19 season with Philadelphia and Minnesota combined.

So I merely presented the odd 11-2 number to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra after the win, acknowledging that he likely wouldn’t want Butler to keep shooting below his career marks simply to see if the Heat can win anyway.

Here’s the exchange, in full:

As you see, ESPN Sportscenter picked it up.

Why?

Well, in part because it’s a thoughtful assessment about what is really important to winning, and why Butler has been so critical for the Heat.

Spoelstra said he wasn’t concerned about the shooting. Then he pivoted.

“That’s what young players should learn coming into the league, of what a max player actually is,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not about stats. It’s not about that final number on the boxscore. It’s not about whatever 2k numbers you can get. It’s not. It’s about how your team functions and are you winning because of a player? And there is no debate about this. He’s having an incredible impact on our winning, on our bottom line, and why we chased him so hard as a max player. That should be the definition from here on out. But it’s not. It’s not clouded. It becomes about stats…”

OK, so on its face, that’s simply high praise of Butler.

So why did everyone, in the responses to the videos, start tagging @YoungWhiteside, for now-Blazers center Hassan Whiteside?

A few reasons for the connection.

Many know the checkered history between Spoelstra and Whiteside, though both have mostly praised the other since the Heat shipped Whiteside to Portland for Meyers Leonard and Mo Harkless, who was eventually dealt to the Clippers to clear enough space for Butler. Spoelstra’s frustration with Whiteside was evident the past couple of seasons, and it was mutual. Now it’s clear that Whiteside needed to go for Bam Adebayo and the team to thrive.

This was detailed on Heat media day, in my column.

But it’s the “2K thing” mostly.

That was Whiteside’s thing.

Remember Whiteside exploding on the scene, and actually winning Heat fan hearts by joking (well, not really) that he just wanted to “get my 2K rating up,” for the video game that so many players and fans play?

It stopped being cute when Whiteside began pouting about his role and touches, and it seemed as if he was more concerned with stat compiling than winning, often stranding teammates in search of blocks.

Now that Whiteside’s gone, suddenly the ball moves more on offense, with elite passing big man Bam Adebayo taking his place. Suddenly the pick-and-roll coverage is better, with Adebayo storming the perimeter to disrupt drivers before they even get near the rim. And suddenly the Blazers are struggling to make the playoffs, after making the Western Conference Finals without Whiteside last season.

And suddenly — and this can’t be overstated — Spoelstra has appeared happy again.

(And he keeps talking about “max players” and what they should be; Whiteside, of course, was given a max by Miami.)

Still, maybe Spoelstra didn’t mean anything toward Whiteside, and this was all about Butler. Certainly the Heat and Spoelstra will say so now, with Whiteside and his team making their only appearance at American Airlines Arena this season, this upcoming Sunday. We’re not necessary expecting a tribute video, but the Heat tend to go the classy route, so who knows?

Whatever was meant, or not, by Spoelstra here, this certainly makes an interesting subplot even more intriguing. Contrary to what Whiteside may have believed, the Heat now have shooters everywhere — including one from the podium, who didn’t miss his intended or unintended target Thursday.

 

Ethan J. Skolnick, the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network, will relaunch his Season Ticket column next week with a column about Butler’s impact in other ways.

Florida Panthers: Evgenii Dadonov shines in win over Ottawa

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Dadonov is on fire for the Florida Panthers.

Florida Panthers right winger Evgenii Dadonov is a special hockey player. That was evident on Thursday as the Panthers beat Ottawa by a 6-3 score. As a result, they recorded a much-needed bounce back win after losing to Columbus.

Dadonov led the charge in the scoring department. He scored two goals and tallied an assist. He was a +1 in 15:12 of ice time. He was on the power play for 1:48. His second goal was particularly impressive. After winning the faceoff, Mike Hoffman delivered an excellent pass from the side of the net to Dadonov. Dadonov then slammed the puck home for the score to tie the game at two. He was all over the ice on Thursday.

With 14 goals and 15 assists, he now has 29 points on the year. Last year, he had 70 points which amounted to 28 goals and 42 assists.

Dadonov is surging for the Florida Panthers

Dadonov has played well as of late. Prior to being held scoreless against Columbus on Monday night, he put up two assists for two points against Montréal. Against Detroit on December 28, he recorded a goal. Going back even further, he was able to tally a  goal against Carolina on December 21. He has provided some much-needed scoring for the Panthers, and Thursday was exemplary of that.

The Panthers need him to continue playing at a high level, particularly with the second half of the season beginning shortly.  Between Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and, Dadonov, the Panthers have themselves a formidable three-headed monster. With the way Dadonov has been playing, that trio is looking stronger than ever.

The Florida Panthers will be in action again on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop will be at 1:00 PM. It will be intriguing to see if Dadonov can keep up this momentum throughout the course of the game.