South Florida Voices
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Spoelstra’s Spoilers upset the Mystical Ones
Up in central Florida in the palace of the Mystical Ones without Jimmy Butler, the touring Miami Heat crushed its hosts with 15 3-pointers on 51.7% shooting and severed Orlando’s long-range attack. The strongest push came in interval two as Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Co. gorged the Magic’s defenses for 43 points on a ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Hungry ‘Wolves takeover in second half
The Minnesota Timberwolves upstaged Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro’s return from two and five-week-long absences. In the second half, the Heat was shut down and couldn’t restrain Anthony Edwards from slicing the lane and spraying jumpers over defenders. It was a disappointing development for the hosts, who at one point led by 17 in the ...
Pressure Point: Dolphins’ defense dominates Jets, builds confidence for stretch run
The Miami Dolphins got exactly what they needed Sunday, a stifling performance by a revved up defense and big day receiving from Jaylen Waddle. That produced a had-to-have division win over the New York Jets before undertaking a season-ending three-game gauntlet against the Cowboys, Ravens and Bills. The 30-0 rout didn’t negate the effects of ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Jimmy Butler sinks game-winner, and the Heat survive the Bulls’ fourth-quarter flurry
What a surprise! The Heat are a sharp team when Jimmy Butler attacks from the jump. In the first half, the Heat cruised to a 15-point lead over the Bulls behind Kevin Love’s five triples, Jimmy Butler’s assault of the rim, and Duncan Robinson setting up his teammates four times. Yet at the half, the ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Draymond Green strikes again
Hide the women and children: Draymond Green assaulted someone again on national TV. This time, the victim was Bosnian center Jusuf Nurkić of the Suns. Disciplinarian Joe Dumars must’ve had a conniption, witnessing the infamous league bully roundhouse another man six games after his return from, you guessed it, strangling a peacemaker. What does coach ...
Heat narrowly escape the Hornets in Charlotte
Duncan Robinson flexed his new skills. Jimmy Butler invaded the paint. And the reserve crew outscored its Charlotte counterparts by 16 points, starting the miniseries with a win in hostile territory. To the Heat’s benefit, the Hornets missed a few makeable trays over late closeouts, but it only held a five-point lead after the opening ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat get stunned at home by short-staffed Cavaliers
A slow offensive start didn’t slow the Heat from taking a 16-point lead in the first half of Max Strus’ return to Miami. Early, Cleveland’s Darius Garland picked up four fouls in six minutes and was neutralized until halftime. Strus fired blanks. Donovan Mitchell was held to one of five makes as he settled for ...
Panthers celebrate the career of Patric Hornqvist
SUNRISE -- When Bill Zito took over the keys to the Panthers’ ship in the summer of 2020, the first move he made was bringing in Patric Hornqvist from Pittsburgh. Fast forward three years, the culture is different in South Florida compared to that of pre Zito’s arrival.. The Panthers brought in high-profile players, won ...
Pressure Point: Dolphins showcase depth as stand-ins stand out in rout
No surprise that the Miami Dolphins easily dispatched another of the lesser teams that they have made a habit of bullying this season. This time the patsy was the overmatched Commanders and the outcome was never in doubt on the way to a 45-15 rout Sunday at Washington. It boosted Miami to 9-3 — for ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: T.J. McConnell and Bruce Brown extinguish the Heat
Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a rookie night, the infamous turd quarter returned, two players went down, and defense was an afterthought in the Heat’s loss at home to the up-and-coming Pacers. In Bam Adebayo’s absence, Orlando Robinson and Kevin Love contributed 30 points and six rebounds, and the Heat’s frontcourt still got outworked. Miami’s record ...
The Pat Riley series, part 3: No end in sight
The Knicks were furious and wanted three first-round draft picks plus $3 million in compensation for Pat Riley abandoning his post. But it settled on one FRP and a million in restitution, letting him and the Heat off easy. For context, in 2000 (five years later), the Minnesota Timberwolves tampered and were reprimanded by the ...
The Pat Riley series, part 2: The winner’s disease
Within a week of getting canned by the Los Angeles Lakers, NBC hired the hottest free agent around as a pregame show host: Pat Riley. He said he liked the move because working in a studio wouldn’t mess up his hair. Instead of sharing a court with pro ballers from the sidelines, he now worked ...
The Pat Riley series, part 1: Rise of the Godfather
Pat Riley’s lust for rings and trophies has annoyed, hurt and inspired others while elevating three separate NBA teams over the last 42 years. The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat had some of their best days with him in charge, but his grand accomplishments could have gone unrecognized at the coaching ...
Pressure Point: Jaelan Phillips’ injury taints Dolphins’ win, renews turf complaints
What should have been a feel-good win for the Miami Dolphins with a thorough trouncing of the rival Jets instead left a sickening aftertaste due to the loss of a defensive standout to an apparent serious leg injury. The sight of Jaelan Phillips, who was blossoming into a dominant force as an edge player, being ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Black Wednesday in the NBA
On Thanksgiving, commissioner Adam Silver and head of basketball ops Joe Dumars are likely waking up to massive migraines because Steve Kerr has lost control of his team, and egomaniacal Gregg Popovich rebuked Spurs fans. “I didn’t think Chris [Paul] deserved to be ejected,” Kerr said. “The first tech, absolutely. But the second one was ...
Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Undermanned Heat end Cavaliers’ four-game winning streak
One hundred and thirty-nine nights after signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Max Strus hosted his old pals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and got showed up. Comically, he and Jimmy Butler aimed middle fingers at each other and then hugged before tipoff. The Heat, minus its two main centers and without Tyler Herro (out since Nov ...
