MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Monday night’s 103-85 loss to the Boston Celtics:
– Hope ruled the morning.
– “Stuff happened and it feels like a new team,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said after shootaround.
– Reality ruled the evening.
– For all the volume the Heat secured at last week’s NBA trading deadline for Jimmy Butler, they did not secure a star.
– That’s not who Andrew Wiggins is.
– Nor Davion Mitchell.
– Or Kyle Anderson.
– Each a supporting player.
– And with Tyler Herro out with a stomach illness, not much support on this night.
– With all due respect to...
MIAMI – Not good enough with Jimmy Butler.
Not good enough with Jimmy Butler’s replacements.
And, so, a losing record now for the Miami Heat, at 25-26, after Monday night’s 103-85 loss to the Boston Celtics at Kaseya Center.
Granted, the Heat were without All-Star guard Tyler Herro, due to stomach illness, but the Celtics, by contrast, were more than capable of stomaching their absences of Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday, getting 33 points from Jayson Tatum and 16 points and 10 rebounds from Kristaps Porzingis.
As for the Butler replacement parts, it was a largely uneven debut night.
Andrew...
NEW YORK – Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 102-86 loss to the Brooklyn Nets:
– Eight consecutive nights on the road is testing enough, a trail from San Antonio to Chicago, Philadelphia and then this one in Brooklyn.
– Eight consecutive nights on the road with the trading deadline mixed in is even more challenging.
– In this one, the Heat had the look of a team needing a taste of home.
– Which they will get for just a single game, Monday against the Celtics at Kaseya Center, before heading back out to Oklahoma City and Dallas ahead of the All-Star break.
– In...
NEW YORK – Perhaps the goal was to give newcomers Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Kyle Anderson a representative portrait of what they are getting into.
In that case, mission accomplished with Friday night’s 102-86 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Barclay Center that dropped the Miami Heat to 25-25.
Welcome to .500 fellas.
Where the Heat largely has established residence this season.
Again middling and mediocre, the Heat closed their four-game trip at 2-2. Finding a way to lose to an opponent that entered 17-34, the Heat very much appeared a team in need of something new.
Something that is...
PHILADELPHIA – Oh and there was a game Wednesday night, too.
In action as disgruntled teammate Jimmy Butler was being dealt to the Golden State Warriors, the Miami Heat maintained enough focus to push through for a 108-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
With the Butler deal going public before halftime, and therefore with complete awareness of the team’s new and next reality coming out of the locker room at the intermission, the Heat went from a 62-57 halftime lead to their second victory on this four-game trip that concludes Friday night against the Brooklyn...
MIAMI – Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 126-106 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers:
– Tyler or no Tyler?
– That will become known by 7 p.m. Thursday, when Eastern Conference reserves are named for the All-Star Game.
– For Heat guard Tyler Herro, it figures to be a close call.
– No more than six guards from the East can make it, based on roster rules.
– Already in as Eastern Conference backcourt starters are Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson.
– Both highly deserving.
– As Mitchell certainly showed in this one on Wednesday night.
– From there, logic says that...
MIAMI – An argument could be made that this one was over on Dec. 8, when the Miami Heat dared defeat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
With the Cavaliers back at Kaseya Center on Wednesday night, Cleveland made clear which team stands dominant atop the Eastern Conference . . . and which team doesn’t.
In that regard, order was restored in the 126-106 loss that dropped Erik Spoelstra’s team back to .500, at 23-23, while the Cavaliers exited at 38-9.
Ahead from start to finish, the Cavaliers punished the Heat on both ends even with giving point guard Darus Garland, an All-Star candidate, the...
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Despite estranged star Jimmy Butler serving the second half of his two-game suspension back in Miami, the Heat snapped their recent skid with a 106-97 win over the scuffling Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Saturday.
“We had a great meeting yesterday,” forward Bam Adebayo said. “It translated to a win, obviously. You get on the road, get away from chaos. You just really get to focus in and lock in. I feel like this was a great win for us. We really needed it, obviously. Now we just keep the same energy and keep moving forward.”
The Heat (22-22) got out to an early...
MIAMI – Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 116-107 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers:
– There was a moment before Tuesday night’s game when the question was why Jimmy Butler was playing.
– Or, more to the point, why the Heat were putting Butler at risk.
– Because just before the opening tip came word of the Suns sending out a prime first-round pick to the Jazz for three lesser first-round picks in return.
– The exact type of haul needed by the Suns to leverage a trade of Butler.
– With Phoenix very much Butler’s preferred destination.
– Yes, there are many moving...
MIAMI – A new challenge. A new lineup. A new distraction.
Add it all up and it turned into a new definition of disappointment as the Miami Heat opened the second half of their season with a 116-107 loss Tuesday night to the Portland Trail Blazers at Kaseya Center, down at one point by 27.
With Tyler Herro sidelined for the first time this season, the challenge was finding another leading man. There wasn’t any for Erik Spoelstra’s team, at least nothing close to anything similar to Herro in regards to putting pressure on the opposing defense.
With Kel’el Ware getting his first NBA start, the...