Category: Miami Heat

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 116-107 loss to the New York Knicks: – The NBA schedule can tease. – Including the victories over the Hornets and Pistons that delivered the Heat to Wednesday night’s game at 2-1. – Then came the challenge of something real, in the Knicks. – Just like the challenge in the opener against the Magic. – Loss. – Loss. – Yes, a move above over .500 seems in the cards against the how-low-can-we-go tanking Wizards in Mexico City. – But that hardly would be a statement. – What follows, however, could be telling. – Starting with...

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Monday night’s 106-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons: – It has been an odd juxtaposition these past few days. – If you didn’t know better, it’s almost as if Dwyane Wade has been sending subtle messages to Jimmy Butler. – Sort of fit in, or fit out. – There was more of the same Monday night, when Wade’s new arena-front sculpture again was celebrated. – On the night he was honored for Sunday’s statue unveiling, Wade was asked pregame about Butler finding his way with this season’s Heat roster, saying Butler “needs to figure out this team...

CHARLOTTE — Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 114-106 victory over the Charlotte Hornets: – Forget the slop that came early and often. – Forget even the fact that this at times was far tougher than it should have been. – Against an opponent that was shorthanded. – And playing on the second night of a back-to-back. – Instead, consider what happened in the second period with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. – After both were held scoreless in the opening period, it was apparent that enough was enough with each. – Butler went into attack mode, sparking the Heat, with...

MIAMI – Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 116-97 loss to the Orlando Magic: – Forget all the bells and whistles. – The preseason talk of pace and space and 3-pointers. – For the Miami Heat to be the best version of the Miami Heat, it has to start with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. – That made this one particularly disconcerting. – For much of the night, it was as if they weren’t there. – At halftime the two were a combined 1 of 10 from the field. – With Tyler Herro the Heat’s best player to that point. – Nikola Jovic, at least on offense, second best. – With...