times are CENTRAL-Visitor-HomeTime CHICAGO (3-4) BULLS BK (2-5) NETS6:30 pm (TNT) GS (3-4) WARRIORS MIAMI (2-5) HEAT6:30 pm ORLANDO (1-6) MAGIC OKC (3-3) THUNDER7:00 pm MINNY (4-3) WOLVES PHX (5-1) SUNS9:00 pm (TNT)CLUTCH FORMAT
Spoiler “We’re still going to win the championship, and I don’t care what nobody says,” Butler says about his Heat while shaking his head. “Count us out. We’re going to win the ****ing championship. I’m telling you. I don’t give a damn that we started 2-5.” “Yeah, we’re 2-5, but we straight,” Butler says. “We’ve got time, man. We’ve just got to play with a little bit more urgency and realize how fragile this thing is, trust in one another and play basketball the right way on both sides of the ball. There’s a lot of good things, so I don’t get discouraged. I know we have these (good) stretches (in games), and it’s like, ‘Damn, they really can do it.’ We can do it. We’ve just gotta do it consistently.” In an attempt to get a better sense of where the Heat are going, I asked Butler, Lowry, Herro and Adebayo to share their views on why they’re stumbling at the start. It was a self-scouting report of sorts, one that came with this silver lining: At least there’s plenty of time left to rediscover their winning ways. Jimmy Butler “Man, I hate when people talk (about the past). Like. we’ve got a different team. Yeah, we’ve got the same players (as last season), but like, Max don’t start, Tyler’s starting. Tyler just got an extension, P.J.’s not here, Caleb is starting. Like, everybody’s role is so vastly different — and it’s a good thing. It’s not bad. I’m not complaining. It is good. But yeah, on paper it looks like we have the same team. But we’ve gotta figure out a lot more things because things are different. As much as they are the same, they are different. And I’m telling you, it’s not bad because we’re going to figure it out. Two and five is not that bad. When you talk about all the practice that we’re going to get in, how we’re going to break down the film and talk about how ‘We need to be here (on the floor). We need to be in this spot.’ Like, sometimes we’ll be confused where everybody needs to be out on the floor, you know? And that’s OK. It’s growing pains. It’s not bad, and we’re gonna be just fine. … Y’all will look back at this, and be like, oh man, they started 2-5 and they ended the season ****ing 77-5.” Kyle Lowry “I feel great. I feel like I can still do it. Yeah, I think I did a little bit of it tonight. I don’t want to have to do it, because we’ve got such a young, talented team, and I bank on my guys to hold me down because the marathon is more important, not the sprint. The last couple of games, I’ve done a lot more than I have been. “But that’s what we need. If we don’t need it, I don’t have to do it. Why would I do it? I came to this team to lead the guys and make sure I get guys their shots and get them in their spots. But I see that sometimes you’ve got to do a little bit more. I’ve gotta wreak havoc on both ends of the floor, and I can still do it. But my job is to make sure that these other guys get better, that these young, talented guys get their shots and get their accolades that they deserve. “ Speaking of old guys, I asked Lowry if he’d seen the headlines sparked by his former contemporaries, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who shared their extremely skeptical views of the Heat recently on their podcast. “It’s over,” Pierce said of Miami’s title chances. “Their window’s closing.” “They’re two legends of the game, and they have their opinions. Let them have it. Congratulations to Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for having a great podcast, I guess. They can use their platform. I’m happy for those guys to speak their opinion. (But) listen, we’re right there. We have an opportunity to still be good. This is not about sprints. And (Pierce and Garnett) know that. Like I said, they’re using their platform to voice their opinion, and I’m happy that they have their opinions. For us. I can’t focus on what other people say. I’m focused on our team and what we have to do inside our locker room. “We’ve gotta just fight. We’ve gotta play harder. I think we’re trying to play hard, and we’re just not there all the way. And with our team, we have some offensive firepower, but when we continuously push the defense to where we need to be, our offense will struggle. But our best defense is a good shot offensively — if that makes sense.” Tyler Herro “I think it’s a happy balance. But to say I’m not worried, I don’t know about that. You know, we’re 2-5. And some of the losses haven’t been exactly good losses. Tonight, I thought it was a game coming in here, last game of the road trip, where I thought we were gonna come in with a little bit more energy than we did in the first half. We’re not panicking, not hitting the panic button. But like I said, it’s time to lock in. “There’s the same guys (on the Heat), but guys are in new roles. It’s an adjustment period for us. There’s guys who were starting who are on the bench, guys who were on the bench who are starting — myself included. So it’s new roles … I’m playing off the ball a lot more. Last year, I was the first one off the bench. And once I got in, the ball was pretty much in my hands the majority of the game. But starting with the group, with JB, K-Lo and Bam, it’s a little different. So that’s my adjustment.” Herro’s focus on the adjustment to the starting role begged the question: Might he need to, or even want to, return to a reserve role if it works best for all involved? “I want to be a starter, but we’ll see what happens. You know, I think I’m a starter in the league. But we’ll see what happens.” Bam Adebayo “We can’t let (concern) seep into this locker room. We can’t let that emotion get to us. We’ve been in these positions before. My first two years was like this, and we would somehow make it to the playoffs at the end of the year. But this year is a different team; this team right here has more talent. No doubt. We’ve just got to put it together. It’s rough. It’s a rough patch. … (But) it’s one of those things where you would rather go through it now than at the end of the season, like we did last year (when they were 6-5 down the stretch). So we can go on and iron out everything, put it on the table, everybody be vulnerable. And then we move on. “We’ve got to figure it out. As a captain of the defense, I’ve got to do a better job of holding people accountable. That’s my (job) in that role. That’s my step in that leadership. That’s why UD (Heat veteran Udonis Haslem) has always been in my corner for situations like this; (he’s) a guy who, when you get on the plane, you can actually talk (about) the game and talk about my wrongs and rights. But I feel like that’s the biggest thing for me. We’ll do a better job of that.” In conclusion, does Adebayo agree with Butler’s assessment that they’ll be shocking the basketball world and raising the Larry O’Brien trophy seven months from now? “That’s ****ing right. Yeah. Anything other than that, there’s nothing (else) in this league. There’s winning, and there’s misery. There’s no in between. So your whole aspiration when you walk in here — you see the banners, you see the trophies — that’s inspiration for us. You start to envision yourself winning and holding that trophy. We went to the finals. We’ve been to the Eastern Conference finals twice. Now it’s time for us to get over that hump.”
Nets bounced back last night, they slaughtered young pacers, that could be deemed as a revenge game for losing to those kids the other night, you can feel a vibe of the revenge as much as KD's huge angriness (Nets kept Ben Simons as DNP, instead, gave Watanabe 20min is a pretty interesting nuance of this game) ----------------------------- Bulls Heat Magic Suns
Magic lineup of 4 bigs on defense against any competent guard who can dribble - whoo boy. Not great! Can't wait to be disappointed when our backcourt crew settles for 27 foot jumpers and struggles to break double digits against it
