Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
The Heat eek out a close one against the Lakers in a Finals rematch.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Adam Pantozzi/Getty Images.)
We all see the Miami Heat struggle. They’re currently 13-17 right now and out of the Top 8 (although let me remind myself that, technically, 10 teams from each conference have an extended season with the play-in games in effect). Sure, they didn’t have the greatest offseason but they were also hit hard by the pandemic. At some point, I even said that it’s so unfair in this already unusual campaign that there really should be an asterisk for this season if teams are getting affected by the coronavirus.
Jimmy Butler himself missed 10 games because of it. Avery Bradley also had it and now he’s missing games because of a calf injury. Tyler Herro has been shuffled around the line-up and he missed games because of the now-infamous phrase, “health and safety protocols.” Kendrick Nunn (yeah, I know) missed games for the same reason. Meyers Leonard is already out for the season with a shoulder injury. Mo Harkless has struggled with injuries as well and Goran Dragic went down with an ankle injury a couple of weeks ago. Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Kelly Olynyk, and Andre Iguodala have been mostly available as well as rookie Precious Achiuwa but it’s tough to play well when teams don’t have that continuity. They’ve, at least, had the same starters the last 8 games so that’s a plus.
Either way, they did lose some important rotation players from last season as well. Jae Crowder moved on to Phoenix, Derrick Jones Jr. went to Portland, and Solomon Hill went to Atlanta. And, again, it’s hard for them to know what they have because the line-ups have been jumbled around all season.
But they seem to be finding some sort of groove. The Heat are 6-3 in their last 9 games. Butler had FOUR triple-doubles in his last 6 games. They beat the Lakers (who were also shorthanded themselves) on Saturday night. Bam Adebayo’s game continues to improve. Despite going back-and-forth between starter and bench player, Herro has done pretty well. Butler admitted himself on The Jump that they had been playing terrible. But I also believe him when they said they’ll be all right. Obviously, their health comes first but as far as the game? They’ll be back. They’ll find a rhythm. And they’ll play better.
I mean, they probably already found that rhythm now. It’s too bad for the rest of the East because this was their chance to kick Miami down.
Bullet Passes
I’m sure LeBron James caught heat (har har) for passing up the last shot and giving it to Alex Caruso, who was 0 for 2 before the potential game-tying shot. Maybe Bron was tired because he looked listless for most of the game. He just kind of let the double team get to him before passing it off to a cold Caruso.
I mean, it’s the right basketball play on the surface but if you consider the fatigue (Bron) and the cold (Caruso), then maybe it wasn’t.
Sometimes, the win streaks come to a halt just like that. Bradley Beal scored 37 and Russell Westbrook got his 8th triple-double (27-11-13) to offset Damian Lillard‘s 35 points as the Wizards surprise the Blazers. Portland had a 6-game win streak stopped.
It’s a good run for Portland, too, because they’re doing this without CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. McCollum will be evaluated in about 10 days while Nurkic has maybe another 3-4 weeks to go. In the meantime, Lillard will have to keep them afloat.
Phoenix is getting scarier.
Zach LaVine scored 38 points as the Bulls continue to have a somewhat surprising season. I said LaVine was a borderline all-star last year and I don’t think he should be denied of a spot this season. He’s been fantastic (29-6-5 averages).
So Draymond Green got ejected after Charlotte got a timeout call after a jumpball.
Draymond Green was ejected with nine seconds left and a two-point Warriors lead.
A wild sequence. pic.twitter.com/J5dhSBTc0Q
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 21, 2021
First of all, I’ll say that it was weaksauce for the refs to do something like this.
I also understand that the situation has to be gauged. Some refs have a quick trigger at this sort of thing. And Draymond can be emotional. He should’ve just let it go, no matter how bad the reffing was. But it was such a huge call because it led to that play by a scary player (you can scroll down if you want).
Does this also qualify as the dumbest smart play?
NBA Scoreboard
Feb. 20, 2021
Watch This Play
Terry Rozier was here.
SCARY.
TERRY.
CALLS.
GAME.Terry Rozier scores the @hornets final 10 points and buries the ice-cold #TissotBuzzerBeater! 🚨🚨🚨#AllFly #ThisIsYourTime pic.twitter.com/9Ytson0NYL
— NBA (@NBA) February 21, 2021
Difficult shot but what a win for the Hornets.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.