The Miami Heat are Back!

The Miami Heat are Back!

Ever since Jimmy Butler was signed and traded to the Miami Heat in the 2019 off season we have seemingly overlooked the Heat team every single year yet despite our reservations on the team’s success they have outdone their expectations every year the question remains for this season can they do it

Again they do have a timeout decide not to use a curry way downtown bang bang oh what a shot from curry with six t a second remaining yo everybody welcome back to game time it’s your boy Dom and if you guys do enjoy make sure you guys drop a

Like And subscribe for more it greatly helps out the channel but without further Ado let’s jump right into things here today now today today today we are talking about none other than the Miami Heat one of the most successful organizations in the entirety of the NBA

Making the NBA Finals twice in the last four seasons as well as having a separate East team Conference Finals run with win they with the w seed back in 2021 2022 the Miami Heat have been exemplary over the past few years and have shown that they are one of the most

Gritty teams and are willing to get it done no matter how especially last year being a team that was very overlooked as an eight seed that went on to go to the NBA finals where they ultimately lost to my Denver Nuggets but what a run it was

That nobody expected now this team has only had homecourt Advantage once over the entirety of the Jimmy Butler era which is something we’ll get to here in a second but I just just want to attest to the fact that the Miami Heat might be getting on the run a lot earlier than

They did last year they are currently eight of two in their last 10 games their only two losses coming to the most winning organization in the League this year in Boston and the team that they lost to in the NBA finals last year in the Denver Nuggets so them pushing

Themselves out of the play at this point getting up to the six seed at 35 and 26 is huge for them because it actually puts them in a better situation than they’ve been in for the majority of the time that they’ve had Jimmy Butler outside of the one year where they made

The one seed now they currently sit about half a game behind Orlando and New York both sit above them but if they can get above both those teams they’d be sitting at the four seed which would give them homecourt advantage in the first round something that they haven’t

Seen in a while it might not be something that is necessarily the most important fight for Miami but it is a scenario that hasn’t really been possible over the last year or so because last year obviously we saw them be the eight seed earlier in the season

It looked like that similar path would happen but the run that they’ve been able to go on over the past few weeks especially since the All-Star break has been huge for this team and that’s a big attestment to some of the moves that obviously Pat Pat Riley made over the

Off season whether that be the draft or signing certain players even trades last year and this year and then obviously I think one of the biggest things has been Duncan Robinson’s reemergence this season but before we get to Duncan Robinson I just want to look at the team

As a whole and how they’ve been able to get this done throughout the regular season without having Jimmy Butler playoff form really or H Butler whatever you want to call call it kind of come out to this point in the season now this team has been a very good three-point

Shooting team at to this point throughout the year they are bottom 10 in attempts yet top 10 in percentage which is huge for them because it helps make up for that lack of attempts and obviously this team really hangs their hat on the defensive side of the ball so

The better they can shoot the three-point the better that they can kind of progress especially after what we saw last year in the playoffs where they got really really hot going into the postseason having historical numbers and that definitely catapulted them to be able to go far in the playoffs

Especially a year that there’s been such high scoring it doesn’t really concern me that the Heat have still been one of the lower scoring teams in the league just because of the fact that they really do hang their head on the defensive side of the ball now they have

Been 27th in points per game which is not the best and as for their defense though they have been sixth only allowing 109 points per game against them so that is um a net positive I guess if you want to call it that um not

By a ton but it shows you the Stark difference between their defense and their offense where they are one of the best defensive teams in the league and have struggled to be offensive I guess offensively imposing on other teams is the way I was trying

To wear that um and I think a lot of that is consistent throughout the entirety of the Jimmy Butler run to this point now as it goes for leaders on their team Jimmy Butler is currently leading them in points per game without having kind of taken that next step that

We usually see him do in the playoffs at 21.9 B Metabo leads them in rebounds at 10.3 and then Jimmy Butler also this year has been their leading assist assist getter a get assist player best passer I don’t know however you want to word that he’s averaging 4.8 assists on

The season for them but that’s been the playmaking has been spread out that’s the word I was looking for best playmaker um as Tyler Hero has averaged 4.4 for them B bio has averaged 4.1 since getting there Terry Rosier has taken the lead in that playmaking role

Getting up to 5.5 and I guess prior to being traded um Kyle Lowry also is averaging about four assists per game so it’s been a pretty spread of playmaking for the rest of their team or no Kyle Lowry just got cut sorry not traded um but yeah it’s been a pretty spread of

Playmaking for the rest of their team which I think um obviously comes from the fact that you lost gave Vincent who was huge for them last year was their starting point guard and um yeah there isn’t like a true like point guard there isn’t a Chris Paul on this team where

You’re expecting that person to be you know they’re leading assist guy by quite a bit there isn’t a Nicole yic or a LeBron or something like that so it makes sense that it’s been mostly um playmaking by committee but that has worked for this team and um especially

When you that now it seems like a lot more guys on this team are being able to go get their own shot so that’s helped a lot throughout the re season obviously we know what Jimmy Butler is he’s one of the better defensive Wings in the league

Obviously a guy that elevates in the playoffs like almost no other throughout the entirety of History um and so he’s not been a worry but Tyler Hero has been huge for them throughout this regular season averaging over 20 points per game and it’s you know hopeful that they’ll

Have him come play off time is he’s been one of their best three-point Shooters as well shooting almost 40% from three on eight attempts per game um which I mean I guess you could compare with Duncan Robinson’s 6.9 attempts per game and 40.5% from three so it’s very comparable

To who is the best three-point shooter obviously Hero has a little bit more volume Duncan Robinson has a little bit higher percentage whatever it is um but they’ve had two very good Shooters to this point throughout the season which is very similar to what they had last

Year um where Max stru was very good and then obviously I think gab Vincent got super hot in the playoffs where you didn’t have Tyler hero so you are hoping that a guy like Terry r who you brought in at the deadline can be a little bit better for you especially considering

How much they had to give up for him because when we start talking about Terry roier you had to give up a 2027 first round pick to go out and get him and um that obviously also included KY Lowry who went on to get caught as well

But it was a high price from what the Miami Heat were wanting to pay and a much lower asset than what they were looking at as obviously this was a team that was linked to potentially going and getting a Donovan Mitchell or Trey young or something like that that was like a

True like oh yeah this guy can be your number one scorer on a championship team obviously I think Jimmy Butler at this point has proven that he could as well um but Terry rier is no nowhere near in the category of player that those two are and since getting them he has

Definitely taken a sharp decline so you hope that you can see him get back to where he was in Charlotte now there is I guess some positive that he has come in and average their most assist per game on the team but his points per game has

Dropped almost 10 points per game since getting to Miami going from 23 to 13 and then as it goes for percentages not only has his percentage from the field dropped significantly but his percentage from three has dropped about 14% to bring him down to a 24% 3o shooter in

Miami which is pretty atrocious um considering he’s supposed to be a guy that’s very good from three so hopefully some of that kind of picks back up and he’s been the one guy that we haven’t quite seen get um I guess that next step since getting to Miami now he’s only

Played 13 games here in Miami and hopefully you know as you get closer to the playoffs or in the playoffs he kind of reverts back to where was and Charlotte um but that does leave a huge question mark on this team once it comes playoff time what doesn’t leave a huge

Question mark outside of the main three obviously being Jimmy Butler Tyler herro and babio is their rookie their rookie haime hawz Jr has been great for them he’s obviously one of the older rookies coming in at 23 years old or 22 Now 23 um so happy late birthday to ha hakz

Just turned 23 in February um but yeah he’s been amazing for this team what worried me initially when he was or when we were getting into the draft was if he would be similar to Johnny juang who came out of UCLA a few years ago as well where we saw Jen be very

Good for UCLA in March Madness then go on to go undrafted and not be great in the league obviously he’s bounced around a little bit I think he’s on Utah now and or he might have only been on Utah whatever it is he hasn’t been great

Right and he was a guy that helped push him super far ha HZ kind of took over and was that guy for UCLA it was a question you know he ends up going in the first round and it was like to me I was like uh is he going to do what juang

Did and he’s been the exact opposite he has been a Pros Pro as a rookie which is something um to you know credit him for uh to this point throughout his career to just be able to come into the NBA average 13 points per game be one of the

Leading contributors on a team that went to the finals last year and just fitting seemingless Le especially you know considering that this is definitely a playoff Riser team so for him to be so effective throughout the regular season and help them win games has been big and it it’s definitely shown throughout the

Regular season um but to get back to what I was talking about earlier with Duncan Robinson who I think has been one of the craziest stories in the league that maybe hasn’t been talked about enough this year is just his Resurgence last year he plays 42 games he only

Starts one game and he averages six points per game on 32% from three um which essentially is a career low because it’s the lowest he shot since his rookie year where he only played 15 games right and really the lowest since he got on the scene because for the

Three years prior he shot um 44% from three 40% % from three and 37% from three respectively all on eight attempts per game or more essentially and last year we just saw such a decline where he wasn’t trusted to be in the rotation the defense was clearly a liability he

Really couldn’t do anything but shoot and that was at its lowest point throughout his career especially in attempts as well his attempts nearly cut in half as well as his percentage going down so we saw a stark decline in him last year and being on quite a huge

Contract for this team averaging almost $20 million per season for them and that goes until 2025 2026 just as long as Jimmy Butler’s contract and Bam bio’s contract go with this team so he was locked up as a crucial part of this team and definitely struggled a ton last year

Became one of the most untradeable contracts in the league but then we see him this year reverts back to form shooting over 40% on almost seven attempts per game averaging nearly a career high in points on averaging a career high in steals he’s been more of

Off the dribble guy he’s been able to start for them come off the bench for them be there when they need him type guy and he’s played played one of the most games for the team as well in playing 55 games for the team to this

Point when you look at the rest of the team this team has struggled with guys not playing a lot of games Jimmy Butler’s dealt with some off the court stuff um with his family and then he’s been suspended he’s had some injuries Tyler Hero’s only played 36 games Terry

Roier just got brought in and it’s only been thir played 13 games but Duncan Robinson has been the most consistent player for them playing 55 games which is most of any play on the roster second would be haih hakz which again has been huge for them throughout the regular season

And then also B bio has been their third best or third most player third most played game played player however you word that he’s played the third most games for them um throughout the regular season with 50 but yeah Duncan Robinson has just had such a stark contrast to

What he was last year and has just been huge for this team so if he can keep up this efficiency and he can keep up the improvements that he clearly made to his game to kind of get back into the rotation then he’s going to be a guy

That you know could be an xfactor type of player for them when we we get to the playoffs because who knows he’s a guy that could go seven of seven from three and just light up the game and all of a sudden you have a guy scoring 20 30

Points that you didn’t expect to that night right and so I think that’s just something that Miami have relied on in the past with their role players and he’s definitely been able to um step up to the plate this season and obviously in years past um excluding last year so

It is something that the team didn’t have last year and does have this year and it makes the loss of Max streu in the offseason and the loss of Gab Vincent in the offseason little bit more manageable because you have a guy like um Duncan Robinson getting back to a

Form because you have a guy like haime hawz you know coming in as a rookie and being able to be excellent for this team and then obviously you make a trade to go get Terry roier to add a potential another playmaker and um you know shot creator for himself as well which you

Know as you look at this team they I think have more shot creators this year they are a deeper team you still have a guy like Caleb Martin who is huge for them in the playoffs you still have a guy like Kevin Love who is huge for them

In the playoffs you also have a guy like Josh Richardson who has been pretty solid for this team as well and it’s just a I think a more formidable team than a team that last year went to the NBA finals um they also just brought in

Delon Wright as well who we’ll see how he kind of M meshes with the team he’s only played three games for them to this point um averaging five points but he’s another guy that you know if Terry roer can’t get it together okay Delon Wright

Is a guy that offers a little bit more defensively he’s a veteran guard as well so we’ll see how that kind of goes together um the backup big situation I guess would be your biggest question mark but you know once you get playoffs you have nine guys that you can really

Rely on and then I guess if you saw a Kevin Love injury or B out of Bio injury um obviously something that we don’t want to see but you know injuries are a real thing and I guess you have to account for them right um you do have a

Guy like Thomas Bryant who has you know one championships and he’s been there um throughout deep playoff runs who could step in you have a second round rookie I believe in Orlando Robinson who stepped in and played decently for him actually in the Nuggets game the other day that

The Miami Heat actually lost um I saw him get the ball a lot more than I would have expected him to um actually I think it was about halfway through where I was like who is it and I look him up and I was like oh okay it’s their second round

Rookie or whatever um but I was very shocked to see how much he was planning in getting involved on offense and we’ll see if that you know translates or comes to fruition come playoff time I’d be shocked if he gets a lot of playoff minutes um especially you know having

Brought in D right I could see this being a team that goes a little bit more small ball if you don’t have bam on the court but it was an issue for them last year in the playoffs where if B wasn’t on the court you could tell that this

Team didn’t have the size to necessarily match up with the like the likes of the Denver Nuggets and when you look at their own conference this season well the Boston Celtics only got bigger getting porzingis and adding him to their lineup and then obviously the Milwaukee Bucks are a huge team with

Brick Lopez and Giannis and Bobby Porters and like that’s a lot of size that you have to worry about so it is a concern um if you are a Heat fan or if you’re looking at the heat for a playoff run what they are going to do size-wise

Come playoff but I do think that bam helps mitigate that a lot it it’s just can he be the only true five playing for you is the real question and I think something that hasn’t necessarily been answered by this team but if they can keep up the three-point shooting that

They keep they’re going to you know push some guys off the court and it’s not really going to matter as much um come playoff time so yeah I think this is just another year where it’s hard to count this team out um a lot of people

Have counted them out over the past few seasons and it’s definitely bit people in the butt um and I don’t know I mean them going on A8 8-2 streak to this point pushing themselves into a position where they could have homecourt Advantage for the second time since

Having Jimmy Butler in the first round and they just seem to kind of be meshing at the right time to not only go on a run for the rest of this regular season where they actually have a fairly easy schedule when you look at things they

Get to play Washington they get to play Detroit a few times they get to go play Toronto two times to end the season and hopefully go in a little win streak into the playoffs like there are quite a few teams that are kind of bottom feeders in the Eastern Conference that they can

Hopefully pick up some extra wins on and help Propel themselves up the standings in the East the I I just think them being at a higher standing and not having to worry about the play and just being able to get right in get in a seven game series getting their flow um

Is exactly what you want for this team and so again I just think it’s another year where it’s hard to count them out and I think a lot of people might still be slightly overlooking this team as obviously Boston has been so good and been such a Juggernaut in the Eastern

Conference this year I think they should be such a favorite Milwaukee has finally started to figure things out on the defensive side of things and has you know gone on a big win streak now having Doc Rivers and looks like they could be a little bit more of a formidable team

Than we might have thought a couple weeks ago come playoff time the New York Knicks have obviously seen a lot of success although dealt with a lot of injuries as well um something I think that might need to be more talked about about how Tom Tio and all of his teams

Are just so injury riddled um due to the way that he plays his players but I again I think the Miami Heat have started to beun being overlooked again and it’s um not something that’s voted well for a lot of people overlooking this team in the past so I don’t know if

The Miami Heat are going to go on a big run I don’t know if they’re going to win the NBA finals or anything like that or even make it back but I’m not willing to count them out again and not necessarily saying I’ve counted them out but I’m not

Willing to count them out I guess um just because I mean this team has the track record to get it done when it matters and it’s just too hard to look at the Miami Heat and say they can’t win a playoff series versus any team in

Almost the NBA just due to the fact that they can get so hot from three they have the continuity um and then they obviously have one of the better risers in the playoffs like I said of all time in Jimmy Butler so it’s super hard to

Count this team out and I’m not saying again that I expecting them to go to the NBA finals um but I won’t say that I don’t think they can uh but yeah I I guess the answer to the question of can they do it again is I don’t know um if

You guys did enjoy make sure you guys drop a like And subscribe for more it helps out the channel a ton again and I appreciate it so much it’s bring your boy Dom from game time and I’ll catch youall next time peace out guys so are

You pointing at him or me I’m pointing at Tyler all right I’m pointing at me you can swim though huh yeah so I I might point at you I can’t swim so I I no reason swi either you can’t swim uh-uh oh you got Hood Tendencies man you would run with us give

Me got ten

The Miami Heat have been one of the most unpredictable teams in the NBA. Can the Heat make another deep playoff run? Who will be the X-factor for the Miami Heat?

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