Miami Heat Beat Pistons to Win 5th Straight After Bam Adebayo's Public Challenge

He beat the Pissons easily on Sunday after a really solid two way effort and have now won five straight games beating good teams and bad teams during the street

But this begs the question West as Miami turned the corner at just the right time David. I don't even think it's a question

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I'm here with David or Mill both of us are credentialed heat media members who cover this team every day

Got a shunt a fun show for you today

Credit cookies currently baking in the oven listen or questions to get to in the third segment

We are recording this after the heats 121 to 110 win over the Detroit pistons two nights after the heat beat the NBA's hottest team

They come back and beat the team with the league's best record might take away from this game David

five straight wins

Since band met a bio called out his team in the locker room in Philadelphia

Lamented the fact that this team was headed potentially for another play in tournament said that we're better than this

You and I talked on the show about what that meant whether that was strong leadership or poor leadership by BAM well

Five since then five straight wins five games five wins this team is turning a corner. It seems

Certainly though. They're playing their best basketball of the season

Especially right now after after beating the hornets on Friday night a game that we did recap on Saturday morning

And then this win against Detroit now granted the pistons coming off

Playing the second night of a back-to-back after losing in Brooklyn

They're in a little bit of a tough stretch right now themselves

But you got to hand it to the heat this this is this was a quality win and they handed it to the pistons team

They won in every single area right?

This wasn't just a matter of the heat making a bunch of shots and the pistons missing a bunch of shots because they tired legs on the second night

I've backed it back on the road. They won in transition. They won on the boards

They won in every single area and this heat team is starting to do that a lot more consistently

I know that we've talked about consistency on this podcast. I know the Eric Spolster has talked about it

BAM has talked about it. This team right now is delivering and

You can't help but wonder like BAM called that the team out and they are playing with the kind of energy and a kind of fight

That I don't really think we've seen from them all season long until this point

No, that's what makes a difference

I think because the games at the beginning of the season when they were playing that fast-paced offense and nobody was really expecting at those

Or fun games. It was a really fun style of offense from a team that's been really mediocre

If not outright poor and then regards their offense over the last few seasons

So that was great to witness

But I think the context of what they've done over the last five games is what really makes this stand out as their best stretch

Because these games matter more because you're going through your own injury issues where you're missing your top score and all star in norm

Power you've missed Andrew Wiggins for a number games players have been in and out and Tyler here a returning to the line

I've been kind of figuring himself out and bouncing back in a way that I don't think a lot of people expected to be where he's putting up some incredible numbers

And that'll be reflected when he gets some cookies later on this segment

But you know what it's just been a really great effort from him

From everyone on this team and they've really again

Seemed to understand what's had stayed here and that's what I've been looking for the sense of urgency and understanding of what these games mean

Why you can't just give up these losses to bad teams you drop one to Milwaukee that you showed of one

You bounce back against Philadelphia. It's a close game

But you probably could have won that one too and then bam makes a statement

So I'm not sure if there's a direct correlation to that. I don't even care the reality is now

You're responding at just the right time when you figure things out

And I think that's what really makes these games

Matter of so much more to me is that the fact that they're just at the right time when you're trying to make a push in the playoffs

And trying to continue climbing up the Eastern conference standings which they've done they were and I not too far ago

And now they're up to six so they've really done a fantastic job with his five game win streak

They could end up in six by the time everybody wakes up Monday morning

We had a couple more games left in regards to the standings tonight, but

Um to your point david like they are playing with a level of

Effort that is a little bit there. I don't want to go so far as to say that there's a playoff atmosphere or a playoff approach

Because nothing really you don't you're not in the play you can't simulate that right you're not in the playoffs until you're in the playoffs

But this team has been open about the fact that they want to avoid the play in and for everybody that wants

The heat to pick a direction. This is the direction right

Avoid the play in it might not be the direction you want you might feel like it's not a very strong direction

But the direction is go out when a bunch of basketball games stack wins and avoid the play in term

And this team wants to be a legitimate top six seed maybe even a top five seed in the Eastern conference

And that is the direction that they've picked we'll see if they can accomplish that goal

But that's the direction that this team is taking right now and you talking talking to players in the in the locker room talking the coaching staff

They're all on the same page and very open about the fact that hey

We are kind of watching the standings like that is our goal. That's the rally and cry

You've seen you've heard teams and seen teams in the past being like we're not we're not looking at the standings

We're focused on what's in front of us

That's not really the messaging that's happening with this heat team

And I find that interesting because this is a heat team that does tend to kind of put its head in the sand and try to

tune out all the things on the outside not even outside noise just like anything on the outside and just sort of like we got to win this

loose ball and that's all that matters and it's like no like the standings matter and sometimes that bulletin board material does matter

And gives you that little extra oomph whatever it is that that motivation that

That direction again, and I do think that everybody right now is in lockstep and saying we've got to put in the work now

Because we we are better than a play in team

I think not just because we want to get the week off because we want to eat it to your path in the playoffs

But I think there's a lot of sense of pride in that too David. Yeah, absolutely

I it's just a great effort and I don't know we can't really break down too much of it because it just feels like

We see it the effort is tangible at the very least that much we know the cause of it seems up in the air

But again, I don't know that how much it really matters

It's just it's good to see everybody kind of polarized working together and understanding what's at stake here because again

I don't know that that has been something that we've seen a lot over the course of season where they started off hot

And they take to put it off quite a bit

They went through some losing streaks they missed you know Tyler here for a big chunk of the season

It was difficult for them to try and get any footing

But they finally figured it out and again the fact that they're doing this without norm and Andrew Wiggins is really big to me

And you know a couple of other key players that they've been missing for the rotation as well

But it's just a really phenomenal effort, but I do want to ask you a question

Yeah, no because I'm curious because I think a lot of people will look at this game

Maybe even outside of Miami Heat fandom and they'll wonder is this just because they caught the pistons off guard

Because they were came they came in late

I know the broadcast kept mentioning that they arrived at like four o'clock in the morning after their loss in Brooklyn

And I before and I know that they were fatigued and they did look at for a big part of the game

But at the same time Kate Cunningham didn't play that loss against Brooklyn

And he was available tonight and he had a phenomenal game

He did him and Jalen during their two ulcers were really the top players all game long

But at the same time, I think Miami just well

They did what they're supposed to and you can't really look at whether or not a team is fatigued or not

The reality is you just got to fight what's in front of you

Whether that team is in a hundred percent shape or not and I think that's a credit to Miami

Is that they're looking at a very good Detroit team and they're saying you know what they might be not at their best right now

And we got to take advantage. We got to find a ways to exploit whatever advantages we can create

I think it's a fair

If you're gonna criticize the win which seems strange

But if you're gonna do that if you're gonna nitpick maybe is a better phrase

Yeah, I think it's fair to nitpick the fact that the pistons are coming on the second item back to back

But you're right Kate didn't play and he was awesome in this game now

They didn't get anything from any other role player

It really felt like it was Kate and Jalen and that was and just like bodies out there

It didn't feel like anybody else with the pistons showed up in this game

Even Isaiah Stewart who had 14 points in the game was a minus 15

I think he was atrocious defensively and he's had a tremendous defensive season but

um

So if you want to nitpick fine. I'm okay with that. I honestly am

Take a larger sample though these last five games

Yeah, a couple again a couple against Brooklyn

But you just beat Charlotte and you just beat Detroit over a weekend

The heater playing really good ball I on a show last week

I mentioned the fact that their point differential is really high

They're moving up in offensive rating

They've been a tremendously elite defensive team all season long top five and defense writing pretty much all season

Um

This they're they're streaming together real quality basketball

And they're doing it by winning on the margins and they're doing it by all this

I want to put a number to some of the stuff that we're talking about just but playing harder and playing well

I mean they won all of the things they won all the things yeah 48 rebounds to 40 rebounds they won the rebound

They won the turnover battle they won the points in the paint

They outscored the the pistons 22 to 6 on fast break points clean in the glass does a this great um

Stat where it take it gives you the percentile of where you ranked in certain categories and in transition

The heat ranked the 95th percentile in the league of all games played this season in transition points

They they basically added 10.3 points per 100 possessions via transition opportunities in this game

Which is an insane number and they basically did it off of live rebounds right?

It's one thing to be like the thunder or this pistons team routinely that just takes the ball from you

And then scores on the other end because you're getting the ball at half court

And then you're just running from the half court line to the rim

No, this team is

Hustling for defensive boards against a physical pistons team that has a law

I walk I walked by Jalen dirt in the locker room David. I've never seen a bigger person in my life

Like that guy's a met he is huge that guy is a brick that guy makes a brick wall blush. He is that big

um

But and so the heat and bam in particular had his hands full with that guy

They won the rebounding battle and off those rebounds

They would score

Over and over and over again

I just I thought the effort was tremendous and that's the number that you put to the effort

So it's like I said it's one thing to just sit here and say oh they gave great effort like I said

It's always really easy to say after a win that the effort was good right like it's almost like

Nobody's ever showed good effort in a loss. It feels like

But you know you could try really hard and still lose basketball games

But the heat are trying really hard but they're making shots

Uh, and they're winning basketball games at a really high level right now playing some of their best basketball ball of the season

Coming up next credit cookies

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Every day

Well david it's another Miami heat win which means it's time for the tastiest segment of locked on heat at its time

For credit cookies is always we have ten to hand out after a heat win. Where do you want to begin?

They put on like five pounds during this win streak like I can't be eating the credit cookies here

You know, so you know what I teased it earlier

So let me start off with a Tyler hero because I think that's just the story

It's gonna be the most obvious thing that stands out for this high heat performance

But to finish the game with 25 points

Eight of 16 shooting four of eight from three point range getting through the line doing it always rebounding

The assist numbers were a little bit less than they because I think they did a really good job of just keeping him from making plays

But rather just for some to be more aggressive and he responded the way that you'd expect them to I think it's a really really good night from Tyler

He really responded

You know after a strong and I think that's even putting it a little bit too mildly strong game against Charlotte

He had a really good game against Detroit

He wasn't the best guard on the floor, but he was pretty close

So that's saying something considering Kate cutting him is in the MVP conversation

I think Tyler was kind of almost step-for-step right there with him

And he's just a great job of again initiating offense being aggressive looking for his shots

At just also be a little bit more verbal

I don't know if you could see it from your street your seat at the arena

But I thought he was being a little bit more verbal just a talent pay players again into their sets to be aggressive to push the pace etc

You talked about the pace in the first segment

I think Tyler was a big part of that just wanting to make sure that things were intentional

You know just attacking attacking attacking

Working off of those rebounds and getting into those shots early on and I think he was a huge part of that

So to me, I think he was a player of the game. I got to give him four credit cookies

Well deserved I thought it was the almost perfect Tyler hero game

I love the fact they got to the free throw line

I know you do too you always point this out five of six from the free throw line got to the

Free throw line more than Kate cutting handed in this one

I love that physicality that Tyler is playing with probably should have gotten to the line for three more free throws

That weird

I think it was Duncan Robinson that fouled him and it was clearly in the shooting motion and they called it on the floor

And I was everybody was kind of scratching their head on media row

Whatever that's over there

Took 16 shots in this game eight of which were from three point range

And I have been on this for probably two or three years now with Tyler where that's about right

He is such a good three point shooter that he 50% of his shots should be from three point range

I don't want him taking all the shots from three right like you don't want him to become you know

You know like Clay Thompson now or something like that where it's like 80% a Sam Merrill or like where 80% of their shots are from three point range

Because his float game is elite

I true like the numbers back it up over the last couple of years like nobody in the league has a better floater than Tyler hero

Um his float games elite you wanted to get to that you wanted to get to the free throw line like I mentioned

And he's got a nice layup package that he can get to also and we saw that in this game too

But that three ball is so elite and it does such it's so important in Miami's offense for spacing the floor

Especially around guys like bam and Davie on Mitchell and and Pella and Jaime

I thought it was an almost perfect and yeah the assist one there

But the turnovers weren't there either three to one. That's a good assist to turnover ratio. I'm taking that every single night with Tyler

And I do think some of his passes while he didn't get credit for the assist in the flow of the offense quick decision making now with Tyler and

We're starting to see more of this again

Where him and bam are flowing into more pick and roll actions when that first action doesn't necessarily work out right with where they want to run that transition

Isolation attack when that doesn't work and they have to pull it out

They're flowing into some and they have good chemistry obviously in their two-man game because they've played together as long as they have

But they're willing to flow into some pick and roll stuff and even even get some of those bam dribble handoffs

Unlocked again too and I like a lot of that

Tyler hero since he came back

40% from three 50% overall shooting this guy's playing tremendous

I mean he's right back playing at an all-star level

It's like they've almost acquired an all-star since the all-star break when Tyler hero came back

It's I know you know, it's not exactly that because Norm Powell is also hurt during that time

Is it I asked I think was it the Charlotte game where Simone Fontechio made those two back-to-back threes at the beginning of the fourth quarter

And I asked you is it possible to have a dagger that early in the game like within the first few minutes of the fourth quarter

Well in this game my Tyler hero made back-to-back threes with four minutes left

In the third quarter to put the heat up 27 and I had the same thought. I'm like how are like is it too early for pay-poss?

Is it like four minutes left in the third quarter?

Like that felt like the dagger now all due respect of Detroit and I know it wasn't done yet

But it was it was basically done at that point

Yeah, I mean they outscored Miami 30 to 18 in the fourth quarter

But that was mostly garbage points. They were pretty much floundering at that point

And yeah, they they tried to mount a pseudo comeback against Miami's reserves, but it didn't get a flat goal

That's how it handles it earlier. Yeah, the game was decided pretty early on

So four cookies for hero who's next?

I've got three going to bam at a bio

Just slightly less because of the efficiency 7 to 17 from the four

But just as impactful you mentioned the match-up against during and I know you tweeted it out that you were monitoring that one

That was a really difficult like I think bam is quicker a little bit more savvy

I would say but the physicalities it's it's a tough match-up because dirt is

Really strong really tall. It's just a huge body out there

And he's playing at an all-star level like he got the all-star not over bam

But I think bam to his credit did a pretty good job of responding and figuring it out

He went four of 10 for three-point range. That's 40 percent

I mean, I know that the three-point shooting it might be a little bit too much

But I think if the paint's being walled off you want to stretch the floor as much as possible

I think Miami still had a pretty good shot diet overall. They shot 93 for the field goal attempts only 33 of those from three-point range

So it wasn't like they were just bombing away with no reason

They were attacking the paint as you said they led the points in the paint. They were getting transition buckets

So I think it was just crazy that they took 33 three-point attempts and bam accounted for 10 of them

So the rest of bam took 10 the rest of the team took 23 threes

That's pretty easy

But yeah, the re-credit cookies for him and I rebound six assists to so they were working him

It's the hub of the hub of the offense and I think it worked really well tonight

So like I you mentioned my tweet and I was monitoring it from the jump and the first play of the game

Bam tries to take

Jalen Dern on a drive Jalen Dern just bumps them out of bounds basically and bam turns it over

Yeah, it wasn't a legal contact. It was totally fair defense

And then on the next play Jalen Dern just drove right by bam for a dunk and I was like oh boy

Here we go

There was another rebound that bam fought for and had to fight for his light

He ended up tipping it to a teammate and Miami came away with a defensive rebound

Which is a classic bam thing it doesn't always grab the rebound but

Miami's defensive rating percentage is always really high when bam is on the court

They've always they've historically been an elite defensive rebounding team when bam's on the floor even if his own defensive rebounding numbers aren't

Up there with some of the top guys like a Jalen Dern for instance, but

I was like oh like is he gonna he's gonna do this all night

Like it's one thing to do in the first couple minutes of the game. He's got to do this all night against this guy

Well, he did he did it all night against that guy and you've got to give credit to bam. That's why

He's the guy like that's why he's like sort of the torchbearer of the culture and the hardworking and the the knee pads and all that kind of stuff

What I really like though is that he didn't try to out Jalen Dern in this game because later on in the first quarter

Jalen Dern's gonna do the Jalen Dern thing

So he's gonna be a lob threat with Kate and all those things set really hard screens over the rim all that

Bam took

Not only with the ten threes, but I thought he got into his finesse game and his touch game a little bit more

Had a great play in the middle of the first quarter soft touch runner over Jalen Dern

And I thought that was a really interesting way to combat his size because he kind of take he takes the shot like

Six feet away from the basket-ish

We're during really once you drop towards the rim and be a rim protector and in that traditional way

I thought bam kind of

Throughout some curveballs in this one

And I thought I got the best of Jalen Dern who's had a really good defensive season

I thought Dern was good overall in this game

But I thought bam got the better of him

I think very deserving it was it was a kind of a savvy veteran savvy game from bam yep in this one

Yeah, I think yeah

I'm recognizing the matchup and understanding how to counter it and he we've heard

Say this to you know that's a counter to the counters at this point

His band continues to get a develop his games things that sort and I think you really saw him

Understanding it's like, you know what?

I'm not gonna be able to out most of this guy

I can't out for nesting and I think that's exactly what he did tonight

I've got two credit cookies going to Jaime Hock is junior 19 points for him really saw in game

His efficiency wasn't great six of 18 so 33 percent overall hit another three, which is great

Also got to the line six times with the playmaking seven assists. That really gives him the nod there again one from his butt

Has the year right?

I was a heck of an assist and also five rebats. So again a big part of that

Initiating those fast break opportunities. Jaime as always

Really getting into those actions very early on

But also making the right read understanding what the defense is giving him and understanding how to get other guys going as well

Great backdoor cut as well. Just another one as always, you know

He's just so understanding. He's so smart and understanding the space sitting out on the floor. He's really a heavy player, but

Did have that unfortunate dunk attempt that was blocked by the rim?

You wonder was it the rim? You had a better it looked like eyes. I a Stewart got it

Was it was it ended ended up being the rim you saw it on the broadcast. Yeah, yeah

I thought Isaiah Stewart got a hand on it

No, I thought it was a great high-may game the playmaking is there

I asked Eric Bolster about the playmaking after the game and he made a great point about how high-may is doing like

The first option for high-may is obviously get to the basket right eat up space guys close to the room is possible

Make that turn around jumper or the floater or the runner or whatever the lay-ups. Whatever you got to do

But when that gets walled off right because we've seen opponents put centers on them big men on them

We've seen them put multiple guys on them. Obviously. We've seen the defenses experiment with zone against Miami's offense

so when he does get stopped what's the next option and

Sposed that high-may has done a lot of work into just making that simple pass making that easy read to the guy who's behind them

And it reminds me a little bit of remember like the deon waiters go on draw catch offense

When it would be one of those two guys driving and it was just driving kick and he just kind of went into the whirlpool of driving kick

Driving kick driving kick over and over and over until you got a decent shot

Well, that's sort of what high-may's job is is hey drive and if that's walled off kick and let somebody else drive

And then you kind of come back out and then maybe you try again and we've seen high-may a lot of times get the ball back in a possession

And try again on the second try and get to the basket

But what's happening a lot more now is I think he's making those easy reads a lot faster in his drive like as soon as that

That paint is walled off

He's been really quick to get the ball to somebody behind him and then that player either drives or shoots it or whatever

And I think that's why you're seeing as assist numbers tick up a little bit more recently

That's a great point definitely something to monitor there

I know we're kind of going against the gun here of time wise, but you know what I got to give out

What last critical key to Calil where I think he had a really solid game 12 points in 26 minutes six of nine for the floor

Miss all of his three point attempts didn't let that get to him

I think he was really solid in his minutes six rebounds

No assists two steals two blocks

So the block numbers continue to be something I think he wasn't as much of the impact

There I think Durin was able to bully him a little bit that would be a tough match if I think for a guy like where who's not necessarily as physical

But I think where did a pretty good job figuring it out responding over the course of the game and making the right adjustments

So he that his defense could still be impactful and that's why I got to give him the credit cookie

Nobody else really had a standout game to me

I did like Myron Gardner and his effort while he was down the floor. He just contrasts a little bit

That's always fun to watch

So Gardner definitely has a little extra spiciness to him

But you know what pala as usual, but he had a bad night shooting

But everybody's just playing very well

I just like the cohesiveness here from everybody playing together as a group and stepping up to find their spots here

It's been a real joy to watch this team grow over the last few games and continue to get better as the season is going on

One thing on Kaleil Isaiah Stewart spent the entire time looking up at Kaleil. I mean he

They just threw lobs over Isaiah Stewart over and over and over again

I think Stewart just didn't have any answer for the Kaleil lob and he had back-to-back lobs in the third or the fourth quarter

Maybe the end of the third quarter

That just kind of helped put the game away. So great. I thought him making himself available for those lobs and running the floor

That was huge and that continues to be a bigger and bigger part of the offense is Kaleil gets more and more minutes as the coaching staff

Trust them more and more. We got some listener questions to get to including whether or not the heat are poised to make a run

One question even about the Eastern conference finals

coming up next

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Jonah writes in congrats to bam on 10,000 points and the in the team for two back-to-back

Best wins of the season. Yes, congratulations to bam the second player in heat history to score

10,000 points joining obviously Dwayne Wade who has like 21,000 points. So he's got a ways to go to catch D-Wade

But yeah, that's that's a big that's a big number for bam. It's a that's a big milestone

Yeah, I mean, it's just more offseason content than anything else really

But I think it's a stat to kind of jumps out to maybe fans that don't appreciate what bam has brought to this team

And I think it also speaks to his longevity with this group that he is a cornerstone of fixture

That he is one of the best players in franchise history

Whether you like his game or you don't think he's overrated or whatever the curse might be because I know we've seen the criticism

We get criticized for our support of what bam does bring to the table

I think it's fair to be critical of some things

But you also have to recognize what he's done to this team and for this team or the last few years

And he has grown and emerged as one of the top players in the team's history

And what bam said after the game, you know thinking about how he came out of college as a defensive specialist and just a lob threat

And for him to develop his offensive game to this point

I know people are are gonna want more from bam, right? But for him to get to this point is

Offensively as a player has been pretty tremendous to see his development and his growth

So well deserved congrats to bam on the big milestone there Billy writes and I missed the game for my my son's birthday party

But I just checked the score and I was like what was this like a legit win

Or am I missing some context because I missed the game up 22 over the number one seed in the conference is wild on this current hot streak

No excuse your son's birthday party you couldn't turn the heat game on it's going on

It's it's hard to hear where the bounce house in the background and everybody

Or singing happy birthday the opening of presents. You got a million kids running around. You don't know which ones yours anymore

Okay, you're the man in the house tell the kids to shut up

You know what game on how old are you happy birthday song? Yeah, I'll do a little girl. How old you're a little girl

She'll be seven months soon. Yeah, you don't know what a birthday party is like, buddy

You know what you're gonna get there eventually and you'll be you'll be with you know

Just looking forward to being able to be cohesive at the end of the night and be speaking clearly, you know, so I wouldn't

I would criticize and Billy too much for it, but you know what

Yeah, it's legit game. We talked about it like that. It doesn't matter. All these games count for something

You're it doesn't matter unless it's like egregious for you know

It's you touch ass sitting out players or you're missing all your entire starting lineup on a second night of a back-to-backer

Crazy games where some team hits 21 three-point attempts and you're like all right like we can't beat you

It doesn't matter what we do like no like we talked about it

They won all the margin battles and that's the thing that I keep watching for during the streak

These are not just chance wins. They're doing the things that they say they want to do

Executing those things and those things are leading to wins. They know what the formula is right?

Like they got to win all these margin battles to give themselves a chance in these games

And that's what they're doing they're winning these margin battles

And yeah, you take advantage of a team on the second night of a back-to-back you take advantage of a Brooklyn Nets team

That stinks like you do it, but you do it the right way and that's what the heat are doing

William writes and this team is built great momentum and looked like they belong tonight

What team would you guys think the heat match up the best against going into the playoffs? What round one team would you want to see?

It would obviously be one of the top four seeds david at this point the the pistons the Celtics and nicks the calves

I don't know that we necessarily need to debate the path necessarily, but

They played the pistons well

Is there a team that you wouldn't want to see in that group?

Celtics

Yeah, I'm curious

I just think that their shooting is so, you know, that's sort of aberration there and I think that's

The way they play offensively would be something in Miami wouldn't necessarily be in a good position to defend or to counter

In my opinion

Cleveland I think where their length could be problematic, but I'm curious

I think in a way part of me is almost like you know what you got spanked so completely last year by them in the playoffs

That you almost want to go and see whether or not

This is a more accurate measure or like where you stand against a team like Cleveland and you wonder whether or not

You can capitalize than James Harden

Aspect of it, you know, is he gonna choke it getting the playoffs?

You can just get it. Yeah, if you can get the seven games you're feeling pretty good. Yeah

But honestly if there's a team I think the nicks

I don't know if that's right or wrong, but I feel like the the best match up for Miami would be going up against New York

And I'm not sure if that's a irrational in my part. Maybe I'm just looking to recreate an old rival right there

I know they're gonna get their their foul calls. I know Brunson is gonna be deadly and he's gonna go off for 40 at least

Against Miami, and you wonder about everybody else finding a way to step up and they've got some depth now obviously, but um, I don't know

That's that's a matter of like you know, but you're interesting right because at first you'd be like

Hi, do you really want to deal with Brunson and towns the wings that they've got like the talent on the nicks is is

Undeniable, right? I mean, yeah, you could argue that one of the most talented starting fives in basketball, but

Yeah, I'm I like the matchup of bam versus cat. I like that

I like and I like bam now his ability to stretch the floor a little bit

I like the collel wear element in this right because now you can okay

Well, they got cat and Mitch Robinson. We got bam and wear and I feel pretty good about Miami's end of that

Jalen Brunson is a problem and always will be he's an awesome player

But you know, you got Davie on Mitchell to fight over those screens. You got your Smith to fight over his screens

I like Miami's zone defense against what New York can do force

O'Jane and Obie and McAlbridge's to beat you. I think you could do that

I don't mind that match up at all and maybe a little trip to New York for the playoffs

And in the spring and slash summer. I'm down like that too

um

Denzel writes in could the heat make it to the eastern conference finals

Starting to think that the heat could upset a lot of teams Wiggins and Powell off the bench now

Let's put a pin in the the rotation question with Wiggins and Powell. We can get to that later

um

Heat to the eastern government's finals. Okay, we'll answer that. You don't want to answer it

I don't blame you, but let me know it's like are they in a play internment or should they just tank the rest of the season now five game five wins later

It's like oh can I make the final Eastern conference finals? It's like

I can't like they have too much work to to to go through to actually do

For the rest of the season and once the playoffs start because this is caught

We've seen teams get hot towards the end of the season and then just fall apart in the playoffs

I don't I think what Miami's doing is sustainable

I think that's the bigger point that I don't want any of our listeners to to miss

But at the same time

Everything's different

Everything that they've done could go out the door and you're always an injury away from falling off a cliff

And so I don't um

I don't want to look that far ahead and say oh can they make the eastern conference finals? Is it possible?

Maybe from a larger perspective. Can this team beat anybody in the league?

Maybe not necessarily a seven game series, but can they be any team in the league?

David that's beaten that they they beat the pistons and they beaten the thunder this season

They've beaten the top two teams in each conference. They can be there. There's no question that they can be named anybody

I'm

I'm with you. I don't want to be irresponsible here and do this thing like now

We can make the Eastern comments finals because like two weeks ago we're talking about like do they need to blow it up

Tanking is maybe the right thing like all this stuff. So I don't I don't want to do this, but

The one thing I do know about the NBA is you're never as good as your best and you're never as bad as your worst

And right now Miami is at their best, but this will not last. They'll stumble. Something's gonna happen

Right, they're not gonna just win out for the rest of the season in other words. Something's gonna happen here

My question is now that they're getting healthy tala heroes back

They're best offensive player. I think by pretty wide margin and no disrespect to norm pal, but I think that's clear

And bam playing his best. I think bam is this is probably a subject for another podcast and probably should do this like making a little case for maybe 13 all NBA

Here with his two way play

I think so. Like they're starting to make these steps

So my question is okay when you're not at your best anymore and you start and you come back down to earth

Where's earth?

Because earth before was real just right in the middle applying team

Is earth a little bit higher? Is there floor a little bit higher than it used to be now that they're starting to trend in the right direction and learn this team

Figure things out get healthier and then obviously get even a little bit more healthier when we games and pal eventually come back

That to me is the question and I want to see what that floor is and what that is versus

Some of these other teams in the east that's the part of the season that I'm really interested in seeing

It's a good question. I think it for me person

I inclined to think so, but I need a larger sample size the last five games are enough

Let's enjoy it while it lasts. Thanks for tuning into lockdown heat

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