๐ฅณ Thank you, 2023 ๐ซก
Legit grateful - no social BS.
Feel like I made meaningful strides this year.
And I'm lucky to be working regularly with and around some awesome people.
Appreciate anyone who supports - it's needed ๐๐ป
๐ฃ๏ธ Bring on 2024 โผ๏ธ
REEL:
Man ... The Jump was incredibly moving today for obvious reasons.
Tracy McGrady talking about, not just Kobe, but Gigi as well, was especially sobering ... T-Mac was extremely close to the family.
Watch the whole thing:
Exactly three years after Kawhi Leonard's shot ended Jimmy Butler's last game as a Philadelphia 76er, he returned -- with the organization people made fun of him for joining -- to lead the Miami Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals.
And he did it in Philadelphia.
Last laugh.
Just thought about this again ...
So Get Up, with all the promo, all the guests, the amazing time slot, etc -- 380K views.
High Noon, with minimal promo, zero guests and that tough 4 pm time slot -- 330K views.
๐ง๐ง๐ง๐ง
- 30-14 FT disparity
- Questionable officiating, we'll say
- Tyler Herro no show
- Jimmy Butler missed the second half
- Crowd completely into it
- Two galvanizing returns from Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum
- Continuous close-ups on frat boys in the crowd.
- L
People will mock these Jimmy Butler pressers but fail to understand that in order to get where he has -- in *life* -- you need this level of belief.
Average people will think you're crazy.
To get where he has from where he's been, you need the mentality of an overachiever.
Jimmy Butler on if thereโs appreciation for what theyโve accomplished so far:
โNot at all. At the beginning of this year we talked about winning a championshipโฆThatโs always the goal with the Heat. Itโs about winning.โ
โItโs about holding that trophy collectively as a unit.โ
I can't believe the Miami Heat are two wins away from making a 3rd Eastern Conference Finals in 4 years since getting Jimmy Butler...
And the only miss was after the shortest off-season in NBA history...
This needs to be said:
The Miami Heat do not NEED Damian Lillard.
They SHOULD absolutely try to acquire him IF he's AVAILABLE.
But they're not SCREWED if they miss.
They NEED a better team - not necessarily a THIRD star.
BUT if you can add *this* particular star, you do it.
Jimmy Butler wasn't an All-Star and didn't make All-Defense ๐๐๐๐
Y'all are sooooo going to underrate him when his career is done if he doesn't get a championship.
Most Playoff Wins since 2019, Eastern Conference edition:
Miami Heat: 29
Milwaukee Bucks: 29
Boston Celtics: 29
Philadelphia 76ers: 17
Atlanta Hawks: 13
#NBAPlayoffs
Some of y'all will never understand how convinced people (we!) in the northeast were that MarShon Brooks was a future star.
To this day, I still can't believe he didn't make it to his second contract...
Manny Pacquiao ain't fighting like he's near 40. That's for damn sure. Don't know if I've seen a 39 year old with this level of speed.
#Boxing
#PacquiaoMatthysse
Most NBA Playoff wins in the 2020s:
Miami Heat: 36
Boston Celtics: 34
Milwaukee Bucks: 29
Phoenix Suns: 27
Los Angeles Lakers: 26
Denver Nuggets: 26
Golden State Warriors: 22
Philadelphia 76ers: 20
So many other franchises would sell their souls just to be in games like this.
There is nothing like
#NBAPlayoffs
basketball and the
@MiamiHEAT
give us so much of it.
Swear to God this just happened:
Erik Spoelstra walked into the press room for his pre game presser.
"No questions?"
*everyone looks at each other*
... Spo chuckles and walks out.
Happened in legitimately maybe 3 seconds...
@5OTF_
@5ReasonsSports
Miami Heat now have 26 playoff wins since Jimmy Butler joined in 2019.
In the East, they're tied w/ the Celtics & only trailing the Bucks since then.
Also more than:
- The Knicks since the 1999 Finals
- The Nets since 2007
- The Bulls since 2011
- The T-Wolves all-time
@5OTF_
1. KD's foot, Harden's hamstring & Kyrie's ankle.
2. They beat the *Hawks* in the ECF.
3. The only two times Milwaukee beat Miami that whole season was in the bubble.
4. Ppl only try to diminish the bubble because of who got there. If you could've won, you should've.
Giannis Antetokounmpo speaks on losing to the 2020 Miami Heat
"I felt like if it was a normal situation, it wouldnโt end up like that. But at the end of the day, I felt like Miami was built to be an NBA bubble team, you know?"
๐ฅ Gervonta Davis is the main event, but there's no one I'm looking forward to watching more on Saturday than Jaron 'Boots' Ennis. โก๏ธ
๐ฝ๏ธ: Showtime
#DavisGarcia
#Boxing
If you lose Tyler Herro mentally by sending him back to a role he excelled at, then that's on him, tbh.
Duncan Robinson was written off and then reinvented himself.
The Heat's five-year track record of winning has largely come with Herro coming off the bench or out entirely.
@BryanIsTheKing
I knew everyone would say that, but you risk losing Tyler mentally after all he's been through If you bench him after averaging 20 plus a game and shooting 40 percent on 3s this year. Don't see Spo doing that
Surprisingly, they still have the most playoff wins, playoff series wins and finals appearances in the NBA since 2019-20 -- when they added Jimmy Butler -- in spite of all that.
In consecutive offseasons, four superstars had the Heat on their shortlist of preferred destinations: Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Damian Lillard.
For Miami to somehow not land any of them is a failure of epic proportions.
Itโs time to rightfully criticizeโฆ
Also think Jimmy Butler is overdoing it by trying to create for others early.
Team is better when he sets the tone in the first -- that's been a backbone to their playoff success more often than not.
The Knicks are a clear favorite to win Game 2, according to the books.
(Numbers vary depending on where you look.)
The Heat, who are 5-1 in the playoffs, have not been favored to win a single game this post-season.
#NBAPlayoffs
"These are lessons that hopefully we can pass along to our children, that you can develop this fortitude, and sometimes you have to suffer for the things that you want."
Don't care who you like.
Forget sports & the NBA Finals.
These are *real-life* gems from Erik Spoelstra...
The Miami Heat have 37 playoff wins and the most in the NBA since Jimmy Butler joined them prior to the 2019-20 season -- also the year Bam Adebayo became an All-Star and All-Defense.
The only team in the NBA to reach two NBA Finals in the last four years.
Jimmy Butler's 47-9-8 has the 12th highest game score in NBA playoff history.
Butler now has 5 of the top 55 game scores in NBA playoff history, 3 from these playoffs alone.
The other two were from the 2020 NBA Finals.
Per
@bball_ref
Bam Adebayo put six straight points on Bobby Portis in a 48-second span after this.
And Bobby is one of my favorite players *because* of this attitude, but let's calm down lol.
The Trail Blazers do not plan to cooperate with Damian Lillard on his trade request to the Heat, per
@wojespn
:
- Portland โopen for business everywhere in the leagueโ on trading Lillard.
- Blazers seeking a combination of young players, draft picks and cap relief.
- Miami hasโฆ
Some people very flippantly said Trae Young was *easily* the best player in the series. And, yo, I get it ...
What Jimmy Butler does on *both* ends isn't flashy, doesn't make highlights, but that dude is a flat-out winner and a star, and he proved it yet again tonight.
Caleb Martin went to Oak Hill which has produced SO MANY NBA players.
4-star recruit who went to NC State.
Transferred to Nevada, No. 1 option for 2 yrs, won Conference POY & led 2 tourney teams.
Undrafted, sure, but the talent was there -- now he has the right environment.
Literally all of Miami's peers got better by moving their third guy.
Bucks moved Jrue
Sixers moved Harden
Knicks moved Barrett
Celtics moved Smart
You don't dump guy No. 3 for nothing, of course, but Miami has to at least entertain the option now, not in June/July.
D'Angelo Russell: 40 pts, 7 ast, 1 TO, 60% on FG, 75% from three (8-12).
Spencer Dinwiddie: 20 pts, 6-11 FG, 3-7 3PT, 5-7 FT off the bench.
... And a win, which these two guys stole.
#Nets
point guards don't give you a break.
@NetsDaily
Despite the loss, that's a message sent by the Suns.
Can compete with anyone in the League, even without their two best players... Not sure another team can do that.
Most NBA playoff wins this decade:
Miami Heat: 36
Boston Celtics: 36
The Game 7 winner will have the most playoff wins since the 2019-20 season and be the only team to reach the NBA Finals twice in the last four years.
(Would be back to back for Boston.)
Paul Pierce: "They (Philadelphia Sixers) don't need Joel Embiid to get by this series."
Chauncy Billups: "Don't sleep on the Brooklyn Nets."
#NBA
#NBAPlayoffs
Also, the whole "Denver is going to destroy the zone" thing was lazy.
Miami's zone is not a typical zone.
It's a zone with pressure.
It's not a standard college ass 2-3.
๐ The biggest indicator the Miami Heat are legitimately figuring things out. ๐
Fourth quarters before Feb. 6:
๐ 18-32 W/L, -126 point differential
Fourth quarters since Feb. 6:
๐ 10-1 W/L, +47 point differential
I've said all year, they clean up the 4Qs and they're good.
I think Spoelstra starts Herro by the playoffs -- but tonight actually shows why he should run the bench unit.
Herro would still get his 30-ish minutes and close, but this is the role he excelled in previously -- and it led to wins.
D'Angelo Russell patience reminds me of Le'Veon Bell.
He uses screens in a similar way that Bell uses his blockers, and knows he doesn't need to go full speed 24/7 to be effective. In fact, he wouldn't be if he did.
High I.Q. in those situations.
#Nets
Nationally, stop talking about Bam Adebayo like he isn't a part of this either.
The centers y'all try to group him with -- it was cute, but no: Jarrett Allen, Mitchell Robinson, Robert Williams, Rudy Gobert + others ain't gonna cut it, respectfully.
Bam is ELITE *both* ways.
Some Game 1 and other playoff facts on the pending New York Knicks - Miami Heat series, centered around the head coaches:
Erik Spoelstra & Tom Thibodeau.
๐งต๐งต๐งต
#NBAPlayoffs
(
@5OTF_
)
No.
RJ Hampton is the only one who was an elite prep talent and at one point a projected top 5 NBA Draft Pick.
Hasn't been in the right spot.
They were able to turn Caleb Martin into something after he was phased out of Charlotte.
I think RJ could do that and then some.
Stephen A. Smith says Damian Lillard isnโt happy in Milwaukee
"If Milwaukee loses, I think you need to consider moving Dame up outta there. I'm not talking about his game. He's not happy there."
(Via
@FirstTake
/ h/t
@ClutchPoints
)
The Miami Heat are +67 in Game 3s during this playoff run.
They beat the Milwaukee Bucks 121-99.
They beat the New York Knicks 105-86.
They beat the Boston Celtics 128-102.
As of now: 83% of the money and 73% of the spread bets are on the Denver Nuggets (-2.5) tomorrow.
"I'm telling you, this summer, the Nets and the Clippers are seriously threatening to get in the way of the Lakers and the Knicks. This is no joke and I'm telling you what I know. I'm just asking all of you to pay attention. This stuff is getting serious," -
@stephenasmith
#NBA