REACTION: Miami Heat TORCH Hornets For 144 Points! Jaime Jaquez Jr. STEPS UP, Heat Win 3rd Straight

REACTION: Miami Heat TORCH Hornets For 144 Points! Jaime Jaquez Jr. STEPS UP, Heat Win 3rd Straight

Miami’s on fire once again in a blowout win over the Hornets on Tuesday. Even with their best score of the season, Norman Powell, sitting out the game, the team’s offense has been incredible regardless of who’s on the floor. So, we break down the win on tonight’s episode of Locked on Heat. [Music] You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. your team every day. All right, and welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks so much for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. Join the cookie gang and become an everydayer by hitting that subscribe button now. I’m Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily and Real Jam Radio. I’m here with David Ramil, both of us credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. recording this right after the Heat beat the Hornets. A third straight win for the Heat and another one where they took a blowtorrch to the opposing defense. In their first four games, David, the Heat have scored 121, 146, 115, and then tonight 144 points. They ran away with this one, clearing the bench with more than two minutes to go. last season. It feels like they would have blown this lead late, but it really does feel like this is a changed team. I’m here at CASA Center. With over two minutes left in the game, we got Pepas and it just before I would have been like, you’re jinxing it. Why are you doing that? And this time I I had confidence that this team was going to go ahead and cruise to the win. That’s exactly what happened. Their lead was growing as the fourth quarter progressed. That was so atypical of what we saw last year where it was like no lead was safe. If you recall early in last season when they blew what was a 27point lead to the Orlando Magic and they allowed them to get back in the game. It just felt like that was always the case last year where no matter what they did during the first I don’t know 40 minutes of the game, you knew that the last eight minutes were going to wind up leading to a clutch game situation. That hasn’t been the case. They are not playing with their food. They’re as deadly as any team could possibly be. They’re even increasing their lead late in games and they just look like it’s a really unstoppable system that thrives no matter who’s out on the floor. If you had told me that they’d go into a game against a hot shooting Charlotte Hornets group that looked like they were going to be able to improve to 3-1, at least that was the hope on the Charlotte side without Norman Powell. I would have said, you know what, it’s quite possible that Miami loses their second game of the season tonight. instead, despite an early deficit, they wound up getting better and better as the game progressed and never ever got close again. I think the closest they got was five points. And even at that point, Miami recognized the danger that Charlotte possessed and they were like, you know what, let’s not mess around. Let’s keep going. And that’s exactly what they did. Whether was a guy like Haime Hakez, who we’ll talk about later on, Bamio, Pella Larson, so many different players finding a way to contribute and make this team just look more dangerous than they ever have in such a long time. And it’s during the regular season. I don’t know what to do with my hands. This is so much fun. Well, I want to go back to the Norm Pal absence. So, we find out that he pulls a groin during shoot around this morning. He’s a late he he’s downgraded to questionable in the afternoon. Sort of a little bit of a game time decision. We find out right before tip off he’s not going to play. They elevate Pel Larson to the starting lineup. And I was wondering like, okay, Norm Pal is a high volume shot taker. He’s your high volume perimeter shot taker. we’ve seen, especially in first quarters, early in this game, kind of Powell’s the guy. He’s the go-to scorer in those moments. Talahiro obviously out. So, you’re down your two high volume perimeter shot takers. And I’m I’m looking at this roster. I’m like, who’s going to be taking the shots? And to your point, David, like they just came in and said, “We don’t really care about any of that. We’re going to still play our fast pace. We’re going to still streak down the clo floor. We’re still going to do these hit ahead passes. We’re still going to run uh and and try to find mismatches while the defense is scrambling. We’re not going to do this ball of screens. Everything that we’ve been doing for the first three games, we’re going to do it. Doesn’t matter what the personnel is. And it worked. It worked. Haime Hakee Jr. was sensational. 28 points on nine of 14 shooting. He came in as that sixth man. And immediately that game went from close to not close anymore. He was a plus 43 in this game. Uh I think one of the things that you know, we we’ve been talking a lot about the uptempo. We’ve been talking a lot about the pace. I don’t know that a lot enough people have focused enough on where the shots are coming from, but the Heat scored 58 points in the paint in this game. And when you are that committed to playing with tempo, to just getting down the floor before the defense does. By the way, this Hornets team also top five in pace. It’s not like they’re not used to playing fast. They’re just not used to playing as fast as Miami. And so when you’re getting them scrambling and you’re able to just get down to the floor faster than they are, I don’t want to say the personnel doesn’t matter. It obviously matters. You have to have the athletes that can get out and run. But when you have those athletes still coming off your bench or in that starting lineup or whatever, it it’s not to say that these guys are interchangeable because I I think that’s going a bridge too far there. But you are able to overcome a lot of these things. They were they they’re they’ve been able to overcome not having Tyler Herro, their top scorer from last year, and put together this kind of offense and then they’re able to overcome not having Norm Pal in the offense for a game and then still put up one of the best offensive games of the season so far. Yeah. You couldn’t have said that about the previous iterations of Miami. If they were missing a top player like let’s say Jimmy Butler, you never knew what you were going to get and from whom you No, you knew exactly what you were going to get. Nothing. You knew like you were going to have a bottom 10 offense. It it it’s a great point like when Jimmy Butler was either not available or not caring, we this offense just went back into the bottom 10, which they’ve been in the last three years during the Jimmy Butler era. And and I wasn’t sure going to the lineup, it it did seem like there was a legitimate question, well without Norman who’s been so good and looks like an early candidate for an all-star selection. Yeah, I know it’s really early to start talking about any kind of mid-season awards, but still he’s looked sensational and you wonder where’s the offense coming from. Is it going to be Wiggins? Is Himea Hake is going to get the nod as a starter? Where who’s going to be the player steps up? Is it bam? You’re not quite sure. And yet, it just felt like everybody was finding the opportunities because it’s the system that works. And to your point, everybody’s getting to the to the basket so quickly and they’re making that concerted effort to attack so quickly that the defense just can’t set. And so, not only does it create those wide open looks from at the rim or even if there’s if they’re, you know, being challenged, they don’t allow the defense to quite set with a shot block or anything like that or they’re drawing fouls if they attack the basket. And if there is an obstacle there that they feel they can’t overcome or if there’s a wide open shooter, guess what? easy to make that kind of spray pass out to the perimeter for a wideopen looks because they even though they shot 45% or nearly 45% from three-point range. They had a number of wide openen looks from a number of players. This could just as easily have been a 60 point shoot a 60% shooting night from three. Uh DaVon Mitchell missed a It almost was at one point. Weren’t they shooting over 50% from three? Yeah. During the first half. Yeah. Yeah. So like guys like DaVon who normally hits those shots. Pella had a couple of wide open looks that he missed. There were just a number of players who got these looks and it just felt like they were able to create these open looks no matter who was out on the floor and it just looked like they were really I hate to say it but almost unstoppable and it just seemed like again the system is what’s working better and and I know it’s it does feel like a step too far to say that the parts are interchangeable but you you can get all these contributions from all these different players because the system is so good and it keeps the defense from getting into a position where they can get set and be able to defend uh multiple players effectively and you wind up getting good looks and and the team is high IQ and playing unselfishly, making those passes at the last second, getting those wideopen looks and able to knock down those perimeter shots when they’re wide open. It’s been a fantastic start to this season. And it’s not as if all these points came in fast break. The Heat only got 14 fast break points in this game. Right. Right. It’s not like there was just nobody around them, right? Like for the most part, Charlotte was getting back. I think there were some glaring LaMelo ball related gaffs defensively in transition, but that’s not surprising. But even going into this game, like I make fun of the Hornets, it’s easy to make fun of them, but like they they weren’t giving up a ton of paint points. Their transition defense was fine until they met the Miami Heat tonight. And now that because it’s a small sample size, they’re going to go down with Memphis as one of the best one of the worst defensive ratings in the league probably. But, um, again, it it it’s that ability to create the looks that they want, get to the paint, and to your point, create other looks off of that, too. Um, yeah, I I just I I just remain so impressed with this team. You mentioned the three-point shooting. Charlotte also shot 39% from three. They did score 117 points. This was an uptempo game. I thought that this game early on was actually a little bit slower than the Heat would have liked. It felt like they’re the first half of the first quarter, they were still pinging the ball around the perimeter, not really sure where the crack in the Charlotte defense was going to be. But then they found it and this game was not played at the same pace that the Heat had entered this game with almost 108 109 uh possessions per 48 minutes. They still got 105 possessions in 48 minutes tonight, which is right up there with tops of the league in pace. Again, the number one pace in the league last year was slightly over 106. So, it’s still a break neck pace. And it felt like they actually got into it more as the game went on, which I think is a great sign. This is a team that’s figuring able to figure things out. Yeah. 45 three-point attempts. How often have we talked about a team that needs to put up at least 40? And even when they were playing at their faster pace over the first three games of the season, still below the 40 40 shot attempt mark three-point range. It feels like that’s less of a concern for them now. I I still think it’s get the shot at the basket first and then if the three comes, go get it. But you’re Yeah, I mean they took 45 threes because they were very very out open and and available. Uh Credit Cookies is next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Quo. One of the tools that helped make a huge difference for business owner is Quo, formerly open phone. It’s the same great business phone system you’ve heard me talk about before, just with a new name. And here’s why it matters. Every missed call is money left on the table. When every customer c conversation counts, you need a phone system that keeps you connected 247. And Quote is the number one business phone system that streamlines communications. 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You get six months free. We’ll be right back. [Music] Thanks again for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. It’s another heat win, which means it’s time for the tastiest segment of Locked on Heat. It’s time David for the credit cookies. [Music] We start. [Music] We got uh credit cookies and yet here we are two games in a row and it feels like we’re the oven’s not going to be able to cool off much during the season. So, I’m excited. Uh, we’ve got to start off, I think, with Haime Hakees Jr. That to me was the story of the game because he’s been looking good. He’s been getting a lot of buzz around the league because he just looks like an energized player. Uh, Eric Spolster spoke about Haime following the game over the New York Knicks when Haime provided this great spark off the bench and he provided, I think, was it 17 points and he just looks really good. He’s just been really solid to start the season. I hearken back to our conversation with him on media day where he said he was healthy and re-energized and looking to make this a bounceback season. You and I both predicted that we’d get better things from Haime and we needed to see a player a young player specifically in the trio of him Nicola Yoic or Khil Wear kind of pop this season and I’m surprised it’s Hy but at the same time he’s looked fantastic. He just looks like he’s continuing to flourish. What an incredible night from him. 28 points as you mentioned earlier. uh two of four from three-point range. That had been an Achilles heel for him in the past. Not anymore. Nine of 14 overall from the floor, making plays, five assists, four rebounds, a steal. One of the best in-game dunks that we’ve seen in a long time. Uh he wind up taking a a big fall as after that. And yet he still bounced back up and was just as effective as ever. Continues to attack the basket mercilessly and just looks like a completely different player. This is not the player that we saw last year. This is even better than he was as a rookie when he surprised everybody and flourished on that team. Uh he just looks like a much better player, a really complete much better defender, much better playmaker, much better shooter, etc. Talking with him and Spo after the game, I mean, yeah, the 28 points, that’s great. And obviously, you know, when Norm Powell goes down and Tyler Herro is not available to start the year, somebody it’s really hard to just take shots, right? like having a high volume shot taker, somebody who’s just comfortable getting to his offense. Not everybody’s like that. Like they start Pel Larson. We love Pel Larson. That’s not he’s not comfortable taking a ton of shots, right? I mean, this isn’t it’s not a skill that everybody has, but Hime has it. We’ve seen it even going back to his rookie year when Jimmy Butler would go out and he would step in and just be like, “Okay, I’ll take a bunch of shots.” And I think that’s a really hard thing to find and it’s an underrated thing, I think, in the NBA, that comfortability with just looking for your own number. But Jame Haime clearly is comfortable in that position. And I love the idea of him being able to scale up in that six-man role. He comes in as the first sub off the bench halfway through the first quarter. And every single game this season, the game changed. The the tenor, the tone, everything changes. There’s so much more energy out there. Um Wear comes out, he comes in. They run a little bit of a smaller lineup at that point, but they just start flying. and he’s a plus 43 in this game and that sounds about right watching this game. He made such an it’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Um yeah, the scoring is great. Okay, outside of that, got to the line eight times, made eight free throws, five assists, and I asked Bo about him after the game, and one of the things that he mentioned was he’s just a lot more, he said he’s more comfortable in the pocket, which is a football term. And that makes sense to me because right that that spot on that low block, that’s the pocket, right? That’s if if if basketball has a pocket, that’s where it is. Um because you’re you’re you’re surrounded by players. You kind of you got to be comfortable under duress. And one of the things that Spo said is he’s more comfortable making decisions there where I thought as a rookie he was like, “Okay, I’ll try my spin move, try my jab step, try to and try to get to the basket.” Now he’s making those dump off reads. He’s making the kick out passes either on his side or on the weak side. Uh or or you know, if it’s a mismatch, he’s going to go score off of it. He’s comfortable making those reads in a way that he’s never been before. All of that is great. Again, all of it’s great. Here’s the thing I love the most. The dunking. You mentioned the big dunk. I love the dunking. It’s such a big part of Haime’s game. He was in the dunk contest. People forget in the dunk contest as a rookie. His explosiveness, his athleticism, his ability to just get up for these dunks was so staggering that first year. And then it was gone in his second year. And I asked him about it again today and he just said, “I’m healthy. and I’m able to get up. I asked him about that fall. He said he’s learned to fall because he’s been doing that so many times that he feels fine now. Um so glad good to hear. But yeah, I mean he’s already got a ton of dunks this year. He’s on pace to shatter his dunk number that he set as a rookie. This is tremendous from him. I forgot how many cookies you gave him, but we we should move on. I didn’t say but I think four cookies is about right. He was the most impactful player today. Uh I’ve got three for Bam at a bio. I think and without Norm Powell, he was really, really solid. Again, another great night for him. Wound up with 26 points, a plus 29 overall. Solid rebounding. Could have been a little bit better perhaps on that, but really wasn’t necessary. He was more of an aggressive score, 10 of 16 from the floor, three of five from three-point range. And it just looks like that shot is going to be such a deadly part of his repertoire. Uh just continues to stretch the floor, be an impactful defender, all the little things. And tonight was a big game from him offensively as well. So I think he did gets three cookies welld deserved. My favorite stretch for Bam was in that third quarter and he just took over. Uh the the Hornets start to climb back in the game a little bit. Bam checks back into the game and he just points to Kulk Brener the the rookie center on Charlotte and goes you and just annihilated him on three straight possessions. uh took it out to the perimeter uh and and just took him off the dribble and that was I think the right move. I thought that that play had been there for him for most of the game and I think Karan Butler had said something to him and Norm Pal said something to him on the bench and so he goes at Cockr Bunner he points to the bench after that after that play and then um goes at Cockr Bunner again go gets into the post hits him with a hook shot misses the hook shot but I like the level of aggressiveness and then on the next play spaces Clockr Bunner out to the corner uh Cockrunner is laid on the close out and bam just hits a three-pointer in his face from the corner. So, uh, I thought it was just a tremendously aggressive game from Bam. Uh, and that’s exactly what the Heat want to see. And I think those are the moments where you see that you just see him dial it up. You see that he’s like the team needs something from me right now and I’m going to provide it. And it just it feels like every single game there’s just a pocket of that game where we just see him turn that aggression up. You saw it today with offense. I think we saw it with the Knicks on defense where when New York was making their way back or trying to keep things a little bit closer, Bam was reinserted into the game. He just said, “Okay, that’s enough of that.” And he would just do what he does defensively, make an impact this way. And look, he had a couple costly turnovers against the Knicks. I think you can hold it against him and that’s totally fair to expect more from him, but I think we saw it tonight on the offensive end while still providing an extremely high level of defense. That’s just the kind of player he is. And you wonder how much more of that we’re going to get from him throughout the course of the season. If he’s going to be continue to be that player where when you’re in dire straits, he’s the one you go to. Whether it’s offensively or defensively, he’ll continue to provide that spark because that’s just what he’s capable of doing. All right, give me the give me the last few credit cookies, but we got like tweet length explanations. Two two credit cookies for Pella Larson in the starting lineup. I think he made a couple great plays. Great offense, good scoring night for him. Six of 10 overall, three of six for three-point range. Just really doing all the little things, thriving in that role. Uh just love the cutting from him. Just such the shot fell tonight, which is great, but not something you can rely on every single night. But when that that cutting is just always there for him. Uh and one credit cookie for Andrew Wiggins. Probably could have gotten more, but we only have 10 to give back. 21 total points, three steals, two assists, three of six from three-point range. This is the great two-way game of Andrew Wiggins and why I think he’s going to be such an impactful X-factor throughout the season and we saw it tonight. He was really a differencemaker playing high defense and also scoring at a really high level. Uh picked up LaMelo ball on a number of possessions. LaMelo was awful in this game and he had been averaging like 28 and 10 coming into this game shooting like just an ungodly percentage and the Heat color me surprised, right? I mean the the Heat kind of shut him down but also I think he kind of did it to himself a little bit in this game. Uh he seems like a total uh nightmare to play with in this game. I mean, he’s a loser. Uh but Andrew Wiggins is great. He continues to get more comfortable. Uh all right. Is Hameh Hakez Jr. as well as he’s played pushing his way into the starting lineup. We had that question that we’re going to answer next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Pelaton. Pelaton is shaping the future of fitness with brand new Pelaton Crash Training Tread Plus powered by Pelaton IQ. It’s their most advanced equipment yet, designed to give you real time guidance and endless ways to move whether you’re running, lifting, or crossraining with your favorite instructors. This is training reimagined. Pelaton is built for breakthroughs with tools that help you plan, stay motivated, and reach peak performance. You’ll love how the Pelaton IQ system offers real time strength coaching. It actually tracks your reps, suggests the right weights, and corrects your form, making every rep safer and smarter so you get the most bang for your buck. The swivel screen is a gamecher so you can go from running on the tread plus to strength training without missing a beat. And the personalized class recommendations keep you engaged. You get workouts tailored to your vibe and energy level each week. So let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Pelaton Cross Trading Tread Plus today at oneplaton.com. We’ll be right back. [Music] Let’s get into some listener questions. Thanks to everybody who sent these in via the link in the show notes. Join the Locked on Heat insider community if you want to get game notes throughout the games and the opportunity to ask questions exclusively for our postgame po uh podcast here. This one comes from Cody who writes in, “It’s scary how good Haimeme could be when he’s playing like this. Does he insert himself over Wigs in the starting lineup at any point this season? Love him off the bench, but the impact is becoming too important.” David, I want to go to you first. I want your thoughts. No, I don’t think so. I love what he is doing and I think he’s in the perfect role for him right now. I think there’ll be plenty of opportunity for him. We know the roster is going to evolve whether it’s this season, next season, or any other point, but I just don’t think he’s not necessarily he’s ready for the to be a starter. I just think he’s thriving in what he does right now. So, why mess with it? Is he going to get the occasional start? I don’t see why he wouldn’t. Uh and yet, I think Wiggins can provide that two-way strength that Haime is still not capable of. Although, I think Haime has improved as a defender. We saw a number of plays where he was really really engaged defensively much more than he had been for his first two seasons, but he’s not Wigs and and that’s okay. Like he’s thriving. Let him continue to thrive in that role. Why bother changing things when they’re right now they’re working at such a high level? Yeah. Look, the he just won three straight games. Haime’s uh early one of the early favorites for six win of the year. We can have nice things. Just have the nice thing. You don’t have to continue to look at You can have the nice car and not immediately start looking for a bigger better car. Um, I I love Hime coming off the bench. I think this is the role for him. My big question is I guess I have two questions. The first one is more not serious, but like Okay, let’s say you were going to start Haime Hackers Jr. I don’t think Wigs is the guy you take out of the starting lineup. I think you just move Bam to the five. Yeah. And you move Wigs to the four and you have Hime. And then you basically just run that unit that when Haime comes in for Kell, that’s the lineup that’s been pushing you to all these leads to end these first quarters. If you’re going to start a lineup, that’s the lineup to start. Again, I don’t think you should. I like what the Heat have done so far. But if you’re going to start, if you’re going to make a starting lineup change, that would be it. My bigger question though for him is, is he going to work his way into the closing lineup permanently? right now he’s part of it but when Pal comes back and when Tyler Herro comes back those are two guys who figure to be part of that closing lineup in addition to Bam and I think Andrew Wiggins is Haime the fifth guy because you and I talked a lot about going into the season is it DaVon is it Kell is it Nico I I still think it was DaVon I think DaVon is tremendously impressive and and important to this team he probably doesn’t have enough credit cookies over the the last two games but um Haime might be making a case to be part of that closing group so that’ll be interesting to watch when this team is fully healthy. Um, next question. Cameron writes in, “If you had to pick which pace is more sustainable for this season, Bam, three-point sniper, Haime, six man of the year.” So, what do you think is more likely, Bam remaining this three-point sniper or Haime continuing his push for sixman of the year, let’s call finalist, even he doesn’t necessarily have to win it. Yeah, I I can’t see which one is most likely to thrive. I think they’re both going to keep up at this pace to be honest with you. I I don’t see any reason why either of them would because I think Bam’s getting those open looks and he’s always been a good shooter whether it’s the mid-range and we’ve seen what he’s capable of doing in the offseason with his three-point shot. It was only a matter of time. We’ve talked about this for years going back to the again even middle of the Jimmy Butler era where we expected Bam to be a three-point shooter. He talked about it with him like the the number of times that you know he was asked about is like what what you all want from me like you know he would he would he knew that was the next level of development that he had to reach. So this has been a long time coming. So I don’t see why it’s going to go away because I think it’s always been a part of something he could do. He just wasn’t really quite comfortable with it. Now he feels like he is. I say they’re both equally sustainable. I think they’re both going to continue to be like I don’t know that BA’s going to be like a 50% three-point shooter, but I think he’s going to be close to I think above league average to be 100% honest with you. And I think him is going to continue to flourish in his role off the bench. We just answered this question. There’s no need to change it. Winggin is a better defender. You roll with what you’ve got and has gotten us to some really solid wins. So, why bother changing it? So, I think they’re both going to be uh right there in these particular categories at the end of the season. I think they continue to be a really hot three-point shooter in Bam’s case and a really good six-man in him’s case. Uh, okay. So, you didn’t answer the question. That’s fine. No, I did. I think I don’t I don’t think either of them is more sustainable than the other. I think they’re both equally Well, I’m going to do the thing that was asked of us and I’m going to be the good podcast host. I’m going to give people an answer here and I’m going to pick Bam. I’m gonna pick Bam. You think he’s more likely to be a hot three-point shooter than Haime continuing to thrive off the bench? I’m picking Bam. I I just think we have a longer track record of it right now. I think uh he’s 9 of 23 right now after this game for the season. That’s 39%. He was 35.7% last season. This is right in his wheelhouse. Um 39% probably a little high, but you I I I agree with you. I think above league average maybe settles in between 36 37%. There we go. I I think that’s uh very very doable for him. With Haime, I love what he’s doing. I just have a larger, weirdly enough, I have a larger sample of Bam being a respectable three-point shooter than Haime doing this. Um, because it’s only a four-ame sample and for Bam, it’s about, you know, a season and four games as a sample. So, I’ll pick BAM, but I do think that both of these guys are going to continue to thrive all season long. And I do agree with overall point there. Alamus writes in, “What’s this team ceiling as currently constructed?” I do think we’re getting our ahead of ourselves on this, but but based on what we’ve seen so far this season, and that’s all I’m basing this on. Uh I don’t know, not just from the Heat, but from the rest of the Eastern Conference. I don’t know that there are four teams in the East that you could say are obviously better than this Miami Heat team. And coming into the year, expectations that you and I had were, could you push for that six spot? Can you get into the playoffs and do it by avoiding the playin tournament? Yeah. Can we just not be the Miami Heat memorial playin tournament team anymore? Can you just get a six seed and get that by week? And I think we have to adjust our expectations slightly now uh to home court in the first round. Can you get a top four seed in the Eastern Conference? I don’t think there’s four teams that you could say right now are clearly better than this heat team. But maybe think a little bit more long term. I guess it’s hard to do. Like I I think both you and I are in agreement that they might not be this incredible because what we’re seeing is almost historically good, not just for the Heat, but around the NBA. So I don’t know that we’re going to continue to see this for 82 games. But I think they’re going to be better than what they’ve been in the past. And I think they’re going to continue to be good. But you can also make that case for other teams around the league. Like right now the Philadelphia 76ers are, you know, undefeated. Uh the Chicago Bulls look really, really good. Uh, is that going to be Yeah, exactly. I’m not a believer in the Bulls. Uh, and the Sixers, I mean, that feels like that could hang by a thread. It feels like it could all go away very quickly. Kind of feels like if Embiid goes away, they’ll almost be better off for it. The Sixers team looks really good. But yeah, I don’t I don’t We don’t know that they’re definitely better than the Heat. So, I I don’t know. I I I think their goals though, and that’s what matters, is their goal is to be a top four team. And I think if they continue to believe in that and if this the transition and this is a key one if the transition of welcoming back Tyler is a seamless one not just on offense but again what you’re going to have to sacrifice defensively because either one of DaVon Mitchell or Andrew Wiggins probably DaVon Mitchell would have to come out of the starting lineup. How is that going to work? What’s that going to do to this Miami starting group that has been so solid? So, I I think it’s going to require a bit of an adjustment period for this group and I’m curious to see how they weather that particular storm, but at the same time, I think you’re getting everybody buying in. Everybody’s really accepting this. And I think there’s this really good vibe about the team right now. And as I said before, the system is what’s working and the players are all buying into it. And I think that’s going to continue to thrive. So, I I I think they have to adjust their expectations a little bit and I think we all do as well. I think that there’s it’s I think realistic for this team to say that they should be one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. Yeah, I disagree with you in saying that when you say it’s most important what they believe and what their goals are. I actually don’t think that that’s important. Like every team’s goal is to like they’ll say we can win a championship, I guess. But I think what we think is actually more important cuz we watch all these teams and I’m telling like the magic they have some real problems. the Hawks depth is not there despite their off seasonason. I I think you not to be overreaction after one week guy, but I I think there’s some fair reactions to be had based on this Eastern Conference. I really do think that this Heat team based on what we’ve seen so far looks like one of the six best teams in the East and I think they should be aiming for that top four seed. Uh last one here. Malachi writes in, “In my opinion, it seems like Khal Wear continues to struggle against big guys in the paint, including tonight. Uh, how can we handle getting or how can we get Wear going more in the paint? He has a tough matchup Thursday night against Wemi. Can he handle it?” Um, Kell Wear was the only starter uh with a minus plus uh plus minus in this game. He was a minus 14 uh in his 20 almost 27 minutes. I don’t want to spend a ton of time on this, David, because we’re running up against it, but he does tend to take this Victor Webbyama match up personally and have some of his best games, but this version of Victor Webbyama is a different version of Victor Webbyama. I I mean, yeah, but he he outwebined him in the preseason again, preason, so whatever. Take it for what it’s worth. Um that that’s I’ll going to withhold answering that until I see what he does against Webonyama. Did you answer any of these questions? Hell yeah, I did, but I answered in my own unique way. That’s the point. Um I I look I I’m serious. I think I I’m concerned about him because I think mostly a psychological thing at this point because you know the skill set is there and I think the physical tools are there but I think there’s something that’s we saw we were sitting next to each other during the next game and we saw webinama clearly just take I’m sorry we saw where take himself out yeah where yeah take himself out of the game like he was just mentally not ready for the challenge of Carl Anthony Towns and he was just a non-factor he was hurting the team while he was out on the floor I hope he understands what’s at stake here. And I don’t know if it’s going to take another public call out from Eric Spolra, but it seems to light a temporary fire every time he does it. So, I don’t know what’s going to happen. They’re not It’s hard to call him out after these wins, right? But if you lose to San Antonio, which they’re undefeated right now, um yeah, in San Antonio, which is a notoriously hard place to play. I’m excited though. I’m really excited. I’m really excited to see that game. What a big matchup that is. Yeah. Uh going to be heck of a a trip coming up too. starting in San Antonio and then some really good games on this trip. We’ll be recapping them for you. But for now, thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. Let us know in the YouTube comments what you think about this game. Is this pace sustainable? Do you think that Haime should be in the starting lineup? Do you like his odds for six man of the year? What do you think about Bam’s game the last few nights? Let us know in the comments. Thanks so much for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day.

The Miami Heat scored 144 points in their win over the Charlotte Hornets as Miami’s revamped offense continues to take opponents by surprise.

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil discuss their takeaways from the game, including how the Heat managed to score without Norman Powell, Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s bounceback season and hand out Credit Cookies. Plus, is Jaime pushing for a starting job? Is Bam Adebayo now a good 3-point shooter? Tune in for our in-depth postgame reactions!

0:00 Intro
1:30 Heat score 144 points!
13:20 Credit Cookies: Jaquez, Adebayo and more
23:40 Listener Questions: Time to start Jaime Jaquez Jr.?

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