REACTION: Miami Heat Win UGLY vs Jimmy Butler-less Warriors But BIG QUESTIONS Remain

REACTION: Miami Heat Win UGLY vs Jimmy Butler-less Warriors But BIG QUESTIONS Remain

Mabio’s back and the Heat got a win versus the Golden State Warriors. Well, kind of considering they were without Steph Curry or Jimmy Butler. It still counts though, right? It counts. And Jimmy Butler walked off. Didn’t say anything to any of his teammates. He didn’t seem too happy about it either. You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat, part of the Locked On podcast network, now the number one sports podcast network. 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. Become an everydayer. That means subscribing and listening every day, Monday to Friday. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets. use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. I’m Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily and Real GM radio. I’m here with David Ramil. Both of us are Credential Heat Media members who cover this team every day. We have a lot to get to today. We got credit cookies to hand out. We’ll even get to a potential rotation change that Eric Spolster hinted at in his postgame uh press conference here in a second. But David, full disclosure, right off the top here, we already recorded this episode and uh because of our u technical difficulties with the uh software stream uh service that we use, could not download the file. We recorded it from CASSA Center an hour after uh the buzzer last night. You and I departed the arena and I found that the file just didn’t work. It was corrupted for whatever reason. So, we said, “All right, I guess we’ll just re-record this thing in the morning.” But we’ve had a chance to sleep on the game a little bit here. We’ve seen uh Jimmy Butler walking off the court without talking to any of his former Heat teammates. We saw that Bam had a bio in his postgame show or in his in in the postgame locker room was wearing a uh a hat that gave reference to joy. Uh which obviously was the keyword that Jimmy Butler used um on on his way out of Miami. It said joy dealer was the hat that Bam was wearing in his first game back. So, an organization, a charitable organization. So, is that what it is? Maybe. Yeah. And I think BAM’s been uh working with that organization, but I think I didn’t wear that hat before. It’s still a slight jab, let’s say. Maybe it wasn’t all that we’re kind of reading into it, but clearly trying to send a message there. So, I’m reading all of it. I’m reading all of it into it. That is 100% directed at Jimmy Butler. Congrats to the charitable organization and all the offthe court stuff that BAM is doing. It’s It’s great and I love it. I never seen him wear that hat before in the many many years that we’ve been covering the Heat. He has never worn that hat before and he just picks this game in particular to wear it. That’s something. They can deny it all they want. Yeah. Um so look, before the game, let’s backtrack way back. I’m sitting with Tobin uh before the game and we’re doing we’re sitting courtside uh while guys are going around their shoot around. I think D’Von Mitchell was shooting at the at the at that point and we get the news that Jimmy Butler is not going to play. It was going to it was supposed to be his second game back in Miami since the trade. Everybody was talking about it before the game whether or not he’s going to play or not. The Warriors played in Orlando on Tuesday night. Jimmy played 38 minutes in that game. Steph played 30 plus minutes. Draymond played 30 plus minutes. Steph apparently tweaked an ankle in that game on Tuesday. So, he was ruled out pretty much right away on Wednesday morning. And then Jimmy was more considered a game time decision and so was Draymond. Draymond was eventually ruled out with an illness. And then Jimmy Butler was uh ruled out uh right before tip off as well. And I’m I’m sitting there with Tobin and I’m saying this is the exact kind of game that would have made me nervous last year. Yeah. Because that team just tended to play every game close regardless of who the opponent was and and what the injury situation would would have been. Uh, but that this Warriors team has a lot of guys out and I feel a little bit better about this team. That said, David, that game was a little bit closer than you wanted. They won by 14, but it’s hard to feel good about that win considering how close it was for most of it. It was a challenge, probably much more of a challenge uh that it should have been because they were facing backups and uh they started off so well, held Golden State without a field goal for several minutes and then closed really well behind Norm Powell in a phenomenal fourth quarter performance. But in between there were some rough moments where they were basically just a few points ahead or allowed Golden State to get up by a couple points. And it felt like they were really challenged by that group of backups that was out there for the Warriors. And at least they took care of business. But to your point, it it was uh a lot more of a white knuckler than it should have been for a Miami team. But they got the W and I guess that’s all that really matters. But I I still think that there are concerns in terms of what they allowed defensively and how their offense was kind of challenged by Golden State, specifically through the use of the zone defense, kind of forcing them into tough shots, not seeing the free flowing offense that we saw for most of the first few weeks of the season. And so, uh, it was a little bit of a again, it was a difficult win, but a win nonetheless. Yeah, everything’s relative, right? They got the win. They ended up winning by double digits. It’s hard to know exactly or it’s it’s hard to be that critical of it, right? And and look, there was I even took this note during the game. I’m like, is this going to be one of those kind of big three type of wins where you play with your food for three quarters and then you just win by double digits in the fourth quarter. And that’s exactly what happened. And Norpal gets all of the credit for that. 17 points in the fourth quarter for Norpal. I’m sure he’ll be the recipient of credit cookies here in a second, David. But um the point that you made about the zone defense and kind of slowing the game down, it’s a couple of games now against the Knicks and now the Warriors where that Heat offense has gotten stuck in the mud for longer than comfortable stretches of the game. And that was there was a stretch in this one where you know Miami takes a 16-point lead. They’re up 20 to4. A lot of that was due to your point bad Warrior shooting, good defense on the Heat also. But I it just I think Jimmy not playing there was also a little bit of an energy let down, right? There’s a little bit of a Euing theory thing happening maybe where the Warriors kind of had a little bit more energy than you you anticipated in the heat. Kind of looking at a depleted Warriors team kind of said, you know what, we could probably cruise to this win and then they found out they probably couldn’t. So, I do think there was an energy let down in this game. Both teams were chucking threes a lot. I think they combined for over 30 threes after the first quarter. Uh, and didn’t make a lot of them. Uh, and so I don’t know, it kind of had like a scrimmage feel to it in the first quarter. And then it starts to pick up and then Hakis Jr. and Pat Spencer get into it a little bit and you know, all these things start going and and the Heat end up getting the win. But in terms of the Warriors being able to slow down the Heat’s offense a little bit, it’s something I’m monitoring. It’s too two two games is still too small of a sample size. I’m worried. And by the way, worried is all relative. And slowing down is all relative. Like they were held to 105 possessions in this game. That would have ranked second in the league in pace behind the Heat who are number one in the league in pace at slightly more than 106 possessions per 48 minutes. So it’s not like they were back down to like 90s style Miami Heat basketball. But um you know, I think that the guys at the end of the game said first half the shot selection was just was a lot worse and the second half we kind of figure it out. And I do think that the zone is starting to give them a little bit of trouble in terms of the shot selection. Yeah, no doubt. Um I think they all kind of acknowledge the fact that uh they didn’t play the way that they wanted to. But to your point, they also acknowledged the the decision making, the psychological component of this where they weren’t making the best choices and they weren’t taking care of the ball to the same degree that they were in the second half, taking some bad shots that they may have uh may have regretted and led to some clunky looking offense at times. But you know what? They still figured out a way to win. They still understood uh what was necessary. And and I think the emotional component that you hinted at also was a big one, too. It’s you’re you’re looking forward to playing Steph Curry, arguably still one of the top players in the world. Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, always an emotional force to have to contend with, and then all of a sudden it’s well, you’re having to deal with Quentyn Post and Pensky. Yeah. Hard to get fired up about that to the same level. So, it’s not a disrespect to those guys. they’re NBA players and they’re good players and they all had their moments throughout the course of the game. But, uh, from the Miami side of things, it’s like, you know what, maybe, uh, maybe we’re not as engaged emotionally as we would have been. We don’t have anything to prove to this group of warriors because we really don’t have any kind of emotional attachment to that. And so, they they wind up getting into a trap where, again, that might have contributed to that psychological issue of, you know what, you know, maybe we can take these bad shots. You get baited into a false a false sense of security, right? you just they’re they’re playing possum and you’re like, “Oh, we got nothing to worry about here.” And then all of a sudden you got something to worry about. Yeah. Uh you and I talked about going into the game whether or not the Jimmy Butler thing was a story and we even pulled our listeners and it was pretty split. Like no, it’s not a story anymore. He’s gone. Who cares? And and the organization, the Heat organization was downplaying it going into it. I’ll just say, and we were both there at the arena last night, the only thing anybody was talking about before the game was whether or not Jimmy Butler was going to play. And maybe it’s less of a story if we just know in the morning that he’s either in or he’s out. The fact that it was a little bit of a question, kind of a 50-50 thing. And everybody from Jimmy Butler’s side of things, by the way, I was checking in, they were adamant that it was a game time decision. And I was still pretty dubious that it was ever a game time decision, but they weren’t they they were holding the company line, it felt like to me. But um Jimmy played 38 minutes against Orlando, had a really nice night. back soreness or whatever it was ends up not playing in that game. But it was a story. It was a story before the game and and then after the game, you know, there’s that video circulating on social media now, David, about him. He doesn’t go to center court. Steph is there talking with Bam. Wiggins is talking to a lot of his former teammates. Spent a lot of time with Gary Payton. The second Jimmy just walked right off. Never talked to any of his former Heat teammates. It’s so contrived. It’s It’s one of the more unfortunate aspects of Jimmy. I I love his attitude about most things and I’m a big fan of the dry humor and even some of the the more showy aspects, you know, uh emo Jimmy is still a fond memory for all of us. But at the same time, like I understand that you’re trying to prove to everybody how much you’ve moved on, but you can’t. It just feels like there’s a wrongness to it to just say, “Nope, those six years never happened. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any friendships there. There were no relationships on that end.” And uh I think you know we’ve talked about this before in terms of how the Jimmy Butler and the Heat will eventually heal the relationship because I’m sure it’ll happen in retirement. I think so. I think so. And in retirement, I think he’ll have a change of heart and be like, you know what, I did have good times there. I did have good memories. I did get paid a lot of money. Whatever you want to look at it from whatever lens you want to view it through. And I think he’ll realize those were good memories. And I think the organization will have gotten past whatever, you know, silly behavioral issues they had to put up with. He’s got he’s got to be the one who extend the allout branch at this point. He has to be will and I kind of like what’s he supposed to say to Bam? What’s he supposed to say to Spo? Hey, yeah, that was weird that time I made everybody’s life miserable and completely tanked the season all by myself. Good times. Like, you know, I remember that win against Milwaukee. What a go. I would have been very surprised had he walked to center court and been like, “Hey, Bam.” And then acted that would have almost been more contrived. Yeah. To just be like, “Hey, what’s up? How’s everything going? How’s the How’s the family? How’s your mom?” Like Bam. Like Jimmy’s got nothing to say to the Heat. And the Heat have nothing to say to Jimmy. And And you know, you and I have talked about it enough. We don’t have to do the whole thing, but like I you and I are very on polar opposites. I don’t think I think that relationship is burned. There is no B rebuilding that bridge. This is not a Dwayne Wade, LeBron James Shaq situation where those guys actually care about their legacy and care about their relationships. There is nothing that I’ve ever seen from Jimmy Butler that gives me any indication in any of his previous stops. I have no indication that Jimmy Butler cares about any of those kinds of relationships. I have never gotten any indication about that. So, I don’t know. like he’s referred to Tibs somewhat lovingly, you know, kept trading for him. Well, he kept trading him, too. He traded him from Chicago to Minnesota and he traded from Minnesota to Philadelphia. So, I mean, he’s had his issues with Tips before. So, but uh at one point, you know, again, you kind of just accept that relation. It’s been less than a year, so maybe uh the stink is still on there. So, it’s it’s hard to kind of move past. Credit Cookies is next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Quo. Let’s talk about something every business owner knows too well. Miss calls. 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If for somebody who didn’t watch the game, let me just tell you, Norm Powell was the difference. without Powell in the fourth quarter incredible performance where he scores as you said 17 points in decisive shots just getting whatever he wanted attacking looking at Buddy Heal and saying okay this is a matchup I can handle and just going at him relentlessly for those points in the fourth quarter they don’t get that win without him and so I gave him five credit cookies and I think each of those are welld deserved he’s the differencemaker the offense looks clunky no one looks like they’re stepping up and all of a sudden Pal just says, “No, no, I got this.” That’s the kind of performance that Miami has lacked in the past. Maybe you’ve seen that on occasion from Butler, especially in key moments in the playoffs, but this was a different story to get this kind of performance from Norm Powell in the regular season in a game that, you know, might have been a meaningless one over depleted Golden State Warriors, but very much a necessary one for Miami to keep their place in the standings. Pal deserves as much credit as possible for us, and that’s why he gets five credit cookies. Uh good win, right? I mean, we were sort of poo pooing it earlier, but it keeps them in the top six in the East, and that’s important uh in terms of where they are. Yeah, he scored nine points against Quinton Post in this game. He had five points against Buddy Heield. He went a combined six for seven attacking those guys. If you add Moses Moody to the mix, it was another five points when he was matched up against Moody. And uh quick math, 849 against Post, Healed, and Moody combined. Those guys couldn’t stop. In other words, yeah. So, um, yeah, I mean, the game you’re five points felt like the minimum. I was wondering how many you were going to give Norm Pal. Understanding that we have to give out cookies to other players, it makes sense. You couldn’t give him less than five. And that’s half of our cookies. And I think he’s 50% responsible for this Heat win at at minimum. Uh, it was a close game, so the Heat were up by 14 early or 16 earlier in the game. Warriors battle back and then it’s kind of close. Second quarter, third quarter, it’s close. The Warriors actually end up taking a lead at one point and then it’s kind of going back and forth. Norm Pal checks into the game with about seven and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter and goes on a 90 spurt by himself in just over two minutes. And we didn’t know it at the time cuz there’s still about 5 minutes left in the game. But that was it. That was the game. The game was over right there at that point. Miami’s lead only just built from that point on. And it was all because of what Norm Powell did. So very deserving of those five cookies. Um, a tremendous amount of success attacking on the second side. Uh, those quick decisions that we’re always talking about with Norm Powell. Didn’t matter who’s in front of him. Uh, the Warriors just didn’t have an answer for him. Who’s next? I’ve got two credit cookies to Drew Smith. I think we debated this in last night’s episode too, though. Just one of five from the floor. 0 of three 02, excuse me, from three-point range. Even missed a couple free throws, but it felt like his minutes were very impactful. uh just forcing turnovers, creating chaos, doing things to challenge everybody. Uh even whether it was, you know, trying to hold off post and the low post, uh you know, trying to challenge anybody that was coming through, using his length and his quickness to try and force a turnover. Those minutes were really impactful in in terms of what I saw who was able to kind of help Miami tread water u for very large stretches during the game. So I gave him two credit cookies. I think it was welld deserved. Finished with just a plus one during his 24 minutes. So I’m a little surprised at that. But I thought he was really more impactful than almost any other player out on the floor aside from Powell closing the game out in the fourth quarter. Yeah, the plus minus is a little misleading because Miami’s bench was so outscored by Golden State’s bench in the first half of that game. That’s when the Warriors climbed back into it. But it wasn’t because of Drew Smith. It kind of felt like it was everybody else and it almost felt like it could have been worse if not for Drew Smith for sure. Uh and so he does get some credit for that. Uh Eric Spolster was ausive about uh with his praise of Drew Smith after the game. And so that really caught I remember, you know, sitting there with you and it kind of caught our attention uh howusive was too. Yeah. And the players. Yeah. Uh he was they they experimented with a little bit of like this extended zone press and just a general fullcourt press in this game and Drew Smith was the head of that snake there. So I think it’s deserving you mentioned it before. We debated it in the first version of this episode. I think he’s deserving of one considering of where considering where else we’re going with this. But if you really think it’s two, I’m not going to fight you too hard on it. Who’s next? I got two for Andrew Wiggins as well. finished seven of 16 from the floor, plus 25 out there and during his minutes, 17 points in total, six rebounds, one assist, two steals, one block. Talk about just impact all across the board. Just one turnover, too. So, that was an effective, efficient game and an impactful one. And so, I think he I don’t know he necessarily had anything to prove against his former teammates. Maybe that was a little extra factor, but just kind of shows you the two-way player that Andrew is and and what he was capable of. And again, the minutes his impact was mostly during those quarters when Miami was kind of struggling to find themselves and it just most often led to a Wiggins shot. So maybe the impact it felt kind of, I know this is a dated reference, kind of Eddie Jonesish and that there were quiet 17 points, you know. Oh, you look up and you go, “Wow, huh, 17 points. I didn’t realize he was that good because they were just during those stretches of the game where Miami was battling all the time. But hell, somebody needed to score and that’s where Wiggins came up. Uh we we kind of tend to remember Powell because of the fourth quarter barrage. We remember Drew for forcing turnovers in key moments. Wiggins was the one kind of steadily carrying the ship for the most of the game. Scored I think seven of Miami’s first nine or 10 points or something like that. Uh first bucket of the game was Wiggins running pick and roll with Bam Adabio, which I thought was interesting. Um so offensively he’s right there. You’re exact. He’s like a middle reliever, right? If Norm Powell was your Mariano Rivera closer. Yep. Wiggins is that middle and he’s always been that. That’s been his value. If there’s a knock on Wiggins, right, it’s that he doesn’t really step up in the biggest moments. He’s not like this number one pick kind of apex predator type of guy in the fourth quarters, but you don’t win without. But there’s a bottom of the ledger production with him. You just look up and you’re like, you know what? In a close game, we needed all of those points. like those points mattered and they got us to the point where somebody like Powell or on his previous teams like Steph or somebody else could take over, right? And so that stuff is important. It still go all those points still go to the same scoreboard. Defensively, I thought he was everywhere defensively in this game. He spent um he spent a lot of time on Moody, on Spencer, on Santos, on Pods, on heels. He was just kind of their Swiss Army knife defensively where they didn’t really like DaVon Mitchell also was really good defensively in this game, but he was mostly on the ball handlers. I thought Wiggins was just covering so much ground everywhere else, so he’s deserving of these cookies. Uh, last one. I love I love the middle reliever comparison because I said at the beginning of the season, we talked about projections and I thought he he might be like their their their floor raiser and and that’s exactly what it is. like he he keeps you in the game just enough so that you can find a way to win and it’s it’s up to guys like Powell and everybody else to kind of step up in those clos Yeahio yeah Bio gets one last cookie in his first game back did finish with 20 points seven of 13 from the floor three of four from three-point range those were huge shots definitely feeling it uh he’s he’s just so much more increasingly comfortable from that three-point shot seven rebounds three assists two blocks one steal just one turnover great game from probably deserves more credit cookies, but I feel like we’ve kind of just gotten accustomed or maybe at least I have. This is the kind of game that you expect from Bam. A quiet game in some ways, but also also very impactful. And uh my takeaway looking at Bam is, and we talked about this yesterday, he’s a three-point shooter. And it just looks like it’s it’s a part of his repertoire that not only are they designing plays for, but that is a regular asset for him and a part of his repertoire. played just a hair under 29 minutes in this game. So, there’s still a little bit of a minutes restriction with him, even though the Heat won’t ever call it that. But, um, Spo did sort of allude to the fact that the training staff didn’t really want him over 30 minutes in this one. So, he’ll get better. I thought he’s deserving of the cookie here. You know what, Dave, the more I after sleeping on it, I fought you on it. I thought it should have been two cookies for Bam, one for Drew Smith. I think you’re right. Two for Drew Smith, one for Bam. I think we got better games for Bam coming ahead. Um, and they’re going to need it. It was a fine game for Bam, but it’s still he’s still it seems like he needed to get his wind a little bit still in this one and you expect bigger things from him, but the three-point shot to your point seems for real. Uh looking forward to that continuing here. But um Eric Spolster did hint at a potential rotation change. We’re going to talk about that next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Skiims. When Skiims announced that they were making underwear for men, well, the reaction made perfect sense. People have been talking about Skiib’s comfort for years. Most guys though, they just kind of stick to whatever they’ve been buying since college. The same fits, the same waistbands that roll, and a whole lot of settling. But Ski Men has changed all that one upgrade, and it’s obvious why everyone’s been talking. Once you try Skiims, you’ll get the hype immediately. They’re designed to feel good, to fit right, and to actually stay put. 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And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanuel.com, sign up, and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Locked on Heat. Thanks for making us your first listen every day. Let’s go to the text line. You can get texts from us and submit questions for the postgame show with the link in the show notes or text 7869987029. Malachi writes in, “I still don’t understand why we can’t see Bam and Wear in the game at the same time. I feel like this team would play better when Bam and Wear are on the court together. David, it was the third quarter when the Warriors were making that comeback there and they’re crushing Miami on the offensive glass. This still remains an issue. 22nd chance points for the Warriors in this game. That’s why they were able to hang in there even with the undersized kind of team that they have, but they they have Trace Jackson Davis, Quentyn Post, who isn’t a physical player, but he’s tall. And you know, Bam in his first game back, I thought wasn’t awesome. He wasn’t his usual rebounding self. Uh I thought he was in this game. Kell was really good and impactful off the bench, but that was really it. And so they still struggled on that offensive glass and it’s starting to become an issue and they’re doing they’re in the middle of that third quarter and they’re in the middle of that the Warriors are in the middle of that comeback and I couldn’t help but think can we see Bam and Wear together at all and we didn’t see it. They did. He ended up winning the game obviously but then Eric Spolster said after the game that he actually had thought about putting Bam and Wear in at the same time. went out of his way to praise Kelwar first of all and then mentioned after that went out of his way also to mention that he considered putting Bammon wear out there at the same time ultimately decided against it he thought that maybe it would have played too much into the Warriors strengths hard to debate that he was wrong on that because they obviously won the game by 14 points but there’s still a pocket of that game where it felt like they could have used both of them on the court at the same time just to try to clean up the boards. Yeah, no doubt. Uh, I like that Spo did go out of his way. You specifically pointed to the fact that it’s not easy for a player who’s been starting and excelling and Spo was clear about that, that he’s been playing really, really good and that all of a sudden to adjust from that starting role where he was thriving to being reduced back to a bench role, maybe not reduced. I think that stigma has to be done away with to be honest with you. But he’s not starting. He’s still getting playing time. He’s just coming off the bench a little harder for him to develop a rhythm. He wasn’t great offensively, but in terms of at least being the aggressive rebounder that he should be, that was certainly a display against Golden State. So, good on spoke for him to point that out because I think that matters a lot to a player like where it’s still young, still developing. Um, to the point regarding why he didn’t play them. We should also mention Nico Yoic out due to injury, so he wasn’t available. Don’t know if that was a factor or not, but it probably seems like it would be. But I don’t know. I I don’t know that I can necessarily agree with Spo’s reasoning. Again, like you said, they did win the game, so it’s kind of hard to, you know, pick Nits at that point, but you’re looking at the the rebounding edge. You’re looking at Golden State dominating despite the fact that they’re playing small and not particularly physically. You gave up what, eight rebounds to Pat Spencer. That’s uh that’s not good. That’s not good. You want to try and create a little advantage by your to your for your team and one of the ways to do that is have your two bigs out there. Uh both of whom are good rebounders. And I and I think it might have helped Miami, but again, hard to make the point that it wasn’t the right decision. Uh, you know, Spose mentioned it before though, it’s all about creating an advantage based on your strengths, not necessarily playing to your team. So, I’m not sure exactly what the rationale was. Maybe somebody in the coaching staff said, “No, no, no, keep it the way it is. It’s working.” I I’m not sure exactly, but uh I hope that we see the lineup more of in the future because I think it it works. like even for small stretches, you want to be able to get them out there, especially again if where’s rebounding the way he is, that means that he’s holding down the restricted area and that allows Bam to do what he’s been doing, which is thriving from three-point range. So, why not put both of those things out there and create an obvious advantage for your team? That’s the part I’m surprised by. Not necessarily that they’re not starting together. I understand what the Heat are doing right now with their starting lineup. Uh, going a little bit smaller help with Wiggins ostensibly at the four. It helps them push the pace a little bit. So, I get and hard to debate the results right now. it’s been working. Um, but to not see Bam and wear together at all, that’s the part that has surprised me. Now, you have a game against Chicago on Friday, Philadelphia that will be w with or without Joel Embiid on Sunday, and then it’s Dallas Monday, and then Milwaukee on Wednesday. Uh, we’ll see what what ends up happening with their lineups. But, it does feel like there’s going to be spots where Miami can play big. And Eric Sper saying that at the end of the game, at least we know he’s considering it and it’s on the menu. And that’s the part that I’m taking away from this. Now, BAM being on a slight minutes restriction, Nico not being out there, that was probably some kind of factor in maybe not wanting to pull the trigger ultimately on BAM and Wear being out there together because if you put Bam and Wear out there together and you don’t have Nico as that third reserve big and you don’t and and BAM is on a minutes restriction, there could be minutes where they’re both out there, but then you could end up very quickly where minutes where you have none of them out there and then you’re really vulnerable. And so maybe that was just it was too complicated in the moment to figure it out. But now if Nico comes back, which we expect him to be back, and then you’ve got Bam who will get healthier and and kind of come off this minutes restriction here, maybe that’ll be an option for them going forward. The other thing I found myself thinking in the third quarter while the Warriors are making that run and Pat Spencer is doing his thing, he’s kind of going back and forth with Haime and he just seems to be doing everything for the Warriors. I have not seen a player look that looks like Pat Spencer in the NBA and I couldn’t I’m watching him do all this stuff on the court and I’m like he’s got number 61 as a jersey number. It’s a weird number. He’s he like it does not look like an NBA player. If I just ran into him in a cafe somewhere and we got into a conversation and I asked what he did for a living and he told me I play in the NBA. Yeah. And I actually like get minutes. I would never believe him if I didn’t watch the NBA. I would never. He does not look like an NBA player. So, I got me thinking. What does Pat Spencer look like? So, I did a bit a little bit of a lookalike game. David, nice. I can’t wait to hear it. Uh Pat Spencer looks like he makes a mean smoked oldfashioned. Yes. Pat Spencer looks like the guy in charge of telling ghost stories by the fire. Yeah. I don’t know. Even when we talked about it yesterday, I’m not sure I trust him around the kids to be honest with you. Not with that hair. That’s a little too mustache for me. Yeah, a little too much mustache for the kids. That’s for sure. Pat Spencer looks like he says all lives matter. Yes, that I buy anywhere like no unprompted regardless of the situation. He just wants everybody to know that he’s forever. Just reminds people. Uh Pat Spencer looks like he names his truck and that she’s the only one that won’t let him down. Of course, that’s uh it’s been part of the family for years. Women come and go, but that truck is always there. what those mud flaps have seen. Pat Spencer looks like he listens to the whole Joe Rugun podcast the day it comes out. Yes, absolutely. Pat Spencer Pat Spencer looks like he collects World War II memorabilia, including an uncomfortable amount from the German side. Pat Spencer looks like he owns a cornhole set for those. Pat Spencer looks like he has a keychain bottle opener and is always too eager to use it. Yeah. Yeah. We talked about this. What beer of choice? I don’t know. Oh, there’s so many. I said schlitz last night. Um, but he’s, you know, bottles. I’m also not I don’t know. Do they have bottles of schlitz? That’s a great question. That’s a good question. Yeah. I’m not sure. Uh, in college of my roommate brought to a party that we met at uh bottles of PBR and it was the first and last time I’d ever seen that. I was like, where did you find this? Uh, Pat Spencer’s garage. Pat Spencer’s girl Pat Pat Spencer looks like he has bottles of people. Let me tell you a ghost story. Pat Spencer looks like he has a dog named Rufus. Pat Spencer looks like he doesn’t work at Home Depot, but he’ll tell you exactly where something is at Home Depot. Yes, definitely strong vibes there. Pat Spencer looks like he’ll cry a single tear during the national anthem. Great country. He loves it. like right before the Super Bowl and he’s like not in this he’s not playing in the Super Bowl. He’s like on his couch and Yeah, he stands up at the living room. Pat Spencer looks like he stands up in his living room for the national anthem. Yeah, no doubt. Pat Spencer looks like a volunteer firefighter. Yeah. Yeah. He’s he’s committed but not too committed. You know, he’s got lots of things to do over at Home Depot. Pat Spencer looks like my dad’s a lawyer. Well, he was a pretty decent lacrosse player. I’m sure his dad probably helped him out in sometimes. Pat Spencer looks like he turns back into a wolf during a full moon. I don’t know. That’s that would be a little too wild for Pat Spencer. Uh, that’ll do it for us today. If you like what you heard, thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Bam Adebayo returned and the Miami Heat got a much-needed win over the Golden State Warriors, who were playing without Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

After a sluggish start, Norman Powell took over the Heat got the win. Erik Spoelstra hinted at a potential rotation change, and key players stepped up from the bench. Wes Goldberg and David Ramil break down the win, hand out credit cookies and ask how the Heat can fix their rebounding issues.

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