Miami Heat

Why wasn't the Miami Heat's Butler-Haslem-Spoelstra confrontation shown on Bally Sports Sun? It was Heat's decision because of a long-standing team policy.

Three of the five are Heat starters and all five are rotation players. Guard Victor Oladipo has been ruled out for Friday’s game because of right knee injury recovery. Friday will mark the second game he has missed because of right knee injury recovery since his return, as he also missed the Heat’s March 12 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Miami Heat let out their frustrations during a contentious sideline dispute in Wednesday night's 118-104 loss to the Warriors, which cut the team's lead ...

It starts with our leadership, our veteran players have to lead and then we just have to play better. "But we do want to play better. "We have bigger things to accomplish," Spoelstra said. The fire and the emotions come out sometimes. Heat guard Kyle Lowry chalked the incident up to passionate players who are frustrated with losing. Then Butler and Haslem exchanged words, both eventually needing to be held back by teammates.

Also, Udonis Haslem threatened to beat Jimmy Butler's you know what on Wednesday, so things are going great ...

In fact, maybe this ends up as the fire that lights Miami on a solid closing stretch to secure the No. 1 seed and head into the playoffs on the right note. Of course, the Heat played this off after the game as nothing more than emotions running hot when the team was in the middle of a second straight cruddy performance against an undermanned opponent, and that's probably all it is. Oh, and it would also probably help if the Heat stopped trying to fight each other. The Heat have a lot of guys who qualify as late-game shot creators, namely Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry, but it's not happening for them right now. Including the Celtics date, Miami faces six teams who are currently fighting for their own playoff/play-in positioning over their final nine games, including the Nets, Bulls, Raptors, Hornets and Hawks. The Celtics, to be fair, have an even tougher home stretch, but there isn't a team in the league playing better than them right now. They can go for the No. 1 seed, but if they fall just short, they'll be the ones playing Brooklyn in the first round.

Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy Butler and Udonis Haslem involved in heated exchange.

We got our butts handed to us two games in a row by teams that didn’t even have their starting players. “At the end of the day, we’re brothers. As long as we’re still together, and we are.” At the end of the day as long as we’re comfortable and we figure it out, that’s all that really matters. We’re in a situation where we have a lot of competitive guys and one being our biggest competitor is our head coach. "Virtually every single person in that huddle was pretty animated in our disappointment in how we were playing.”

Bam Adebayo is defending Mason Plumlee. Plumlee doesn't think about it. Not for a second. Ball screen. Bam Adebayo is defending LaMelo Ball.

“You can’t be the Defensive Player of the Year if you can’t play in most fourth quarters. Adebayo, for his part, has not been in and out of the lineup. And then when he’s on the weakside, he’s literally one of the best weakside defenders in this league. “Some of those plays, he’s not supposed to be in the play,” Robinson said. There’s precedence for a lower availability total, both on its own and in the context of the competition. Bam is one of the few people in the league – and I’ve had conversations with people – where first quarter of the game you realize he’s involved in all these actions defensively and [then] you make a deliberate effort to keep him out of the play.” If Adebayo has a weakness, it’s that he’s not as big as the biggest. You may slide Adebayo to the weakside, but unless you want to entrust a weaker ballhandler with an early action he’s going to be on the weakside attached to one of your best playmakers. To get him out of the play. Back during the early seasons, it was common to see some of the league’s biggest stars draw Adebayo and get that look in their eye. “We’re one of the more unique defensive teams in the league,” Spoelstra says. The Defensive Player of the Year award has historically gone to a rim-protecting big.

And all of that came after coach Erik Spoelstra seemingly asked Butler if he wanted to fight during an expletive-laced moment in the huddle, Spoelstra himself ...

A group of Miami Heat players got into a heated argument and involved head coach Erik Spoelstra during the team's loss to the Warriors.

We conversated and had a conversation and we continue to build.” The fire and the emotions come out sometimes. Butler and Spoelstra had to be held back from each other as they pointed fingers at one another.

The Miami Heat are the only NBA contender built like a UFC promotion. Knowing that it was inevitable that Heat culture nearly turned that energy inward ...

This season, they have a slim grip on the No. 1 seed in the East after a 2-game skid. The ’94 Knicks, who came one win away from being crowned NBA champions, were one of the six lowest-scoring teams in the entire NBA. Riley constructed teams are here to bully and ball. Center Bam Adebayo is built like a defensive end but switches like a safety on the perimeter. John Starks had one of the more punchable faces of the 90s, and he used that skill to bait opponents into doing so. Markieff Morris missed 58 games due to whiplash, stemming from an incident in which he committed a hard foul on Nikola Jokić and didn’t keep his head on a swivel when the reigning MVP retaliated. Udonis Haslem spent much of his Heat career as the Oakley to Dwyane Wade’s Jordan. He’s just here to set screens, box out, and potentially box if any whippersnapper steps out of line.

The Warriors rested Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Otto Porter Jr. on Wednesday night in Miami -- but still managed to beat the top team in the Eastern ...

"These decisions are based on process, not on the results of the previous night's games.'' "You just got to keep pushing forward." But the decision to rest this trio was more notable with the Warriors mired in a three-game slump entering Wednesday.

How much rest will Miami Heat players get in the final weeks of the regular season? One thing is for sure, P.J. Tucker doesn't want to take a game off.

I just want to help put the best in front of you and you take it and run with it if you choose.” “I think the schedule right now, I don’t think we have to,” Spoelstra said when asked if he wants to find time for Tucker to take a night off before the end of the regular season. After the April 10 regular-season finale against the Magic in Orlando, the Heat will then have at least five days off before opening the playoffs in Miami the following weekend to give time for the play-in tournament to be completed. Following Wednesday’s game against the Warriors, the Heat has just nine regular-season games left to play. You’re always going to have something when you play as hard as I do and play as much as I do, but it’s something that just comes along with the territory.” I don’t think that either way is a bad way, and that will be between the players and coaches to figure that out.” Tucker has missed just eight games this season, and two of them were because of the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. We’ll just see when we get there.” Miami’s coaching staff needs to find the right answer to that question for each rotation player, as the Eastern Conference-leading Heat entered Wednesday two games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Bucks. He has coincidentally shot just 21.7 percent from three-point range since the All-Star break after making 45 percent of his threes before the break. That’s just how I’ve always been, that’s what I do. “Every time I’ve like suggested it, he’ll just laugh in my face.

The Heat veterans had a difference of opinion while trailing a short-handed Warriors squad.

We'll have to wait and see how the Heat respond to Wednesday night's sideline fireworks. ... It's good sometimes to get some anger and frustration out and just talk about it," Heat guard Kyle Lowry said after the game. The Heat are far from the first team to direct anger toward each other during a stretch of underwhelming play, and often coaches respond to such inner-squad altercations with praise, rather than admonishment. We have a very competitive, gnarly group, and we were getting our asses kicked," Spoelstra said after the game. After being tied at 50 at halftime, the Warriors -- playing without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and other key personnel -- opened the third quarter with a 19-0 run to take a 69-50 lead. And sometimes you just need to get into a good, old-fashioned shouting match.

It's unclear what exactly prompted it, but after the game some players and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra downplayed it. However, watching the video below, one thing ...

This is the time when a team wants to be playing its best basketball. The big question for the Heat is whether or not they’ll be able to figure it all out before the actual start of the playoffs. However, this is not exactly how they wanted to close out the regular season.

Jimmy Butler and Udonis Haslem were shouting at each other, fingers were pointed in various directions, some Miami players were trying to play peacemaker ...

Back-to-back layups by Kuminga gave the Warriors the lead to stay. “You just got to keep pushing forward. “It’s so important to just keep pushing ahead and not succumb to the noise and to the roller-coaster nature of it all,” Kerr said. Butler and Spoelstra had things to say to one another, then Butler and Haslem exchanged words, both eventually needing to be held back by teammates. Golden State wasn’t flustered in the least. Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, Bam Adebayo had 25, Butler finished with 20 and Duncan Robinson had 13.

Things got ugly for the Miami Heat on Wednesday, and not just because it dropped a second straight game to a team missing its best players.

The Miami Heat's sideline kerfuffle is the last thing to think about on Wednesday. Losing a second straight game to a hobbled team should worry you though.

Yes, in case you hadn’t heard yet, there was a scuffle on the Miami Heat sideline. The Miami Heat would eventually shut the paint down, though the game would still go to halftime even at 50 each. The Miami Heat came out with another opportunity to get a win this week, this time on their home floor against another hobble opponent.

Which three NBA contests are attracting the most meaningful betting attention Wednesday? Nick Hennion of The Action Network shares the insights.

That said, there is one signal triggering in favor of the Warriors: the model projection. However, three factors go in favor of the hosts. The Action Network has tracked sharp action coming in on the Heat, who lost the first meeting this season against the Warriors. Additionally, big money has come in on Miami, which is receiving 54 percent of spread bets and 90 percent of the handle.

For the Warriors, they will be without almost all of their top talent, as Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, and Otto Porter Jr. are ...

A combination of injuries and rest will have the Warriors down several key players. The two teams have released their respective injury reports, and both are extensive. Two teams who expect to make deep playoff runs this season, the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat will be facing off without much of their top talent.

Things got heated in the Miami Heat huddle during a timeout in the second half of Wednesday night's game against the Golden State Warriors.

But at the end of the day as long as we're comfortable and we figure it out that's all that really matters. But it's passion," Heat guard Kyle Lowry said of the heated moment. The loss, on the heels of a 113-106 setback vs. "We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting our asses kicked," Spoelstra said. During a timeout in that run, tempers boiled over on the Heat bench. The Warriors pulled out the win in the end, though, 118-104.

On Monday, it was getting the Philadelphia 76ers a night after they lost at home to the Toronto Raptors, with coach Doc Rivers holding out Joel Embiid and James ...

The Miami Heat's frustration became event when tempers flared between Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem and Erik Spoelstra in Wednesday's loss to the Warriors.

And early in the 2010-11 season, LeBron James bumped shoulders with Spoelstra on his way to the bench during a loss that dropped the Heat to 9-8 in what became known as “Bump-gate,” and the Heat went on to win 21 of the next 22 games. But in practice, we get to that point where it looks like we want to fight each other and we get that mad. Butler and Haslem are not expected to be fined or suspended by the Heat for the incident. Spoelstra left the Heat’s starters on the court for the entire third quarter Wednesday for the first time this season. We’re still just trying to figure out what we’re doing rotation-wise. That’s when the Heat’s frustration became evident for everybody to see, as Haslem began yelling at Butler in the team’s huddle and an angry Spoelstra slammed his clipboard as he also began yelling at Butler. As Haslem remained around the bench, Spoelstra walked on to the court to continue his dialogue with Butler. And as long as we’re still together, and we are.” But at the end of the day, as long as we’re comfortable and we figure it out, that’s all that really matters. Another timeout was called a few minutes later with the Heat trailing by 15. I would say virtually every single person in that huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment and how we were playing.” Those two losses are concerning with less than a month remaining before the start of the playoffs.

Coup's Takeaways: Shorthanded Warriors Absorb HEAT's Third Quarter Comeback, Ride 37 Points In Fourth To Win · 1. The Warriors are the rare contending team – you ...

The Warriors did all they could to take away the paint the same as the HEAT try to do to everyone else. They sagged off Jimmy Butler more aggressively than most, to the point that Butler took two early threes (both of which he hit). They switched Miami’s off-ball actions with their switchable defenders and when the HEAT were able to get downhill, the Warriors made sure to keep their hands up and not foul. 1. The Warriors are the rare contending team – you could say the HEAT are one of the few others – that actually has a second, youthful team underneath all of their seasoned veterans. Miami was simply never able to put together enough offense inside the arc (14-of-36 from three) outside of that third-quarter run, and the Warriors played a composed game well beyond their experience level, with some incredible shot making (30 points on 18 shots for Poole, four players with at least 20, an Offensive Rating of 129.7) to boot. He finished with 26 points on 14 shots with nine assists, and while Adebayo (25 points) and Jimmy Butler (20) helped shoulder the load, it was Lowry who was pulling the offense out of the mud as much as he possibly could. As Miami’s halfcourt offense struggled in the first half, his 13 points, including a quick four before the first half expired and three triples, was what kept the HEAT afloat.

MIAMI — The Miami Heat confirmed Thursday to the Sun Sentinel that it was the team's decision, and not the decision of broadcast-rights holder Bally Sports ...

It was an unusual and concerning scene to see coach Erik Spoelstra and Udonis Haslem arguing with Jimmy Butler. They have been a close group most of their time ...

CLICK HERE CLICK HERE Again, the Heat regrouped to win the series and won a championship.

We will see what becomes of the 2022 Miami Heat, but the ugly blowup on the bench Wednesday night between its coach (Erik Spoelstra) and best player (Jimmy ...