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Community Shootaround: Best NBA Finals Matchup

May 28th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors are in the enviable position of sitting back and resting while their eventual opponent is headed to a Game 7 in the rough-and-tumble Eastern Conference Finals.

Golden State will have been off for an entire week by the time the NBA Finals begin Thursday night, and will enjoy home court advantage whether the Heat or the Celtics come out of the East. The time off  is already proving beneficial, as Gary Payton II is expected to return for the championship series, possibly in time for Game 1.

In contrast, the Celtics have been playing virtually every other day since the start of their second-round series with the Bucks, which also lasted seven games. Marcus Smart is dealing with a sprained right ankle and Robert Williams has a sore left knee, both of which have caused them to sit out games. They’re listed as questionable for Sunday night, just as they were for Games 5 and 6.

Miami’s injury situation is just as serious, with Kyle Lowry, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent playing through hamstring problems. They’re all listed as questionable for Game 7, along with P.J. Tucker, who has irritation in his left knee. Also questionable is Tyler Herro, who has missed the past three games with a strained groin. Jimmy Butler has inflammation in his right knee and twisted his ankle late in Game 6, but he doesn’t appear on the injury report.

Boston and Miami are both known for their aggressive defense and overall tough-mindedness, and either team would try to make the Finals as physical as possible. The Celtics can test Golden State’s defense with two dangerous scorers in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Butler provided a reminder Friday night that he can take over a game as well.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will be seeking their fourth title together, and the oddsmakers will likely consider the Warriors to be solid favorites regardless of who they face.

We want your opinion on which team will provide a better matchup. Do the Heat or the Celtics have a better chance of keeping Golden State from collecting another ring? Please leave your responses in the comments section.

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Heat Notes: Injuries, Butler, Herro, Oladipo, Fine

May 28th, 2022 at 5:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat aren’t complaining about their injury situation as they prepare to host Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Jimmy Butler became the latest addition to the injured list, twisting an ankle in the latter stages of his magnificent performance Friday night in Boston. Butler, who is expected to play Sunday, is also dealing with inflammation in his right knee that forced him to miss the second half of Game 3. Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus all have hamstring issues, and Tyler Herro has missed the last three games due to a strained groin.

“This time of year, there’s nobody 100% healthy, both sides,” P.J. Tucker said. “I’m sure they got a bunch of guys, too, just trying to figure it out and give what they can. Try to win. That’s it. You can’t get these days back. It’s living in the moment, trying to just do what you can.”

There’s more from Miami:

  • The Heat are adopting a “wait and see” approach regarding Herro’s status for Game 7, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPN. Coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters that Herro will have a daytime workout on Sunday, and the medical staff will determine whether he’s able to play. Spoelstra said before Friday’s game that Herro has “made progress” with the injury, but added that sitting him out was “the most responsible decision for us,” Friedell states in a full story.
  • In an interview with Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel, ESPN’s Bobby Marks projects the value of 12 Miami players for next season as if they were all free agents. Among the most interesting is Victor Oladipo, who actually will be a free agent — Marks believes Oladipo will be worth the $10.3MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception after playing on a veteran’s minimum deal this season. The Heat have Bird rights on the two-time All-Star, so they wouldn’t need to use their MLE to re-sign him at that number, but Winderman isn’t sure that the organization is willing to offer that much.
  • The Heat were fined $25K for “violating league rules regarding team bench decorum,” the NBA announced on Twitter. The league said players stood for an extended time in the bench area, stood away from the bench and were encroaching on the court during Friday’s game.
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Heat Notes: Green, Butler, Wade, Game 7, Lowry

May 28th, 2022 at 1:31pm CST by JD Shaw

The Heat used Draymond Green‘s recent NBA Finals prediction as motivation to beat the Celtics on Friday and force a Game 7, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports writes. Green predicted his Warriors would face the Celtics after Golden State advanced this week, prompting several Heat players to respond.

“Draymond broke the code,” veteran Udonis Haslem said. “You ain’t supposed to say some s–t like that. That’s disrespectful. He know better than that.”

Heat forward P.J. Tucker also felt as if Green crossed a line with his comments.

“I don’t know what part of the game is that,” Tucker told Haynes. “A player picking a team before they’re out. That’s crazy, bro.”

Miami could advance to play Golden State in the Finals by defeating Boston on Sunday. The team is dealing with an array of injuries, but was led by Jimmy Butler‘s 47-point performance to win Game 6 on the road.

Here are some other notes from Miami:

  • The Heat also received motivation from Dwyane Wade, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN, who details how Butler used that motivation en route to his dominant Game 6. “He was telling me that I could do this,” Butler told ESPN, referring to how Wade called him before the game. “Knee a little banged up, but nobody cares. Go out there, continue to build your legacy. It meant the world to me, so I appreciate you D-Wade.” In addition to his 47 points, Butler also finished with nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in 46 minutes.
  • Following the Heat’s Game 6 win, Butler expressed immediate confidence about the team’s chances in Game 7, as relayed by Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). “We knew we were going to win this one. And we’re going to win the next one too.”
  • Kyle Lowry‘s key performance in Game 6 seemingly came out of nowhere, Joe Vardon writes as part of a story for The Athletic. Lowry has been dealing with a hamstring strain for over a month, but he managed to record 18 points and 10 assists to keep the Heat’s season alive. “I’m never going to make an excuse,” Lowry said. “I played bad before. I have an opportunity to redeem myself. I got great guys in the locker room, great guys on our team, great organization, great people in my life who support me no matter what it is, ups, downs. They always say, ‘Just do you.’ Tonight was one of the chances that I think Coach said it, a legacy game.”
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Herro To Miss Game 6; Smart, R. Williams Active

May 27th, 2022 at 6:36pm CST by Rory Maher

6:36pm: Smart and Williams will both be active for Boston, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (via Twitter).

6:06pm: Heat guard Tyler Herro is expected to be sidelined for Friday’s Game 6 against Boston, league sources told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Herro suffered a left groin strain in Game 3 and will now miss Games 4, 5 and 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals with the injury. He was a limited participant in the team’s shootaround this morning, but “experienced discomfort while sliding defensively,” Haynes reports.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra confirmed that Herro will be out, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

“He’s definitely made progress, but he’s not quite ready to step into this kind of intensity of a game,” Spoelstra said.

It makes sense to be cautious with a muscle strain, as they can be notoriously tricky to deal with and easily re-injured, like what happened with teammate Kyle Lowry‘s hamstring strain in the previous series. Lowry hasn’t looked like himself since he originally sustained the injury more than a month ago.

After averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists on .447/.399/.868 shooting in 66 regular season games (32.6 minutes), Herro saw his numbers drop off in the postseason, averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists on .413/.232/.926 shooting in 14 games. Still, his absence will certainly be felt by the Heat, as they’ve struggled mightily to score without the Sixth Man of the Year winner, posting just 82 points in Game 4 and 80 in Game 5, both losses.

On Boston’s side, Celtics head coach Ime Udoka told reporters, including Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link), that both Marcus Smart and Robert Williams are game-time decisions for the potential close-out contest. Boston currently leads Miami 3-2.

Smart and Williams had previously been listed as questionable, and it seems we won’t know their status until later this evening. Game 6 tips off at 7:30pm CT on ESPN.

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Spoelstra: No Changes To Starting Lineup

May 27th, 2022 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The Heat won’t make any changes to their starting lineup for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference, head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters today (Twitter link via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel). That means Kyle Lowry and Max Strus will continue to start, despite calls to bench them.
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Should Heat Bench Lowry, Strus?

May 26th, 2022 at 9:56am CST by Luke Adams
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Heat Notes: Oladipo, Robinson, Haslem, Celtics Series

May 25th, 2022 at 7:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Victor Oladipo is slowly starting to regain his offensive form ahead of unrestricted free agency this summer after missing most of the season while recovering from a second surgery to repair his right quadriceps tendon last May. The 30-year-old said he plans to fine-tune his game with a healthy offseason.

“I really haven’t had a summer healthy to really work on my game,” he said, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “This summer I’m looking forward to fine-tuning all the stuff I’m great at, which includes [three-pointers, pull-ups, drives to the basket] and more. Transition, half-court, all the stuff that was second nature to me.”

After averaging 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists on .479/.417/.737 shooting in eight regular season games (21.6 minutes), Oladipo is averaging 11.5 points, 3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals on .387/.313/.787 shooting through 12 postseason contests (24.8 minutes). He’s provided impressive defense to the Heat in the playoffs, but acknowledges he’s still trying to find his rhythm on the other end of the court.

“Definitely [offensively], especially because I didn’t have had an opportunity to find my rhythm,” Oladipo said last week. “I can still be effective, find ways to affect the game. Even offensively, it’s more of a mind-set thing. I haven’t played a lot. I don’t have as much reps as everyone else but I can still play at a high level.”

As Jackson notes, the Heat hold Oladipo’s Bird Rights this summer, giving them the ability to go over the salary cap to re-sign him.

Here are a few more notes on Miami:

  • Duncan Robinson‘s five-year, $90MM contract with the Heat is only guaranteed for $80MM, and the $10MM discrepancy is tied to both the team’s and his own postseason performance, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. If the Heat win a championship in any of his five seasons, including this one, the final $10MM in the fifth season of his contract will be guaranteed if the following criteria are met: Robinson plays at least 70 regular season games while averaging at least 25 minutes per night, and he appears in 75 percent of his team’s postseason games while averaging at least 25 minutes per contest. As Winderman observes, Robinson has met both of the regular season criteria, but is falling short in the playoffs. He’s appeared in 11 of 15 postseason games (73.33%) while averaging just 11.5 minutes.
  • Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports takes an inside look at what Udonis Haslem does behind the scenes to help the Heat win games, with the veteran emphasizing preparation as a key to success. “If they’re not prepared, I’m taking my notes on what we need to work on. For me, this is full-time job, bro. No days off. Even when it’s summer time, I’ll just take a week off and then I’m right back in the lab, in the weight room, in the gym, conditioning. My body has to stay right. That’s the most important thing for me is that my body has allowed me to be able to keep up with these guys,” Haslem said.
  • Joe Vardon of The Athletic shares 25 thoughts heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Celtics, noting that health has played a major factor in the series to this point, and the Heat need a more aggressive version of Jimmy Butler and more contributions from Gabe Vincent and Max Strus if they hope to advance. In case you missed it, Miami will be without Tyler Herro again for Game 5, as he continues to deal with a strained left groin.
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Herro Out For Game 5; Smart, R. Williams Active

May 25th, 2022 at 5:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro (left groin strain) will miss Wednesday’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said Herro was itching to return to action after missing Game 4’s 102-82 blowout loss, but the team’s training staff thought it would be irresponsible to let him play, so he was held out (Twitter link via Jackson). The groin injury isn’t considered to be a long-term concern, but obviously the Heat are being cautious with their Sixth Man of the Year winner after seeing Kyle Lowry re-injure his hamstring against Philadelphia.

The Celtics will have their full starting lineup intact for the first time this series, as both Marcus Smart (sprained right ankle) and Robert Williams (knee soreness) will be active tonight, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). Smart missed Game 4 with the injury, while Williams missed Game 3.

Boston head coach Ime Udoka said the Defensive Player of the Year isn’t 100 percent healthy, but his mobility is “good enough” to play through the pain.

“He (Smart) has enough movement where he’s not restricted in certain areas like a few days ago,” Udoka said.

As for Williams, Udoka said he won’t have any type of minutes restriction, but added that the team is hopeful to reduce his minutes if possible (Twitter links via Weiss).

All three players had previously been listed as questionable for Wednesday’s crucial Game 5. The series is currently tied at two games apiece.

Miami holds home-court advantage and would host a potential Game 7 if it gets that far, but Boston has looked like the slightly better team through four games, posting a +7.7 net rating. In our poll earlier today, a bit more than 72 percent of our readers predicted the Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals.

With Herro sidelined, Victor Oladipo, who has emerged as a regular part of the Heat’s rotation since midway through the first-round series vs. Atlanta, figures to once again play significant minutes. Oladipo contributed 23 points, four rebounds and six assists in Game 4, but unfortunately for Miami, he outscored the entire starting lineup (23 to 18). The Heat will need a much more balanced effort to take Game 5 and the lead in the series.

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Poll: Which Team Will Win The East?

May 25th, 2022 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics and Heat are tied at 2-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the games haven’t been as close as the series score suggests. The Celtics’ two wins have come by an average margin of 22.5 points per game, while the Heat used a big third quarter in Game 1 and a big first quarter in Game 3 to build leads they never surrendered.

In addition to being comprised mostly of blowouts, the Eastern Finals have been marred by injuries. Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams have all missed at least one game in the series, while others – including Jimmy Butler – have either left a game early due to an injury or have been affected by various ailments throughout the series.

Still, for all its shortcomings, the series has been a compelling one, and it remains very much up for grabs heading into Wednesday’s Game 5. Miami holds home-court advantage and would host a potential Game 7 if it gets that far, but Boston has looked like the slightly better team through four games, posting a +7.7 net rating.

While the Celtics may have played a little better so far, the Heat’s defense gives them a chance almost every night, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link), who looks at some of the biggest questions that could decide the series.

As Lowe writes, Miami is still trying to solve Boston’s half-court defense, but has had success when forcing turnovers — the Celtics turned the ball over 39 times in their two losses, compared to just 18 times in their two victories.

The Heat have also done well when targeting Payton Pritchard and Derrick White and should rely more on that approach as they try to get Butler and Bam Adebayo going, says Lowe. Butler was just 3-of-14 from the floor in Game 4, while Adebayo scored 31 points in Game 3 but has scored just 25 in the series’ other three games.

Williams’ health will be a key factor going forward for the Celtics, Lowe notes, suggesting that if Boston’s starting center is unavailable, the team should lean on a frontcourt duo of Al Horford/Grant Williams before turning to Daniel Theis.

In the other frontcourt, the Heat are minus-19 in 38 minutes with Dewayne Dedmon on the court, but don’t have many other great options to spell Adebayo. Markieff Morris and Omer Yurtseven have been out of the rotation and P.J. Tucker – who is capable of playing small-ball center – has been dealing with injuries and isn’t at 100%.

With Game 5 less than 12 hours from tipping off, we want to know how you think the rest of the series will play out.

When we conducted our first poll on the Eastern Finals, the overwhelming majority of respondents predicted it would go at least six games, and most were betting on a Celtics victory. If you voted in that poll, has your pick changed, or are you sticking with your initial prediction? Do you see this series going the distance, or do you expect either the Celtics or Heat to win the next two games?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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2021/2022 All-NBA Teams Announced

May 24th, 2022 at 7:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 2021/22 All-NBA teams have officially been announced by the NBA. For the fourth straight season, Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was unanimously selected to the All-NBA First Team by a voter panel of 100 media members. Antetokounmpo, 27, is making his sixth All-NBA team overall.

Antetokounmpo, reigning MVP Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic received the most votes. Suns All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker and Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid rounded out the list of top five vote-getters. Because the All-NBA teams, unlike the All-Star squads, require just one center per team, Embiid was relegated to an All-NBA Second Team placing.

Below is a list of the three All-NBA teams. Vote tallies are listed in parentheses next to player names. Five points were awarded to players for a First Team Vote, three points netted for a Second Team vote, and one for a Third Team vote. Antetokounmpo earned a perfect 500 points.

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Jazz center Rudy Gobert and shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat center Bam Adebayo and small forward Jimmy Butler, Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, Bucks guards Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane, Suns small forward Mikal Bridges, Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray, and Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet all received All-NBA votes. Surprisingly, Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who played in just 29 games this season, also received a single vote.

As we previously outlined, the All-NBA selections come with significant financial ramifications. As a result of being named to All-NBA teams, Booker and Towns have become eligible for super-max extensions that would begin in 2024/25. If they’re signed this offseason, those deals would be for four years and would start at 35% of the ’24/25 cap. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (via Twitter), they currently project to be worth $211MM apiece.

Young’s five-year contract extension, which was signed last August and will go into effect in 2022/23, will now be worth 30% of next season’s cap instead of 25% by virtue of his All-NBA selection. Based on a projected $122MM cap, that means it’ll be worth about $212MM instead of $177MM.

Jokic had already met the super-max requirements prior to this announcement, since he won last year’s MVP award — he’s eligible to sign a five-year, super-max extension this offseason and has said he plans to do so. Doncic, who signed a maximum-salary contract extension last summer, also previously met the super-max criteria by earning All-NBA nods in 2020 and 2021.

Notable players who are not eligible this offseason for super-max deals include Morant and Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine. As Marks tweets, Morant needs to make the All-NBA team again in 2023 to qualify for a starting salary worth 30% of the cap (instead of 25%) on his next deal.

LaVine, a free agent this offseason, would have been eligible to earn up to 35% of next season’s cap from the Bulls if he had made an All-NBA team, but will instead be able to earn no more than 30% of the ’22/23 cap on his next contract.

With their inclusions, Morant, Booker, and Young are making their All-NBA team debuts. Meanwhile, on the other side of the NBA aging curve, two 37-year-old veterans further cemented their Hall of Fame credentials during the 2021/22 season. James made his 18th All-NBA team, while Paul was named to his 11th All-NBA team.

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