The Stretch 4: Josh Richardson’s Return and Playoff Nightmares
Another week, another edition of The Stretch 4: a column covering the best and worst the Miami Heat have to offer.
I don’t know about all of you, but these days are flying by way too fast for my liking. Suddenly Halloween has come and gone, and before you know it we’ll all be ringing in 2017.
Yikes.
In any case, the Miami Heat have another week of NBA basketball under their belts. And with that comes the good and the bad.
Currently, the Heat sit 3-2. Not necessarily the prettiest picture, but it is still early.
Since my last post, they took a 108-96 win in overtime against the Sacramento Kings, followed by a 96-87 loss against the Toronto Raptors.
But never fear, I’m still here to highlight the good that came out of South Beach this past week.
Starting with the return of Josh Richardson.
Yes, after partially tearing his MCL in early September, Richardson finally made his season debut against the Raptors on Friday night.
"“I felt fine. I’ve got to trust my knee again, fully. It’s my first time playing. It’s my second time playing live [including a Thursday practice] since I got hurt. So mentally, it’s trusting it. I’ve got to find a rhythm, getting back in the flow of the game.”"
JSoRich played only 12 minutes in his first game back, contributing 1 rebound and 1 steal, on 0-for-4 shooting. But no one was mad about his lackluster performance. After all, it takes time to get back in the swing of things.
His return meant more than what he could produce on the court anyways. It was more so about giving Miami a much-needed boost in morale, after a shaky start to 2016-17.
And speaking of things to celebrate: Hassan Whiteside was the talk of the town, after palming a ball mid-air.
“Ain’t nobody doing it with blocks,” or quite like Whiteside period.
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/794689204764758016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
And you better believe people took notice. Not just of that particular play, either.
Currently averaging 20.0 points, 14.2 rebounds and 4.6 blocks a matchup on 31.6 minutes of play, the 27-year old recorded 14, 11 and 2 against Sacramento, then 21, 16 and 1 (along with 3 assists) versus Toronto.
He actually broke a team record on Friday, becoming the first player in team history to start the season with five double-doubles in a row.
One thing is for sure: Whiteside is certainly proving he’s worth his maximum contract.
Which brings me to Tyler Johnson’s impressive performance.
The AllUCanHeat staff recently had a discussion about whether or not Johnson would be a viable candidate for Sixth Man Of The Year. And while I’ll admit it’s premature, he has been killing it.
Coming off of the bench, TJ is averaging 15.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest on 29.8 minutes of play. He put up 22, 4 and 2 against the Kings, helping to propel Miami towards an overtime win.
Numbers that yield impressive period, let alone for someone who was basically unknown up until this summer.
Now his likelihood for winning Sixth Man sort of depends on the team’s success overall, but if he keeps playing like this… it’s not that farfetched.
Guess that $50 million contract fueled his fire, eh?
Unfortunately however, the Raptors put out the Heat’s flame.
In a game that brought back nightmares of the team’s playoff run (you know, the one causing them to fall short of landing in the Eastern Conference Finals), Miami was unable to hang in there against Toronto.
After taking a solid 12-point lead early on, no less.
And the worst part is, it wasn’t even DeMar DeRozan that knocked them off balance. It was Mr. Amber Rose – I’m sorry, Terrence Ross. Thanks to his hot streak, the Heat were behind by 6 at the half and it was all downhill from there.
The main problem was, there was no team cohesion. Although Whiteside and Johnson both had great games, the rest of the roster was MIA (no pun intended). Goran Dragic showed up for the first half, but got disgruntled when it came time to close. Dion Waiters did nothing for Miami on either end of the court, nor did guys like James Johnson, Willie Reed or Luke Babbitt.
Like I said previously, the Heat do best running with the motto of “team work makes the dream work.”
Must Read: Postgame Grades: Miami Heat fall to Toronto Raptors
Here’s to a better week three…