The Miami Heat are down 0-2 in their first-round clash with the Milwaukee Bucks, with Game 3 on the horizon. But I feel fine.
The Heat lost in gutting fashion in Game 1 after going up early on the Bucks, maintaining that lead into the half, but only to lose in overtime on a last-second shot from Khris Middleton. But I feel fine.
Miami was then gutted in a 34-point loss in Game 2, run over by a hot Bucks team in the Milwaukee rematch, are now headed home, and lagging by two losses. But I feel fine.
Despite the fashion in which Miami was handed an L, the pieces are all there to win the series.
In the masterpiece movie, Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, a young law student in New York gets pulled into his true love: Cards.
If you haven’t seen the movie, it is one of the best movies and an elite sports movie. The Cliffs Notes version is as follows.
A student named Mike McDermott (Damon) is pulled in two directions. He is a promising law student, the path his girlfriend Jo (played by Gretchen Mol) wants him to pursue.
However, he is also a prodigious card player, which is the life his best friend and slimy con-artist (Norton) wants him to follow. In the end, he chooses his passion and the cards.
The Miami Heat have helped deal themselves a bad hand, but they can they flip the tables?
However, the movie starts with a gut-punch of a loss. The movie begins with McDermott entering a seeding and foreboding den, home to an illegal gambling room packed with card tables.
Who’s the owner of the room? The movie’s antagonist, a Russian mobster named Teddy of the “KGB” (played by John Malkovich).
Immediately, it is clear the talent of McDermott, as you are pulled into this underworld, hit with the vocabulary and weight of the game despite not really even having an established idea of the players. You see the confidence, the calm, the raw ability of McDermott, and all oozing out of his play at the table.
But the grizzled vet is not to be trifled with on the other side of the cards. Just as quickly as the viewer spots McDermott’s talent, the danger is spotted.
His confidence and aggressive play lead him right into a trap. In one fell swoop, he is taken down.
The Russian empties the young gambler’s pockets. He’s been taken for everything he has to his name.
As the movie continues and he finds himself back at the table, you know, he must take on this foe again. But you know he will win.
It’s not because that’s the way the movie is supposed to go, but because all the moves are there for the taking. Fix that, button this up, adjust here… that type of thing.
The Miami Heat have a tough battle against the grain, but they are built to overcome it.
In the film discussed here, victory was not just possible; it seemed inevitable. The same can be said of the Heat.
Miami not only started strong but outscored the Bucks in a few quarters throughout the series. The team shot well too from three in Game 1, hitting 20-of-50 from deep.
Duncan Robinson shot the lights out (7-of-13 from three) and Goran Dragic was electric off the bench with 25 points. This was all while Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo made just eight combined shots.
Yes, the Heat probably needed too many minutes from Trevor Ariza, but what else can they do at this point but go with what they have. Speaking of what they have, Tyler Herro has to shoot better, while if they keep going as they are, the Heat probably will never out-rebound the Bucks.
But the pieces are there for the Heat. Throw the anomaly that was Game 2 out of the picture for a second.
This team pushed Cream City to the edge when the two best players on Miami had muted offensive nights. Just like McDermott in Rounders.
And before McDermott could stop back into the Teddy’s place, he needed to lose everything one more time. He needed to go down bad one last time to realize what the true problem was before he could come back swinging.
In McDermott’s case, his greatest flaw was his blind spot for Worm, who constantly found trouble with his half-baked schemes. The same can be said for the Heat and their tactics thus far, forgetting that throwing everything at Giannis leaves everything else wide open if you allow it to be.
Basically, if there is one thing to know about a feisty team such as the Miami Heat, it’s that they certainly aren’t finished yet!