This Miami Heat season-opening loss hit most fans hard. The pit in my stomach as a fan was similar to the feeling of watching the team lose an elimination playoff game. I hated watching this game.
The most unfortunate part of it all was that it all started so well: Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished with 35 points and six rebounds, was dominant. Klay Thompson hit two early 3-pointers, and it felt like an offensive showcase was on.
Then, it started to fall apart near the end of the second quarter and completely in the third. And that was all she wrote.
Heat's critics are taking victory laps after the Heat's implosion in the opener
Now, every single basketball fan who doubted the Heat is taking victory laps after one game. Sure, there was a lot of bad, but largely in areas that none of the doubters necessarily expected.
The Heat offense, for as much as people had to say about it, wasn’t even that bad. Good shooters were just flat-out missing wide-open 3-pointers, and yet the team still managed to reach 106 points.
The defense, which even most doubters expected to be good, was absolutely atrocious. Head coach Erik Spoelstra seemed to let Giannis and Bam Adebayo play drop coverage without consequence on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ best shooters. And the team didn’t give Anthony Edwards any resistance on defense until the game was out of reach.
Somehow, with the Heat playing drop coverage consistently, they also got out-rebounded badly, losing on the boards 52-34. It was just a flat-out terrible performance by basically everyone but Giannis.
Of course, it’s one game, and the legitimate gripes with this roster’s half-court playmaking will be there for a while. But the reasons the Heat lost this game were far, far beyond that.
Plus, let’s be clear: the Timberwolves are and will be a great team this year. It’s not like the Heat got blasted by the Sacramento Kings. That would warrant a lot more worry.
The Timberwolves looked like a team with something to prove, and the Heat looked like a team learning how to play basketball with each other. There are no excuses for a performance like this, but the reality is the Heat just didn’t come to play. Sometimes it’s that simple.
If Spolestra still has the ability to adjust, which I believe he does, these types of performances won’t happen on a regular basis, so I’m not incredibly worried. And honestly, after this bad of a start, it can’t get any worse than this. Here’s to hoping they bounce back soon.
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