“They can lose to anybody” Stephen A Smith breakdown the aftermath of depleted Heat chemistry following Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra’s heated exchange
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Stephen A Smith on Miami Heat
The Miami Heat had a rough stretch of games lately three of their last five games. Right now they are currently on a two-game losing streak against teams most believe the Heat should have won. First, against the Philadelphia 76ers who did not play James Harden and Joel Embiid. The scores were more or less close to each other but the Heat’s biggest problem was giving up shots to the Sixers.
Much like the Sixers game, they faced a core-less Golden State Warriors and lost to them 104-118. Tensions began to rise towards the latter end of the game between Jimmy Butler, Erik Spoelstra, and Udonis Haslem. The Heat found it hard to close out the game using their defensive power and the Warriors stole a win without the splash brothers and Draymond Green.
Miami Heat’s bench flares up after Jimmy Butler tries to fight Erik Spoelstra
During the third quarter of the game, the Warriors went on a 19-0 run on offense which called for a timeout by the Heat. Things have had to already be extremely frustrating when Udonis Haslem squared up against Jimmy Butler on the bench. It is unclear why Haslem got triggered but the situation escalated when a video showing that Spoelstra asked Butler, “Do you want me to f***ing fight you?” to which Hasleem reacted with the coach saying, “I’ll beat you’re a**.”
Other members of the team and coaching staff had to clear the area. In a post-game press conference, Spoelstra spoke on the altercation saying, “It was pretty clear, like we have a very competitive gnarly group and we were getting ourselves kicked and two straight games we were not playing to the level we wanted to play. Every single person in the huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment in how we were playing.” Kyle Lowry also weighed in saying, “It’s crazy but it’s passion. It’s good sometimes to get some anger and frustration out and just talk about it. As long as we’re together. And we are.”
Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst speak on the Miami Heat scuffle
Reporter Brian Windhorst spoke on the situation that went down in the huddle calling it “Classic Miami Heat.” He highlighted the altercation in relation to the losses the Heat had faced recently, he also quickly mentioned how the full-time participation of Kyrie Irving will be a challenge for the Heat when up against the Brooklyn Nets. “Over the last nineteen years, Udonis Haslem has threatened hundreds of people to kick their behind. Spoelstra realizes it was actually a great moment that he could fire up his team cause he hates the way how lazy they are being on defense. I know spo, and I know at the back of his head he’s really just trying to fire them up. And it works against Jimmy Butler, because Jimmy Butler is at his best when he’s in confrontation.”
Windhorst conveyed that the Heat looks to such situations to add fuel to their fire. Stephen A. Smith commented on the situation saying, “I’m not sure the Heat would want Brooklyn in the first round. I know they defend and I know they can beat anybody. But as Miami has shown you, they can also lose to anybody. This is why the Miami Heat is first class. I spoke to about three people last night within the Heat organization. Not a single one gave me the details but they didn’t avoid the issue either.” Smith was appreciative that the members of the Heat were professional in handling the problem.
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Rakibul John Rodgers
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