The Miami Heat blew out the Washington Wizards 120-94, bringing their record to 34-41.

They are in control of the ninth seed in the East and just 1.5 games behind the eighth seed.

The win against the 16-59 Wizards (16-59) extended the Heat’s win streak to five.

Here are some of the bigger takeaways from the game:

Stars Aligned

The Heat’s stars shined bright, taking on the scoring and playmaking load. Bam Adebayo finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal. Tyler Herro missed all six of his threes, but still finished with 27 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Adebayo set the tone, scoring 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting in the first quarter alone. He showed a bit of everything, converting on two threes, two middies, four shots in the paint and three in the restricted area, while getting to the free throw line seven times. On top of that, he finished with a superb 5 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Herro again showed he can excel when being run off the three-point line as so many teams have opted to do this season, converting on nine of his 13 twos and having gotten to the free throw line nine times. He finished with a solid 5 to 2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Layup Line

After the Heat spent the last five games prior to this one making more than half of their threes, they finally cooled against the Wizards, converting on just 28 percent of their long-range shots. This ended up not mattering not only because the Heat made 17 more twos, (38/61 compared to 21/43).

They did a great job finding easy baskets at the rim against the porous Wizards defense, finishing with 12 more made layups on 10 more attempts. Meanwhile, the Wizards finished with a below average amount of twos taken, while taking an 89th percentile amount of threes, converting on just 30 percent of them.

This was the biggest difference between the Heat finishing with a 113.5 offensive rating (about league-average) compared to the Wizards’ third-percentile 90.4 offensive rating. The Heat surprisingly dominating the rebound battle, (62 to 39, including 10 more offensive rebounds and twice as many second-chance attempts), definitely was a factor in how they controlled the paint all night.

Stockholm Syndrome

Pelle Larsson had another impactful game as a starter, as he finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists and a steal. Larsson has been stuffing the stat sheet with the increased role, (60 minutes over last two games as starter), having ended last game with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and four steals.

Despite how much he’s being left open from three, Larsson finds a way to be a positive on both ends of the floor anyways. When teams help too hard off of him, he counters with strong spacial awareness as a cutter and as a relentless straight-line driver. He contributed his typical rugged brand of defensive playmaking tonight while converting on seven of nine twos, all while finishing with a solid five-to-two assist-to-turnover ratio, mostly playing off the catch.

The Heat’s offensive rating was about 37 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor tonight, mostly because of the difference in offensive rebound percentage as well as assist-to-turnover ratio, two categories in which Larsson had strong contributions.

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket

Tyreek Hill’s name has been mentioned in one hypothetical trade after another this offseason, but there’s another prominent Miami Dolphins player now getting that treatment.

In a unique mock draft where he suggested a trade at every slot in Round 1, Bill Barnwell of ESPN proposed the Miami Dolphins trade edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the San Francisco 49ers, along with pick 13 for the 11th overall pick plus a fourth-round selection.

Even though Barnwell’s exercise prompted this suggested deal, trade speculation about Phillips likely will pick up as he will likely play the 2025 season on his fifth-year option.

Phillips is also coming off two major season-ending injuries, a torn Achilles in 2023 and a torn ACL in 2024.

We examine the pros and cons of a potential Phillips trade and the potential thought process behind Barnwell’s proposal.

The main pro for this potential Phillips trade is the Dolphins moving up in the first round of the upcoming draft. Barnwell cited the idea that the Dolphins should try to get in front of the Dallas Cowboys to select a defensive lineman.

This makes sense from the Dolphins’ perspective, as the team is incredibly thin on the defensive line, especially on the interior. Currently, the team has just two interior defensive linemen who are expected to play significant snaps next season.

Zach Sieler is a budding star, but Benito Jones is a limited role player who shouldn’t be expected to be highly productive.

Moving up from 13 to 11 to draft a player like Michigan’s Kenneth Grant could make sense for the Dolphins. Obviously, giving up Phillips to do it isn’t ideal, but the Dolphins have a lot more depth at edge rusher than on the interior.

Bradley Chubb is returning next season, and he’ll be paired with Chop Robinson after he had an excellent second half of the 2024 season. From a depth perspective, the Dolphins have Mohamed Kamara, William Bradley-King and Quinton Bell.

There’s a fair argument that the Dolphins need help at edge rusher, too, but they’re at least deeper at that spot.

The other pro of a potential Phillips trade is avoiding paying Phillips a significant long-term contract. As mentioned earlier, Phillips is slated to play on his fifth-year option this coming season, accounting for $13.3 million against the cap.

That’s a bargain if Phillips returns to his pre-injury levels, but that’s a tough bet to make. We know Phillips’ work ethic is incredible, but he’s played in just 12 games across the last two seasons.

It would be hard to blame to the Dolphins for not wanting to commit significant dollars to Phillips long-term. In Barnwell’s scenario, the Dolphins would get some value for Phillips without taking the risk that he would get hurt again in 2025.

There are several issues with Barnwell’s proposal and the idea of trading Phillips in general.

For starters, merely netting a fourth-round pick and moving up two spots in the draft is not much value for a player with Phillips’ upside. Barnwell noted that Phillips’ value in the trade would be equivalent to the 91st pick in the draft.

Phillips’ numbers from last season aren’t great because he played in only four games, but he recorded 22 sacks in his first three seasons, including 6.5 before his Achilles injury eight games into the 2023 season.

A player with that caliber of pass-rush upside is worth much more than the 91st pick in the draft, even with Phillips’ recent struggles to stay on the field. Plus, the Dolphins already have five picks on Day 3 of the draft, so adding an additional fourth-rounder doesn’t make sense.

While Phillips’ value in a vacuum is subjective, his potential value to the Dolphins this season isn’t. Although Miami has some edge depth, Phillips is arguably the best player in that room.

Robinson had a nice end to his rookie season but is still a developing player. Chubb has his own injury concerns, and none of the other depth players have anything close to Phillips’ pedigree. Simply put, the Dolphins need Phillips to play well this season.

Head coach Mike McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier are under a lot of pressure to win games this coming season. The chance that the Dolphins get a player with more talent than Phillips in the draft or at this point in free agency is pretty low.

Even if they chose to replace Phillips with another edge rusher in Barnwell’s hypothetical trade-up, they’d choose between players like Shemar Stewart, Mike Green, Mykel Williams and James Pearce.

Those are good players and wouldn’t be bad picks, but they’re entirely unproven. The Dolphins aren’t in a position to be cycling through talent — they need as much talent as possible all over the roster.

The Dolphins trading Phillips isn’t the worst idea, but moving him to jump up two spots and add a sixth Day 3 pick doesn’t make Miami better in 2025, which should be the team’s focus. 

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As an NFL free agent, former Oregon Ducks safety Jevon Holland signed a three-year deal worth $45 million with the New York Giants. After spending his first four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Holland has now found a new home in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Holland made a comment on the difference between playing college football in Eugene compared to the NFL in Miami. The facilities, gear, and high-level of play at Oregon is treated just like any professional football organization. Possibly even better than most.

“I was coming from Oregon. We got all the fancy gear… I get to the old Dolphins facility. I’m like, this is the league?”

– Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland

New York will now have a pair of Ducks on the defensive side of the ball who are familiar with each other. Defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux and Holland played with each other during the 2019 and 2020 campaigns at Oregon. Thibodeaux was named the Pac-12 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019 and was later drafted with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

“It’s going to be fun. Every time we’re around each other it’s always laughs. I’m really looking forward to running that back just like it was in 2019 in Oregon.”

– Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland

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The Giants’ defense allowed 24.4 points per game (ranked No. 24 in the NFL) and 47 total touchdowns (ranked No. 27 in the NFL) during the 2024 season. The secondary only snagged five interceptions last year, the second-lowest in the entire league just in front of the Cleveland Browns with four total.

“I think this environment is something that will allow me to be that, to grow. I absolutely think there’s plenty of room left to grow. I’m nowhere near my peak. I think the Giants have the exact environment I need and the personnel I need to be able to reach those new heights and as well lead a group of men and also create a winning culture. And the Giants have a history of a winning culture.”

– Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland

Holland played with the Ducks from 2018-20 and was selected by the Dolphins with the No. 36 pick in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Through four seasons playing at Autzen Stadium, he has collected 245 total tackles, 23 pass deflections, five interceptions, five forced fumbles, four sacks, four fumble recoveries, and one touchdown.

Plenty is seen from Holland’s playing style in future Duck safety Trey McNutt under coach Dan Lanning. Holland has passed on his collegiate jersey number (No. 8) to McNutt. The 6-0, 185-pound safety is the nation’s incoming No. 26 ranked overall recruit as well as No. 2 for his position in the 2025 recruiting class (per On3).