P.J. Tucker and Max Strus of the Miami Warmth encompass Philadelphia’s James Harden throughout Sport 5 of the Jap Convention semifinals.
Wilfredo Lee / AP Photograph
The Miami Warmth have been no strangers to championship formulation underneath Erik Spoelstra. Since 2008-09, Spoelstra’s first season as head coach following the legendary Pat Riley’s resolution to step away from the sidelines, solely the San Antonio Spurs sport a greater win share than Miami.
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However because the Heatles years introduced the franchise two titles, Miami has taken a a lot totally different method to group constructing. Its Large Three has been changed by a seemingly endless checklist of contributors surrounding its foundational stars. The Warmth tied for the league lead with 10 gamers logging at the very least 1,000 minutes for a similar group this previous common season as they adjusted to prolonged absences from Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Sixth Man of the 12 months winner Tyler Herro, who every missed double-digit video games this season.
They usually’ve continued to regulate throughout their second-round sequence towards Philadelphia, even whereas Butler is within the midst of probably the greatest particular person playoff runs in franchise historical past. With Lowry persevering with to be out and in of the lineup as he struggles with a hamstring harm, Spoelstra has needed to depend on his depth: P.J. Tucker, Victor Oladipo, Dewayne Dedmon, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have every taken on key roles for the Warmth, who’re only one sport away from the Jap Convention finals.
The depth is most obvious on protection, the place the function gamers actually shine. The Warmth entered the postseason ranked fourth leaguewide in defensive effectivity, marking the group’s finest end since Spoelstra’s first title run as head coach in 2011-12. And in Tuesday evening’s Sport 5, they clamped down, holding the Sixers to solely 85 factors — their lowest whole on this postseason.
Tucker performed an important function in that stingy efficiency, taking the lion’s share of half-court matchups towards James Harden. Tucker confronted The Beard on 34 matchups Tuesday and held him to simply 6 factors. Tucker has additionally usually been known as on to tackle Joel Embiid throughout this sequence; he has spent 63 % of his defensive half-court possessions on one of many Sixers’ two largest stars.
For Tucker, tall assignments are only one a part of his status for doing all the things it takes to win a possession, sport or sequence. The veteran, who earned a hoop final season with Milwaukee, leads the league in playoff minutes over the previous 5 years and stays an skilled at making every of them rely. He’s defended a league-high 534 jumpers within the final 5 playoffs whereas rating seventh amongst all gamers in photographs defended from the paint. Tucker’s invaluable mix of hustling onerous, defensive versatility and floor-spacing grants Miami an elite defender able to holding issues down when Adebayo sits.
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Oladipo has additionally performed a key function in conserving Harden underneath wraps throughout this sequence. The 2 have confronted off in 64 matchups with Philly in its half-court offense, and Oladipo has held Harden to an efficient field-goal share of 36.7 %.
Oladipo, who led the NBA in steals in 2018, journeyed an extended street earlier than working his method into Miami’s rotation. His return from a quad harm courting again to 2019 noticed him closing the common season along with his first 40-point sport since 2017. Regardless of totaling solely 52 appearances within the earlier two years mixed, Oladipo has proved himself able to contribute to a playoff run.
“We simply actually needed to be open-minded,” Spoelstra mentioned not too long ago about Miami’s course of with Oladipo. “We have been thrilled to have the ability to purchase him. We knew there could be a course of. It was placed on pause for a very long time, however he simply persevered. … And in the event you would’ve thought 5 years in the past that we might purchase Vic and add him to a gaggle like this, you’d have mentioned ‘not an opportunity.’”
Strus, Vincent and Dedmon are all undrafted gamers who discovered their method into a possible championship rotation on the proper time. The three have made contributions on each ends of the ground. Strus and Vincent, specifically, have each performed essential roles in Miami’s most-used lineup towards Philadelphia. That duo plus Butler, Adebayo and Tucker has accrued a web score of +40.0 over 47 minutes collectively within the convention semifinals.
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After single-digit outputs in every of the primary 4 outings towards Philly, Strus scored 19 factors in Sport 5. Much more spectacular? His 10 rebounds gave him his first profession double-double in 121 whole NBA video games. Vincent loved his personal breakout scoring efficiency throughout Sport 5 whereas enjoying an important function in limiting Harden to simply 5 factors on drives to the basket, The Beard’s second-lowest single-game whole over the past seven postseasons.
Although accidents have undermined Embiid’s affect within the sequence, he’s nonetheless a drive to be reckoned with, and Miami has given Embiid no scarcity of contested appears. Even when Adebayo takes a breather, the Warmth’s bench comes by way of: Regardless of lacking Sport 4 with an sickness, Dedmon has tied Adebayo and Butler for the group lead with 9 shot contests towards Embiid on this sequence.
Dedmon has been significantly efficient when deployed alongside Tucker. The Warmth have a web score of +23.5 within the 35 playoff minutes when Dedmon and Tucker have spelled Adebayo. Over the course of this season, Dedmon collected 112 shot contests from the restricted space, practically matching his whole from the earlier two seasons mixed. Together with the playoffs, Embiid’s efficient field-goal share when guarded by Dedmon this yr sits at simply 34.8 %.
Irrespective of the lineup from at some point to the subsequent, Spoelstra stays unwavering in his belief in any Warmth participant to step up and win the subsequent possession. He mentioned as a lot earlier than Miami misplaced consecutive street outings in Video games 3 and 4, paving the way in which for Tuesday’s bounceback victory.
“You must have the proper of men which can be about successful and are prepared to work by way of a technique of it, ” Spoelstra mentioned after the Warmth’s Sport 2 win. “It’s not going to occur by way of osmosis. Now, the final three months, we’ve been capable of work by way of this, despite the fact that it hasn’t essentially been on the wooden. We’ve had movie periods, shootarounds, practices the place we’ve been capable of work totally different combos and put collectively our menu and the way we’re making an attempt to maximise one another’s strengths.”
Tyreek Hill is willing to leave the Miami Dolphins after a disappointing 2024 season.
“I don’t even know,” Hill told reporters when asked what his message to his teammates was this offseason following their season-ending loss to the New York Jets. “This is my first time that I haven’t been in the playoffs, man. For me, I’ve just got to do what’s best for me and my family. Whether that’s here or whoever the case may be, I’m finna opening that door for myself.
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“I’m opening the door. I’m out, bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day I got to do what’s best for my career. I’m too much of a competitor to be just out there.”
In a follow-up question, Hill was asked if that meant he could end up leaving Miami. He initially said, “If it is … ” before walking away.
Soon after, Hill went on social media and thanked Dolphins fans for their support, hinting at his possible departure.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel downplayed Hill’s comment when asked about it following Sunday’s game.
“I’m not going to put too much weight on second-hand postgame disappointment statements,” McDaniel told reporters. “We will see how (the) next couple days progress in convos with him and I.”
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Hill has two seasons left on a three-year, $90 million extension he signed with the Dolphins in August. The 30-year-old had a relatively down year in 2024, but he was still productive in his ninth season despite Tua Tagovailoa missing six games due to injury. In 17 games, Hill recorded 81 receptions for 959 yards and six touchdowns.
Outside of the 2019 season (when Hill played in 12 games with the Chiefs), those are his lowest yardage and TD numbers since he was a rookie.
“It is what it is,” Hill said when asked how it felt not to reach 1,000 receiving yards on the season. “It’s life, man. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of things that I need to reassess about my career — just seeing what I need to do to continue to get better as a player so I can continue to reach that 1,000-yard mark. So, it is what it is.”
Hill also didn’t play in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game. However, Hill and McDaniel pointed at the other on whose decision it was to pull him. While Hill said he was dealing with the right wrist injury that’s bothered him for much of the season, he added, “Coach kind of pulled me out.”
“I was informed he was unavailable right before a drive,” McDaniel said of Hill’s injury. “I was not informed that it was a new injury. Focus was on players on the field.”
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As Hill mentioned, this season was the first time in his career that he won’t play in the playoffs. Miami went 8-9, with the injuries to Tagovailoa playing a key role in the Dolphins’ inability to make it back to the postseason for a third straight year.
“It was a tough season,” Hill said. “It sucks missing QB1. It really hurts a lot, not having him. [Tyler Huntley] did a great job filling in, whenever he learned the offense and getting us going. But whenever you’re missing your franchise player, it kind of sucks.”
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team fell heartbreakingly to Virginia Tech (10-4, 1-2) Sunday afternoon by a final score of 68-64. The Hurricanes (11-4, 1-3) led for 32 minutes and 56 seconds throughout the contest; however, they surrendered a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, as the Hokies ended the game on a 21-5 run to earn the victory.
Miami displayed a balanced offensive attack, with six players scoring five or more points, including three players reaching double figures in scoring. The Canes shot 44.6 percent from the field and 81.8 percent at the free throw line as a team while limiting Virginia Tech to just 38.2 percent shooting from the field, but the Hokies finished with a stellar clip of 37.9 percent from behind the arc.
Individually, Cameron Williams led the way for Miami, as she recorded a double-double with a 15-point, 10-rebound performance.
Jasmyne Roberts chipped in 13 points, and Haley Cavinder had a stellar all-around outing, scoring 12 points grabbing six rebounds, and recording a game-high six assists.
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Hanna Cavinder added nine points, and freshman Leah Harmon posted six points off the bench for Miami.
The Canes jumped out to a 6-0 lead after burying three of their first four shot attempts. Virginia Tech fought back, and the two squads found themselves even at 10 points apiece with 3:33 left in the first quarter. The Hokies outscored the Canes 6-5 over the remainder of the period, as Miami entered the second quarter trailing Virginia Tech 16-15.
The back-and-forth play continued in the second quarter, and Miami and Virginia Tech entered halftime even at 28 points apiece. The Canes came out strong in the third period, opening the quarter on a 14-2 run to build a 42-30 advantage at 4:16. Miami maintained their lead and entered the final stanza ahead by seven points.
The Canes started the fourth quarter similarly to the third period. They went on an 8-3 run to take a 59-47 lead with just 7:36 to play. The Hokies began to move, taking a one-point lead with 1:03 remaining.
Miami made a lone free throw to tie the contest with 41 seconds left, but Virginia Tech was fouled and made a pair of free throws to retake the lead with 13 seconds to go. Miami missed a shot to tie the game, and VT made two more free throws to ice the game.
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The Canes will return to the court next Sunday, January 12, as they are slated to travel to Syracuse to take on The Orange at 6 p.m.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — One of the last playoff spots in the league will be determined on Sunday afternoon as the Miami Dolphins look to win their way into the postseason when they visit the New York Jets.
The Dolphins, despite all of the adversity they have faced this season, can still punch their ticket to the playoffs. With grit and willpower, they bounced back from losing six of their first eight games of the season to win six of their previous eight, including a 20-3 whipping of the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. Along with beating the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, Miami looks like they could be a threat if they can sneak into the postseason.
However, the Dolphins will need some help if they want their season to continue. Along with having to beat the Jets, they need the Denver Broncos to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs, who are resting some key players.
The Jets are eyeing a pretty comfortable spot in this year’s NFL Draft. Thanks to complete disarray with the trainwreck that is this franchise, the other team that plays in New Jersey has been just as bad as the other. The team heads into the final week of the season, having lost six of its last seven games, only beating the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15.
The Jets did give the Dolphins a run for their money in Week 14, with Miami needing overtime to come out on top. The Dolphins have won 12 of the last 14 meetings with the Jets.
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