Norman Powell-less Miami Heat unable to overcome San Antonio Spurs: some takeaways
The big man duel between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs returned to the hardwood on Thursday night. The highly anticipated battle between Victor Wembanyama and Kel'el Ware, quickly turned into a Bam Adebayo-Wemby duel.
The Spurs on a hunt to start 5-0 for the first time in franchise history, and the Heat looking to jump out to an impressive 4-1 start. Miami would be without Norman Powell once again due to that groin soreness, so the starting lineup and rotation from the Charlotte Hornets game rolled right over into San Antonio.
So, here are three takeaways from this game:
1. Defending Victor Wembanyama.
The Miami Heat preparing for Victor Wembanyama's offensive skill is always something to watch. He is such a headache to prepare for that defenses are naturally taught to overly keep an eye on him. But not Erik Spoelstra. The Heat rarely even sent a slight double in the first half of this game, as the Heat were standing firm in their principles of guarding straight up. And this one-on-one defense wasn't just Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware walling up. It was a ton of Davion Mitchell switches to try and contain him. The entire goal as a small guard defending a giant like Wembanyama is forcing him to pickup his dribble early. Mitchell and others did a good job of that. Wembanyama was of course still effective on both ends, but the Heat found ways to limit the scoring dominance for enough of the night to be in a position to win.
2. Andrew Wiggins bringing the offensive punch.
A lot of the early offensive damage for the Heat to start the season has come from the bench. But when you're without both Norman Powell and Tyler Herro, while a giant defensive deterrent stands on the other side, it's clear you need your primary players to come to play. Andrew Wiggins did that. Bam Adebayo did that in the first half for pockets as he knocked down 3 triples along with 17 first half points. It seems as if whenever Adebayo matches up with any player with defensive hype, he brings an extra level of aggression, but the lid on the basket in the second half allowed the ineffieicency to creep up. Wiggins put together a loud second quarter, as he got into one of those aggressive modes, though. The mid-range was dropping, a ton of activity on the offensive glass, and wasn't afraid to generate paint touches with Wembanyama inside. It continued in the second half as he was one of the few positive scoring options in their rough patch. The Heat need that version of Wiggins consistently.
3. Hitting a third quarter offensive wall, before a (slight) fourth quarter comeback.
That fast paced, full-sprint offense finally came to a halt in the third quarter of this game. A couple things that lead to it: the constant fouls and trips to the line for the Spurs simply slowed the game down, and repeatedly taking the ball out of the net on defense makes it tough to find advantages on the break. This led to the Heat playing half-court offense late into the clock at a rate that we haven't seen since last season. Wembanyama's presence was having an impact on many of the Heat's paint attacks, and that 14 point third quarter pretty much shows the shooting drop-off that occurred. But the Heat didn't quit there. A fourth quarter run began initially behind
The Packers Must Exploit A Key Carolina Weakness To Avoid A Trap Game
LaFleur has no time for the thought of Sunday’s showdown against the Carolina Panthers — sandwiched between a date with
If the Packers want to avoid such a fate, they need to start fast against a Carolina defense that has been vulnerable early in games.
The Panthers have definitely improved in the second year of the Dave Canales era. After starting 1-7 a year ago and benching former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, Carolina is 4-4 this season after winning just 5 total games a year ago.
A running game that ranks fifth in the NFL, averaging 136.9 rushing yards per game, has spearheaded their offensive attack. The Panthers have had successes this year, but they pale in comparison to the rest of Green Bay’s schedule lately.
After a playoff-like atmosphere in Pittsburgh against Rodgers this past week, the Packers have a “circle it when the schedule comes out” game next Monday night in prime time again when the Eagles come to town. When stacking up appetizing matchups, Carolina doesn’t quite fit the bill.
However, when a reporter asked LaFleur about the trap game theory on Wednesday, he quickly fired back.
I’m not worried about it. We’ve got enough to worry about just within ourselves and a lot of growth in front of us if we want to play our best football. We should only be worried about today and this game and nothing else outside of that.
To avoid what would absolutely be a head-scratching loss, the Packers are currently a near-two-touchdown favorite. Green Bay needs to start quickly against a defense that has opened the door early in games.
One could argue that the Buffalo Bills were in a trap-game spot against the Panthers last week. The Bills were coming off a bye and this week play host to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on
It’s a recipe Carolina’s opponents have often used against them this year. The Panthers are 28th in the NFL in first-half points allowed per game at 15.5. Carolina has given up at least 17 first-half points in four of their last five games. Meanwhile, Green Bay’s defense has been rock solid early in the season. Jeff Hafley’s defense is allowing less than a point per game in the first quarter. At 0.9 points allowed on average in the first 15 minutes, the Packers rank first in the league.
However, lately, Green Bay’s offense has had trouble shaking off the cobwebs early in games. Green Bay had only seven points in the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night; the week prior, it entered halftime in Arizona with six. Even three weeks ago, while the Packers led the Cincinnati Bengals 10-0 at the break, the offense failed to capitalize on multiple opportunities.
Now Jordan Love and Co. will face a defense that’s been hemorrhaging points early. If ever there was a week to snap out of the early-game funk, it’s this week against this
On the other hand, we don’t know whether Young will return from an ankle injury to start on Sunday, or if it will be the grizzled veteran Andy Dalton getting another nod. Neither should instill a lot of fear in Green Bay’s defense, especially with the numerous injuries up front on Carolina’s offensive line.
LaFleur may not give the trap game any thought. He’s right to dismiss any notions of that occurring on Sunday. He’s saying all the right things on the matter.
The trap game isn’t some made-up phenomenon. You know there are players in the Green Bay locker room who are well aware of who is up next on the schedule. The Eagles beat the Packers in Week 1 in Brazil last year, ended their season in the playoffs, and then blew out Kansas City in the Super Bowl.
It’s human nature to be aware of what’s looming on the horizon. It’s LaFleur and the rest of the Green Bay staff’s job to make sure the team is locked in on their opponent this week.
The defense has done its job early on in games, chewing up and spitting out one opposing offense after another in the first quarter. It’s time for the offense to do the same this weekend and quickly wipe away any notion of Green Bay falling into a trap.
