Heat blown up by Spurs

Spurs went through hard times and now coming out

The Spurs clinched their first playoff birth since 2018 in their last game. They went through hard seasons since then, hitting rock bottom with 22 wins in 2022. They spent that time getting assets for the older players on the team (LaMarcus Aldridge, Demar Derozan, Pau Gasol.) They drafted players like Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama.

They picked up D’Aaron Fox last season and have Harrison Barnes on the team for veteran presence. The team has “leveled-up” to compete for titles. The players didn’t just depend on Wemby to carry them on offense. They shot lights out. Dylan Harper had a moment in the first half when he bullied Tyler Herro to the hoop for a layup. Harper turned around, looked at Herro and made a gesture to him that he was “too small.”

Heat young players can learn from Spurs

As the Spurs suffered losses (possibly tanked) to get Wembanyama and afterwards, the players all “bought-in” and are playing well. The Heat have Pelle Larsson and Jaime Jaquez, Jr. that are physical, athletic and play offense and defense. Bam Adebayo is only getting better with age.

Kel’el Ware suffers from inconsistent play to rebound to his size but he is a keeper. The Heat eventually will begin to play well together and gain the mental toughness to compete for titles (like the Spurs.) They now go to Cleveland where they will again compete against a team that will look past them.