SAD NEWS😔: THE MIAMI HEAT ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.. Match against the Nets

One of the many oddities from the Nets “Twilight of the Gods” era, those 27 games after trading KD and Kyrie, was their ability to beat some very good teams. They beat the Nuggets in Denver, the Celtics in Boston and Miami twice, including a 29-point blowout in South Beach. None of those wins came with Ben Simmons on the floor.

He had already begun his six month training rehab, what he described as a restart in his Esquire interview. The Heat made it to the NBA Finals, the Nets were ignominiously swept by the 76ers.

Now, as the preseason winds down, the Nets will be visiting the Miami Heat having had the benefit of training camp. There are still some injury concerns. Cam Johnson (hamstring strain) remains out, as he has throughout camp. Dennis Smith Jr. (ankle) will be re-evaluated in a few days to determine when he will be able to return to practice.

It’s always difficult to judge a team’s potential in preseason. Coaches experiment, tinker, adjust etc. Players often do the same and, truth be told, aren’t always showing off their best game. Sam Mitchell, then Raptors head coach, has talked about how in 2005, then rookie Joey Graham felt he did well against Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter in preseason. But when the Nets came to Toronto for the second game of the regular season, RJ and VC exploded for 55 points and Graham was limited to five. He couldn’t believe how much better they got in two weeks, Mitchell joked.

Still, there are certain pluses and minuses that are evident. Ben Simmons is healthy and ready to remind people what he was like before physical and mental maladies weighed him down. He’s proving he can be a leader as well. Cam Thomas is once again hitting buckets, averaging 17.0 ppg on 46/62/86 shooting splits while improving his playmaking and defense filling in for Johnson. Other parts of the core are playing well and Day’Ron Sharpe, Harry Giles III and Trendon Watford have looked good as well in short stretches. Defense on the other hand has been, shall we say, running counter to the narrative that the Nets can be a defensive juggernaut. That’s led to some slow starts. The Nets gave up 75 and 68 points in the first half to the Lakers and 76ers, respectively, even let Maccabi Ra’anana, the Israeli second division team, to put up 60.

How much of an indicator will Wednesday’s game vs. Heat be? Hard to tell, but expect Jacque to shorten his rotation as all coaches do as the regular season approaches. That in in itself will be interesting.

Where to follow the game
The game is on NBA TV. No YES. We get started at Kaseya Center at 7:30 p.m. ET. (You can change channels to ESPN at 8:00 p.m. ET to watch Game 4 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays Center.)

Injuries
Other than Cam Johnson, Dennis Smith Jr. and Dariq Whitehead, the Nets should be healthy. Jacque Vaughn rested Mikal Bridges on Monday night (which doesn’t affect his consecutive game streak.)

For Miami, rookie Jaime Jacquez Jr. (groin) is unlikely to play. The same with Caleb Martin and R.J. Hampton who is a two-way.

The Game
The Nets are 1-2 in preseason, beating Maccabi Ra’anana while losing close ones to the Lakers and 76ers. As Nic Claxton said after the Sixers game, Wednesday’s contest, as the last one before Opening Night on October 25, is a biggie.

“If there’s a time to figure these things out, it’s now in the preseason, but it’s a fine line because you want to be sharp,” Claxton said after Monday’s loss. “We only have one more preseason game, so I think Miami on Wednesday is a pretty big game for us, as far as just being sharp in our principles.”

Miami is 2-1 in the preseason, their loss coming at the hands of San Antonio and Victor Wembanyama. Their two wins were against Charlotte and Memphis. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hasn’t had Jimmy Butler at his disposal yet. Butler hasn’t played in any of the three preseason games, but is available vs. Brooklyn. As anyone who follows hoops knows, Butler saves his best for big games, especially the Finals.

Although the Heat had big plans for Damian Lillard, the Blazers decided against their offer, headed by Tyler Herro, and sent the seven time All-NBA selection to Milwaukee. More than one pundit has given Miami low off season grades as result. The Heat lost Max Strus (Cavaliers) and Gabe Vincent (Lakers) from last season’s Finals roster as well as Udonis Haslem to the broadcast booth.

But other than drafting the highly rated Jaime Jacquez Jr., and signing Thomas Bryant at back-up center, they did little else. Erik Spoelstra, of course, is still their head coach and Pat Riley their president of basketball operations. Those two always get high marks in developing young players.

Expect the Heat to give big minutes to Jimmy Butler in this the Heat’s next to last preseason game.

The game will also be a homecoming of sorts for Ben Simmons who spent six months in Florida working out. Royce O’Neale and Dennis Smith Jr. also spent much of their summer working out and playing pick-up games there.

Player to Watch: Tyler Herro
Tyler Herro is back with the Heat. Actually he never left. For most of the summer, it appeared that Herro who’s averaged 20 points a game over the past two seasons would end up in Portland for Lillard or in Brooklyn as part of a three-team deal.

The 23-year-old, who missed the Finals with a wrist injury, was not pleased by the situation and let people know. Sure, it’s a business, but Herro had just committed to a four-year, $120 million contract.

“I didn’t want to go to Portland, so I’m glad Portland didn’t want me,” Herro told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I just don’t want to be in Portland. So it’s not personal with Portland, at all.

“I’m just happy to be on the court. I haven’t played since April. I broke my hand and I haven’t played since then, so I’m ready to play.”

Erik Spoelstra who spent most of the summer with Team USA knew he needed some face time with Herro when he returned and Herro said he appreciated it.

“Him reaching out and just wanting to connect — that was important to me,” Herro said. “Just being able to connect with him and understand that we’re both on the same page as far as what was going to happen at that point and just seeing Coach for the first time all summer was good.”

Is Herro on a revenge tour this season after being dangled in from the Blazers? He denies it. We don’t know how he feels about the Nets who didn’t want him or his contract, but we could find out Thursday.

From the Vault
This will be short one from TNT’s broadcast of the Heat preseason game against the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama last Friday. A poster if there ever was one.