GT #63: Bullets @ HEAT 6 PM (MSN/980 AM)

[FAH1223]

YOUR Washington Bullets are 10-52!

For the first time in OVER a month, they got a win on Friday against the Hornets.

The last quarter of the season is here and it seems that Jordan Poole is playing.. better? Maybe there's something to him coming off the bench?

Other than that, it seems Deni has become more consistent but still has no left hand.

Kuzma is jacking up terrible shots.

Kispert has shown more off the bounce than I've ever thought possible.

Bilal has struggled but had a solid outing on Friday.

Not much else to really gloss over, right?

Miami is trying to stay out of the Play-In... but they went to the Finals as a PLay-In squad last year, so I don't think it matters much to them.


-------------------------VS-------------------------


Projected Lineups :











Bench:

[Kanyewest]

Jordan Poole -14 so far in the 1st half.

[nate33]

I tuned in early in the 3rd quarter. So far, nobody has scored on Deni. He'd defended maybe 6 or 7 possessions and Miami is 0-fer. He's defended Bam, Robinson, Jaquez and Butler at least 3 times.

EDIT, and as soon as I post this, Jovic gets a bucket and an And1 on Deni

[nate33]

Kuzma has been great in the portion of the game I've watched. He is taking it to the rim every play and living at the free throw line. He's also playing center against Bam at the other end, which is no picnic.

[Frichuela]

Quite competitive tonite.

Bilal with a great defensive performance.

[nate33]

Coulibaly's form on the catch-and-shoot three looks really good now. Just a smooth, crisp release

[tontoz]

Well played game all around.

Nice to see Kispert have a strong game as a starter. He should have been starting for months. His off ball game is more effective with starters, similar to Otto Porter.

[AFM]

I'm watching the end of this one.

[nate33]

Wow! We tried to lose the game at the end but just barely hung on.

[AFM]

That almost was a complete collapse via Kuzma

[nate33]

Bilal tweaked his ankle with 2 minutes to go so Keefe had to sub him out. He sends in Poole and Miami immediately goes on a 7-0 run. It was uncanny.

I would have put in another defender to replace Bilal. Either Omoruyi, or maybe Johnny Davis (to help with ball handling against the press). Fortunately, Keefe put Bilal back in on the final possession to help us get the stop.

[Pistol King]

Kuzma is somehow always makes himself unwatchable even when putting up good numbers.

No chance for young players to get some fame around this selfish.

Kodus for Deni and Bilal for stepping up in crunch time.

Need Deni to clean up these passive stretches when he isn't involved at all offensively. I don't know how much about it it's on him and how much it's about the team not making enough effort to make him involved, but he has to find ways to not disappear.

Corey with some key buckets, though the Heat have really taken advantage of him defensively time after time.

[tontoz]

The heat are fighting to stay out of the play in. Bad loss for them at home. They are healthy and have been playing well lately.

[nate33]

That almost was a complete collapse via Kuzma

Yeah, some real boneheaded plays down the stretch. The offensive foul didn't bother me, but that floater off of the offensive rebound was a real mistake.

Nevertheless, I have Kuzma as POTG. He was the guy that really compromised Miami's defense. The Miami announcers were saying that Kuzma's 16 FTA's were the most Miami has yielded to any player this season.

[penbeast0]

Dang it, that's 2 wins in a row. We do NOT need a hot month of March to take us out of the bottom 4 in the league. We've played that game before and management gets interested in playoff and it doesn't work. You jinxed with that "must win" comment, Nate.

[nate33]

Dang it, that's 2 wins in a row. We do NOT need a hot month of March to take us out of the bottom 4 in the league. We've played that game before and management gets interested in playoff and it doesn't work. You jinxed with that "must win" comment, Nate.

There is no chance we catch anybody but Detroit. And the odds that us being behind Detroit in the standings actually comes into play in a lottery scenario are remote. It would require neither Detroit nor us landing a top 4 pick. There is only a 20% chance that could happen. In that scenario and only in that scenario, our good play down the stretch would mean we end up picking 6th instead of 5th. Outside of that one scenario, there is absolutely no difference whatsoever in our odds whether we move ahead of Detroit or not.

[MOSH]

Dang it, that's 2 wins in a row. We do NOT need a hot month of March to take us out of the bottom 4 in the league. We've played that game before and management gets interested in playoff and it doesn't work. You jinxed with that "must win" comment, Nate.

Lol I wouldn't worry about the bottom 4
Even if they win another one

[tontoz]

Just got done watching. They tried to choke it away

Love watching Bilal on D. The effort is always there. A few times he got matched up on Bam and he was fighting like crazy to deny him the ball.

[DCZards]

That almost was a complete collapse via Kuzma

Yeah, some real boneheaded plays down the stretch. The offensive foul didn't bother me, but that floater off of the offensive rebound was a real mistake.

I like that Kuz owned the mistake in the post-game interview. Said he thought he could make it but acknowledged that it was a mistake to shoot it.

Kuz had a great game otherwise.

[Frichuela]

What Kuz gives Kuz takes. His driving to the basket and aggression kept us in the game in the first 3 quarters. BUT he is an incredibly dumb player in the clutch, making mistakes and bad decisions again and again.