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DETROIT — The battle for playoff positioning in the Western Conference is surely compelling, but perhaps there’s no team that strikes more uncertainty in the minds of a potential playoff opponent than the Miami Heat.
There’s an outside chance they catch the sixth-seeded, pesky and frisky Brooklyn Nets, but the best chance of avoiding the play-in tournament seemed to fly away from Biscayne Bay a couple weeks ago when the Nets delivered a 29-point beatdown on the Heat in Miami.
It feels likely Miami will find itself in the play-in after being unable to find that elusive consistency that has been a hallmark for this franchise in the Pat Riley era. Its season-long winning streak was four games back in the middle of December, and shortly after hitting the high mark of seven games above .500, it was offset by an ensuing streak of losing six of the next seven games in late February.
“Are you talking about the Miami Heat or [are] you talking about 15, 16 other teams? That’s what competition and parity has brought out,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told Yahoo Sports recently. “It’s a lot of teams fighting to find that consistency. And we’re one of those teams, no doubt about it. We have not been able to get a grip on things. But we have to embrace the struggle, embrace the opportunities and embrace competition.”
Spoelstra said the statement with a smile, the only time he’d allow himself a moment to zoom out, look around and pull himself from the lather of his team. The Heat have battled injuries and inconsistencies on the floor, but still feel very respected, if not feared, in the big picture.
Facing Boston or Milwaukee, arguably the NBA’s two best teams, doesn’t feel like the first step on the road back to the conference finals, where a gritty, thrilling seven-game series against the Celtics ended because Jimmy Butler’s tired legs couldn’t get enough lift on a potential 3-pointer late in Game 7.
He plays for wins and shutting people up. And it feels more is required than he already gives — giving enough to perhaps wind up on the back end of MVP ballots and All-NBA teams despite not making the All-Star team.
“I get in where I fit in,” Butler told Yahoo Sports. “If I need to shoot the ball in the fourth quarter, I get that. If I need to be aggressive in the third, I get that. First? I get that. I can read the game pretty well.”
Spoeltra gushed about Butler following the game, saying his clutch play and decision-making put him in the mind of Dwyane Wade, although he wouldn’t use Wade’s name.
“Going down the stretch, it really reminds me of somebody when he gets in that mode, you know … I am not going to say who that is,” Spoelstra said. “I’ll leave that to him. I’ll let you guys figure that out.”
Both Spoelstra and Butler aren’t interested much in what lessons were learned through this season that has led the Heat to this moment. They’re completely dismissive of assigning blame or even applying introspection while there’s much more basketball to be played.
When Butler was told of the Nets losing a game that helped draw the Heat a little closer to the sixth seed, he was equally dismissive of potential playoff consequences or opponents.
“I don’t give a damn,” Butler told Yahoo Sports. “I just love playing basketball. We can beat anybody when we’re playing the right way. Play-in, here we come. Playoffs, here we come.”
Here come the Heat, here comes Jimmy.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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