1. Last night the Miami Heat looked like how they played during the regular season. They rarely have looked like this throughout the playoffs. For the Heat to win they need to shoot over 40% from three.
2. As bad as the Heat looked last night I’ve learned my lesson on Heat Culture. Even though it appears Denver is the better team, I will not count the Heat out.
3. Aaron Gordon is the Denver player that does all the dirty work. Every successful teams needs a player like this. He is an excellent defender, rebounder and moves well off the ball especially on cuts to the basket. He appears to be able to play off Nikola Jokic well. If you couple Gordon, the role player, with Jamal Murray and Jokic’s ability to set each other up for open shots you have a pretty potent nucleus.
4, Jimmy Butler is like the doctor of the Miami Heat. He spends the early part of the game probing to see what his team needs on that night to be successful. Once he figures it out he plays that role, defense, scoring or setting up his teammates.
5. Of all the coaching hires this year the one I don’t understand is Milwaukee’s. I think Adrian Griffin should have been hired a while ago. The problem I have is that he will be coaching in a high pressure situation. That’s tough for a new coach and tough for the organization.
6. If Chris Paul becomes a free agent most of the contenders will be lining up to get him. I see the Lakers, Clippers, Celtics, 76ers and others trying to sign him.
7. The Boston Celtics are in a tough situation when it comes to Jaylen Brown. If he is signed at max money the Celtics will have a problem with the salary cap in the future. They will not be able to surround Jayson Tatum and Brown with the depth they presently have. The Celtics can sign him and see if they can win a title with him next year and if that works out they keep him. They can also trade him now. With he and Tatum making what they would make in a few years it would be seventy percent of the cap making it hard to keep two max players. If they trade him I think a trade of Brown to the Nets for Mikal Bridges and Nic Claxton would benefit both teams.
