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Welcome to Five on the Floor, a daily insider show on the Miami Heat and the NBA featuring Ethan Skolnick, Greg Sylvander, and Alex Toledo, plus others from the Five Reason Sports Network. Welcome back to another Five on the Floor Live. I'm your host Greg Sylvander, tonight's floor plan with me co-host, Brian Fonseca, follow him at Brian Fonseca and why, and Sean Rochester follow him at S. Rochester, NBA, I think it is. We got the comments flying in, we are live, we are going to go over what is another sigh. Fourth consecutive Miami Heat loss, 100 to 88. This is a team that I don't know what their identity is, they win seven of eight, they lose four straight, we're going to get into what the hell this team is, 100 to 88 is the final score out of the Casaja center. Still, I'm still not used to saying that out loud. This was a game where I thought Denver, you played a game where you could have dragged it into the mud enough and you could have beat Denver. Denver did not play great tonight, 33% from three, only nine turnovers, but that's one more turnover than you had. The rebounding battle was relatively, even the heat actually won the rebounding battle by one. There's a lot of indicators that tell me the heat could have squeaked one out here. I was really, I don't understand what Jimmy Butler is doing in a game like today. I also don't understand the Thomas Bryant, Patty Mills, fourth quarter duo minutes, not into that a ton. Let's get into initial reactions from the game. Brian will come to you first on this one. What did you see in this one that what were your takeaways, I guess, as we start? They just don't have anything for this team. This is one of those teams that like, I mean, Denver, Denver owns a lot of teams. Denver just owns the like, if Jimmy Butler is going to play like that, you're not beating a team of this level. Michael Porter Jr. was able to do what he didn't do in the finals and actually kill them from deep. Aaron Gordon is a problem regardless of what his stat sheet is. Nicole Oakich wasn't even that impactful in terms of scoring, but he did everything else in terms of playmaking, in terms of rebounding, in terms of controlling pace, getting to paint touches and elbow touches and really like just operating and doing what he kind of wanted in terms of playmaking. He has these games where he's like, I'm just not going to score like that because I don't need to. Ben was doing a pretty good job in that regard of not letting him do that, but other guys were able to kill you. So there's that. For perspective's sake, maybe we can get into this a little bit more later, but like, I'll be honest, other than the Wizards lost, other than the Wizards lost and maybe no other than the Wizards lost. That's like, they've lost all the games I thought they were going to lose over the last like six weeks, you know, like, like, because if you're looking at it, right, the seven game losing streak, the last, the last time before the Wizards lost that they lost a game that I thought they were going to win was the Memphis Grizzlies game, which is Terry Rosier's first game where they shouldn't have had him play. And they're lucky that he didn't get seriously injured when he did because he was playing an absorbent amount of games during that time. But as for tonight, like, you know, this is a game that I thought they were going to lose. People were betting on the heat. I was a little surprised by that. And I think they're going to go on a run in terms of picking up a bunch of wins before the seasons over. So I kind of feel the same way I felt about this team. Like, like, you can be concerned about it. But like, this is Denver. You're not beating Denver. Denver's fourth quarter execution has been exceptional. And they're ramping up there. I think the favors to win title again, kind of is what it is. Sean, what is up with Jimmy Butler, man? Like what on a night like tonight, his first free throws did not come until like three minutes left in the game. Maybe it was two minutes left in the game. That's not going to cut it for this team. What are you like? What is your perspective on Jimmy Butler on a night like tonight? I know the Denver. I mean, I guess people will say matchups, but it felt like it was more than that. I'm interested you your perspective on Jimmy Butler's night. They just have a lot of very active length that they can throw at him. You know, starting with Gordon and Porter and the starting lineup, obviously, then you also still have yoked sitting at the rim. Even KCP, you know, is potentially an all defensive type guy. And Peyton Watson, I mean, he, his arms go sideline to sideline. And he's very athletic. And he's a very high intelligent, high IQ basketball player. So Jimmy just has a hard time. You know, a few seasons ago, in his, in those early years, it was the calves, right? We used to talk about like, how can he overcome the calves length? And he struggles against length. He just, that's what he does. Unfortunately, because of the way he plays, when you put longer guys on him or stronger guys on him, that can not be stronger, but like him bang with him because Jimmy's a very strong guy. But it's also a team thing. Jimmy can't, I don't think Jimmy can beat them one on one. Agree. And it's not the style of player he is anyways. But also, when you have lacking movement, whether it's ball movement or player movement, it makes it even harder for Jimmy to overcome the length because you just don't have the space for him to operate it. And I think Denver does a good job of sort of flattening us out, forcing us to one side of the floor. And ultimately, you only have to guard, I don't know, half the floor. I mean, if that, and that's frustrating, because it's, it's not that Jimmy's been figured out by any means. I know I saw something in the comments about that. It's just, this is kind of what he struggles against this type of team. Yeah, I thought Duncan Robinson also not shooting well, like it just left no space for them to operate. There was one guy that ended up finding himself in this game. And we are going to note that with our rocky sports gamer of the night. And now on five on the floor, it's time for the gamer of the night sponsored by Rock East Sports Center, the place to eat, drink, and play all day. Host your next birthday party with them located at 15305 South Dixie Highway in Palmetto Bay. They've got a 5500 square foot state of the art center equipped with all the high end power, play all day passes available for just 25 bucks. But if you mention five reasons, it's just $20. So mention five reasons or five RSN, you get to play all day for $20. And now the gamer of the night. I know people are not going to be happy because they lost, but Bammata Bio played well, seven to 15, 17 points, 13 rebounds. He was a guy who hit at three, two or four from the free throw line. Obviously, we want him to hit all his free throws. Three assists, one steal, one block. Bammata Bio is our rocky sports gamer of the night. What do we make of this patty mills insertion into the lineup? And then the dude is like basically taking all of the guard minutes for Delaun Wright. I think that it's an interesting thing. Brian, I'll come to you first here. On what, where do you think Spose decision making is coming from where he's leaning into patty mills so early into games, but also so early into his heat career? I think it's, it's March. So you're be concerned if you want, I think Spose trying things, you know, like, yeah, he's trying to, he's trying to cook with the ingredients that he's been given. Um, I think the long ride who a lot of people are asking for would make sense in this particular matchup. Spose thought otherwise and okay, like he's air sposter, like, you know, I just, everyone's freaking out about like everything right now regarding this team because they're on a losing streak and I'm like, oh, you guys are like, you're okay. I think as long as they do what they're supposed to do for the rest of the season, because again, didn't think they were going to beat Denver anyway, didn't think they were going to beat the Celtics a few weeks ago, didn't think they were going to be Denver last week. Okay, see the week before the Washington one was the only one that was like surprising and recently, but going forward, if they handle business, like they should and you've seen this team over the last now five seasons when they get in one of these ruts, they always break out of it. Something similar to Bam had a bio like you guys have seen this more than anyone else. Every time he gets in a slump, he breaks out of it. It doesn't become a season long thing where you look up and it's like, why is this church shooting percentage 39% all of a sudden for the entire year? Like, no, this team breaks out of it. It's probably maddening to you guys because this happens a lot. And there's, it's kind of a flow going up and down, right? Yeah, it's not something that's a straight line, but doing it this way, the way that they've done it, it's not easy. And they're in a position they're in, they're still going to be one of the toughest outs in playoffs. They're still going to be the maybe the main team other than Boston that nobody wants to see in the Eastern Conference. And I still actually think that they have the ingredients navigate through the Eastern Conference. Beyond that, I'm not sure they have to get to that point first. But from a big picture standpoint, like tonight is what it was. And I think moving forward, as long as they handle business, they'll be fine. You just want to avoid the play in because even if you get the six seed, which, you know, you'd rather have home court if you can get it. But even if you get the six seed, are you really scared of the Cavaliers in the first round? And still after all this, no, you're not. And to your point, you're still within three games of the four seed. So like, if you are, go ahead, like be scared. Like, I wouldn't be scared if I were you guys, but like, go ahead, be scared of Max Drewce's revenge in the first round of the playoffs, whatever. Yeah, no, that doesn't sound like that is the pain point for the heat. I think that there's other matchups that would be much more concerning. Let's stay on band here for a second and go to the aggressive play of the night because these are all connected. And now it's time for the insurance by Lynette play of the night sponsored by insurance by Lynette dot com and a aggressive insurance agency. You can reach out to our friend Lynette at 954-581-8800. That's 954-581-8800 or insurance by Lynette dot com. That's insurance by Lynette dot com. With two ends and two tees, your best play for auto insurance, homeowners insurance, condo insurance, life insurance, or retirement program, reach out to Lynette@insurancebylinette.com. So the play of the night's a pretty simple, bam, out of bio, hit it three and it completely changed the complexion of his game. He then came down, got another bucket, had a driving layup, had a great pass to Duncan who found it and finished right underneath the basket. That was a great bam stretch, but it started with the bam out of bio three-pointer. So that is our aggressive play of the night. Are either of you concerned? I guess Sean, I'll come to you first here. Are you concerned that the heat don't have what many would consider to be? And this is narrative driven. So bear with me. Don't cringe too much, but I think it's something to ask. They don't really have a signature win. Like, like, what is the game all season that we don't care at all, that they haven't beat really any good teams? I have no idea. I know this keeps coming up, but it seems like every time we claim to have a signature win, then we reevaluate and say that win was not signature enough. I, I don't know who, I don't know. When I look at the standings, I, the columns on ESPN, maybe it's a different website that has another column for signature wins. Like, I just really don't care. Win games, play well, have enough wins that when you add them up at the end, and then you subtract the losses, it should add up to 82 and make sure that you finish somewhere in the top six of your conference. Beyond that, I just, I really do not care. And I, and I know what you mean. Like, I know what it means. Again, good teams. If I want to, if I'm going to get into it just to like, so I can narrow it down, I just don't believe that they've beat a lot of good teams. So if we had not seen what we saw from this team in the past, I feel like we would call them like they would be dead in the water, but only because we have the benefit of hindsight of what we've seen previously. Are we giving them a shot? And do you all think I'm off base there, Brian? Yeah. And I was being sarcastic, but just before you go to Brian, like, it has to be concerning that because when you get to the playoffs, you had to be good teams at some point, right? And if you're going to struggle against them, you can't beat them. That's why, like, honestly, like the last two Denver games, like Brian was saying earlier, like, yeah, those are, I chalked those up as losses. You know what I mean? Like, I know they're losses, but like, there were good signs. So like, you see some progress, but not enough, like, you just got to be building upon things. That's the way I guess I see it. Not so much worried about signature wins. That's a good point. And they can build upon things as we go forward here, because they have a very favorable schedule, which we're going to get into as well to end the show. I think Sean has that already kind of cranked up in terms of how many wins we can get to. And I think he's pretty logical with the way he had it broke down. So, I mean, I guess let's just get right into that because this is a situation where I can tell that we have arrived at a place with this team, where they have put us in such a cynical spot, where it's hard for us to evaluate game over game and make any sweeping judgment. So if you look ahead, if we put these four games behind us and try to just look ahead, this team can still get to almost 50 wins. We talked about this pre-show. Sean got us to 48. Brian, I'll ask you, what do you think it takes to stay out of the planes? 46 wins, 45 wins. What keeps you six-seater above? 45, 46 is probably right, which by the way, the beginning of the season, when we knew they weren't going to get Damian Lillard, I had them between 45 and 47, something along those lines, which is still pretty attainable. But I know we have to get wrapped up in the game by game shit. We're literally doing a post-game show, so I recognize what this is. But we do this shit every year with this team, where it's like people in the comments, for example, they're concerned about how good this team actually is. And I'm just like, you're right to do that, by the way, totally. But we've seen this team do just crazy shit over the last five years for lack of a better way of saying it. I'm done doubting these dudes. I'm just done doing it until I see them fall on their face, which they've only done one time in the playoffs, and after a seven-week off season, where all the teams who made it far in the bubble, literally the entire final four, none of them won a second round game. Never got to the second round, they got swept. None of the other teams got out the first round. I've just seen this team do it time and time again, even after they look like shit. There have been playoff series where they look like shit one game, they respond the next game, they look like shit again, they look like shit for three straight games against Boston, and then one game seven. Going away, I might add. I'm just done with the whole game by game, like, are they're going to be okay? Like, no, they're going to be fucking fine. They're going to be fine, because that's what this team does. They have the most playoff wins in the last four years or 38 in the entire NBA. Most playoff series wins in the NBA last four years with eight. Two finals appearances, nobody else has more than one. Like, this team just does impossible shit. That's what they do. It's not a formula you can bank on all the time, but I'm not going to write them off until they're actually done in terms of being competitive on that high level. If they lose, if they get to the finals and lose, they get to the finals and lose, but I think people here are saying like, they're not going to win the series. They're going to be a first round exit, second round exit, like, okay, you could think that. And if that makes you happy watching your favorite team, fine. But like, I'm not doubting these dudes, because I've seen them do it time and time again, again, fucking ever. Like, they'd be literally the best two teams in the Eastern Conference last year in the playoffs. You know, they were underdogs in every series. They were underdogs in like 80% of the games they won. That's not even a made up stat. You know what I mean? Like, this is the ultimate franchise that does this shit. So I'm like, I'm just sitting here watching fans. Not a heat fan who's saying that, you know, if it comes from Sean or I, everybody's gonna be like, Oh, that's Homer talk, but you are not a fan. This is what bugs me out. It's like, I'm watching fans of this team being like, Oh, all their cook, and I get it like, whatever, like this is, this is what fans do, like it's short for fanatic, but I'm watching you guys drive yourself crazy. And it's like, you've seen this team overcome so much different shit. Last year was worse than this. Last year was fucking worse than this going into the playoffs. And we saw what happened. Doesn't mean it's gonna happen again, but you guys know where I'm going with this. Like, I'm not, I'm not writing these dudes off. And you know what the beautiful part about this whole segment is, is that the schedule is flashing up. And that comment was great. Look at the schedule. Look at the response to the comments. Two games against Detroit. Philadelphia is banged up. Cleveland's banged up. New Orleans has played well. Cleveland is a winnable game at home. Golden State Portland, both winnable games at home at Washington. You better get that game. New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Indiana. I mean, yeah, you could sprinkle in a loss here or there, but to your point, there's a reasonable path to, as Sean pointed out, pre-show, another 13 wins that gets you to 48. And then you're probably sitting in the four or five matchup. And so as we close, I just want heat fans to take a deep ass breath. It's a four game losing streak, but they won seven of eight prior to that. And they're probably going to run out, rattle off a bunch of victories now, and get back on track. So while there are concerns, while there, there are obstacles, there are none. Thank you very much for joining us. We are wrapping peace out. We appreciate our sponsors. Appreciate Sean, Brian, and that's it. Okay, you're deep in the jungle, hanging with a friendly Jaguar. Or how about an outer space playing the base? Let your imagination run wild with the new generative AI tools in Adobe Photoshop. Create anything you can dream up just by typing a text prompt. 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